- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High junior boys basketball player Isaiah Lyons and Silver Lake junior girls basketball player Makenzie McDaniel have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the 2022-2023 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Lyons and McDaniel last week:
Topeka High junior Isaiah Lyons had a total of 35 points with eight 3-pointers in two games last week. [File photo/TSN]
ISAIAH LYONS, Topeka High
Lyons, a 5-foot-9 junior, scored 35 points with eight 3-pointers in two Topeka High losses last week.
Lyons scored 14 points with three 3-pointers in High's 88-40 loss to Blue Valley Northwest last Wednesday and scored 21 points with five 3s in the Trojans' 69-59 Centennial League loss to Emporia on Friday.
Silver Lake junior Makenzie McDaniel scored 34 points and grabbed 22 rebounds last week as the Eagles posted a pair of Mid-East League wins. [File photo/TSN]
MAKENZIE McDANIEL, Silver Lake
McDaniel, a 6-1 junior, scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds last Tuesday as No. 2-ranked (Class 3A) handed No. 9-ranked Rossville its first loss of the season in the Eagles' 63-50 Mid-East League road victory.
Silver Lake added a 59-30 league win over Rock Creek on Friday to improve to 6-0 on the season as McDaniel contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Silver Lake is now 7-0 after an 82-13 league win over Wabaunsee on Tuesday.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural has been one of the state's most dominant progams since girls wrestling became an official Kansas State High School Activities Association sport in 2020, with the Junior Blues winning back-to-back state championships in 2020 and '21 before finishing a close second in the Class 6A-5A state tournament a year ago.
And as the '22-'23 season nears the midway point, Washburn Rural is on the short list of state title contenders again this season.
Washburn Rural 140-pounder Laiken Clark looks to the official as she tries to finish off her pin in Wednesday's 64-12 dual win over Spring Hill at Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural 115-pounder Maddy Blow posts a 16-3 major decision over Spring Hill's Dezaray Madsen in the Junior Blues' 64-12 dual win Wednesday at Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Damon Parker's Junior Blues remained undefeated in dual competition on Wednesday night with a decisive 64-12 home win over Spring Hill and the only blemish on Rural's schedule was a second-place team finish in the Basehor-Linwood tournament last month.
"They're doing the little things that we ask them to do,'' Damon Parker said of this year's Junior Blues. "In this sport, especially at the beginning of the year, you really don't know what you've got in hand until you actually have a good sample size. For example, our 155-pounder, Ashley Schwarz, wrestled her first varsity match tonight. She's definitely an up and comer and she's one that we expect to make some noise at the state tournament down the road, but we actually had no idea what the expectation was until we actually saw her in live action against other people.''
Schwarz made her debut with a win by fall, one of seven pins by Washburn Rural, which won 11 of 14 matches against the Broncos.
"We're definitely pleased with where we are right now,'' said Parker, whose team is ranked No. 2 behind Dodge City in the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association 6A-5A and All-Class rankings.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There's no doubt that Washburn University men's basketball coach Brett Ballard was extremely disappointed in his team's performance in last Saturday's 72-67 home loss to Lincoln.
The Ichabods, now 5-8 overall and 2-5 in the MIAA, dug themselves a 20-point hole before a second-half rally came up short against the Blue Tigers.
"Disgusted is a good word for it,'' Ballard said of his mood in the wake of the Lincoln loss. "The film verified kind of what I felt. We just didn't execute the game plan, didn't compete at a high enough level and let them get a ton of confidence.
"Obviously against teams in this league you can't do that and we dug ourself too much of a hole.''
Washburn junior Tyler Nelson (14) is coming off an 18-point game in last Saturday's 72-67 MIAA loss to Lincoln. [File photo/TSN]
Brett Ballard's Washburn University men's basketball team will be aiming to bounce back from a 72-67 loss to Lincoln in Thursday's game at Missouri Southern. [File photo/TSN]
The good news is that the Ichabods will have a chance to bounce back from that loss in Thursday night's 7:30 conference game at Missouri Southern, the first of two straight road games.
"We're going to need our upperclassmen to set the tone if we want to flip this thing, and we can,'' Ballard said of Washburn's slow start to the season. "In order for us to have the success we need to have, they've got to be consistent at both ends of the floor.
"There is time, but you get to the middle of January and it's go time so you've got to put your foot on the gas.''
Washburn will be facing a Lion team that is one of the hottest teams in the MIAA entering this week, stretching their winning streak to six games with a 75-65 road win at Nebraska-Kearney.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University women's basketball team, fresh off of a double-digit victory over Lincoln, will play two road games this week, including a 5:30 p.m. MIAA contest at Missouri Southern Thursday night.
The Ichabods moved back above .500 on the season with last Saturday's 73-59 win over Lincoln, improving to 7-6 overall and 3-4 in the MIAA.
Washburn junior point guard Aubree Dewey leads the 7-6 Ichabods in scoring, assists and minutes played entering Thursday's game at Missouri Southern. [File photo/TSN]
Lora Westling's Washburn women's basketball team is 7-6 on the season after last Saturday's double-figure MIAA win over Lincoln. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn floor leader Aubree Dewey said there's no doubt the Ichabods have showed significant improvement since the start of the season.
"We talked a lot this week about our performances during preseason and just what a completely different basketball team we are now than when we started,'' Dewey said.
"We've been putting a lot of stuff together and just executing a lot better recently and I can see that getting even better in the future.''
WU first-year head coach Lora Westling has also seen that improvent out of her young team.
"Our quality of practice is better, our attention to detail is better, our shoot-arounds are better and when everything leading up to games is better then you're games are going to be better,'' Westling said. "It just works out that way.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Wednesday was the day that Washburn Rural senior bowling standout Walker Thompson and his Junior Blue teammates have been waiting for since last March -- the start of a new season.
Walker Thompson
The perennially-strong Rural team stubbed its toe in Class 6A regional competition a year ago, falling short in its bid to earn a team berth for the state tournament, and the Junior Blues are looking for redemption in 2023.
Rural got that bid off to a good start in Weddnesday's season-opening Topeka High quadrangular at Gabe Bowl, with Thompson winning the individual title with a 693 three-game series while Rural captured the team championship by a 2,616-2,517 margin over Junction City.
"I feel great, I've been looking for this for a whole year,'' Thompson said after bowling games of 235, 235 and 223 Wednesday. "Last year we got kicked out in regionals and this year I've been dying to come back.''
Rural's Geo Peoples finished second individually with a 674 series while Logan Glinka narrowly missed the top five, rolling a 625 series.
