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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
After playing the final game of the first round of the Glacier’s Edge Tournament at Emporia High School on Thursday, the Topeka High Lady Trojans played the first game of the afternoon on Friday.
Sophomore Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton scored 24 points in Friday's 84-45 Topeka High win over Wichita Northwest. [File photo/TSN]
In a contest that was never in doubt, the Trojans defeated the Wichita Northwest Grizzlies, 84-45.
The victory propelled the Trojans, now 7-4 on the season, into the fifth-place game Saturday morning at 11 a.m., where they will face the Wichita South Titans.
The first eight minutes were dominated by the Trojans. Sophomore Aysieyrhuajh Rayton scored 11, freshman Hailey Caryl scored 6 and sophomore Keimara Marshall 5 to give Topeka High a commanding 26-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.
It was more of the same in the second stanza as the Lady Trojans tallied 29 points in the quarter, led by Marshall’s 12 points while junior Trish Short and Caryl each scored 6 as Topeka led 55-27 at the half.
The third quarter saw the Trojans outscore the Grizzlies 25-5. Rayton tallied 10 points followed by Short’s 5 points. The lead at the end of the quarter was 80-32, causing the running clock to be used during the fourth quarter.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
After Shawnee Heights rolled out a 29-point victory over Topeka West in late December, few would have expected it to happen again, least of all T-Birds coach Ken Darting.
Senior Jaret Sanchez scored 26 points Friday night as Shawnee Heights rolled to a 66-48 home UKC win over Topeka West. [File photo/TSN]
But after holding the Chargers to just five points in the second period, another blowout was on. The T-Birds built a 32-point lead in the third period and held on to win 66-48 Friday at Shawnee Heights.
“I told our team…that they could beat us by 29 tonight,” Darting said of the Chargers. “Not because we’re not playing good. That’s how scary they are.”
The T-Birds combined lock-down defense and better than 50 percent shooting to build the big lead. With the clock running in the fourth period, they allowed the Chargers to cut the final point spread to 18 points. The final score was misleading.
Senior Jaret Sanchez put the T-Birds on his back in the second period, scoring 12 of the team’s 16 points. Sanchez single-handedly outscored the Chargers 21-19 in the first half. He finished with 26.
“He’s a unique player, and a unique kid, period,” Darting said of the 6-foot-6 Sanchez. “When Jaret doesn’t play selfish, but lets the game come to him, he’s a top-five player in the state. What he does so well is – I call it ‘hunting.’ Every second, he’s looking for who’s not covering what area. Jaret plays to the defender and to the open spot on the floor. He can score getting grabbed in (the paint) or he can score from 25 feet.”
Sanchez credited Darting’s scouting report and strategy for the win over Topeka West, the sixth-ranked team in Class 5A according to the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
“The last two days, we had lengthy practices, going through everything, scouting against them,” Sanchez said. “We knew what we needed to do, and we played beautiful rotation defense, helping each other, knowing that we’ve got somebody there going to get our back. That was the best defense we’ve played all season.”
“I don’t look at five opponents a year on film,” Darting said. “I believe that we play a certain way, and we’re going to play that, and if it ain’t good enough, we’re going to get beat. But I saw probably four games of West on TV, so we had a Plan A, B and C in place. We knew that they were coming in with a (desire) to beat us by 30. So, we truly prepared for that.”
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
EL DORADO -- The top-ranked team in Class 4A, the Hayden Lady Wildcats, would go up against 6A Gardner-Edgerton in the semifinal round of the 32nd annual Lady Cat Classic Friday night at El Dorado, with Hayden advancing to Saturday's championship game with a 57-49 victory.
Senior Amelia Ramsey (facing) led Hayden with 19 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's 57-49 win over Gardner-Edgerton. [File photo/TSN]
The Wildcats would go up 15-7 at the end of the first quarter and then the second quarter would see Gardner outscore the Wildcats 18-9 and take a 25-24 lead into halftime.
“I told the girls to stay the course and make sure we stay together,'' Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said. "It wasn’t the same type of game that we have been used to, where Brylee Meier gets hot and helps us get on a run.”
The senior was 2-9 from the field but would contribute with eight assists on the night.
“Coach told us we have to keep fighting and to stay positive, stay together and don’t yell at each other and don’t get mad at each other, keep fighting and being aggressive,” Hayden senior Amelia Ramsey said.
The Blazers would come out of halftime and take a 33-29 lead in the third quarter and then the Wildcats would go on a 15-0 run en route to outscoring the Blazers 20-8 in the third quarter and leading the rest of the game.
The Wildcats got a big night from their 6-foot senior Ramsey, who would score 19 points and grab 10 rebounds to secure a double-double and help her team advance to the championship game.
“I have been working hard and staying positive,'' Ramsey said. "I feel like this game was pretty tough and we faced a lot of adversity, but overall we stayed positive and after halftime we came out with more energy.”
"She carried us through today, she was our rock and she got put backs,'' Reynoldson said of Ramsey. "We continued to feed her, and she is a very solid player and does what she needs to do for her teammates.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights entered Friday's Capital City Classic semifinal against Topeka West having already taken 17 and 28-point wins over the Chargers this season.
Sophomore KK Emmot scored a game-high 25 points as Shawnee Heights advanced to the Capital City Classic title game with a 65-32 semifinal win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But T-Bird coach Bob Wells wanted to make sure his team took nothing for granted against West, which was coming off a big overtime win over Highland Park in the opening round.
"That's what I told them, that this needed to be all business,'' Wells said. "There couldn't be any messing around, we had to be focused and we had to have good energy and we needed to get right after it from the beginning and do a good job of taking care of the ball, no unforced errors and things like that and just work on improving.''
Heights then went out and heeded Wells' message, rolling to Saturday's 11:30 a.m. championship game with a 65-32 win.
The 8-4 T-Birds put the 2-9 Chargers away with a 19-4 start and were in control by 20 points (37-17) at the halftime break.
Heights then hit West with a 24-7 lick in the third quarter, forcing a running clock throughout the fourth quarter.
Senior Haley Bowers scored 13 points in Shawnee Heights' 65-32 semifinal win over Topeka West Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Kaydence Torrez (20) had 10 points and 11 rebounds in Shawnee Heights' 65-32 win over Topeka West on Friday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN[]
Sophomore standout KK Emmot powered the T-Birds with a game-high 25 points while senior Haley Bowers added 13 points and Kaydence Torrez and Reianna Vega 10 apiece. Torrez also grabbed 11 rebounds.
Junior Imani McGlory led Topeka West with 12 points.
With the win the T-Birds earned a shot at city rival Washburn Rural in Saturday's title game, with the Junior Blues advancing with a 75-48 semifinal win over Lawrence.
Topeka West will take on Lawrence in the 10 a.m. third-place game.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 65, TOPEKA WEST 32
Shawnee Heights 19 18 24 4 -- 65
Topeka West 4 13 7 8 -- 32
Shawnee Heights (8-4) – Emmot 7-11 8-10 25, T. Brees 0-2 0-0 0, Bowers 5-12 1-2 13, Torrez 5-7 0-1 10, Vega 4-9 1-1 10, Hanshaw 1-7 0-0 3, Akins 0-0 0-0 0, L. Brees 0-3 0-0 0, Scherer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 12-16 65.
Topeka West (2-9) – I. McGlory 4-12 2-2 12, VanDyke 2-7 0-4 4, Keeling 0-1 0-0 0, Hall 2-9 2-4 6, Gonzales 1-9 1-2 3, A. McGlory 2-6 0-0 5, Allen 0-3 0-0 0, Kutina 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 12-48 5-12 32.
3-point goals – Shawnee Heights 7 (Emmot 3, Bowers 2, Hanshaw, Vega), Topeka West 3 (I. McGlory 2, A. McGlory). Total fouls – Shawnee Heights 7, Topeka West 15. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
Sophomore Maddie Vickery scored a game-high 33 points in Washburn Rural's 75-48 semifinal win over Lawrence Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Vickery has 33-point night as Rural romps to 75-48 win
Lawrence got No. 5-ranked (Class 6A) Washburn Rural's attention when it took a 30-27 lead with three minutes left in the first half of Friday's second Capital City Classic semifinal.
But the Junior Blues responded wih a 48-point scoring onslaught the rest of the night, rolling to a championship game berth with a 75-48 win over the Lions.
Lawrence rode a barrage of early 3-pointers to its 3-point lead, but Washburn Rural (7-3) ended the first half with a 10-0 run to open up a 37-30 advantage and never looked back.
"I thought we were a lot more focused on both ends of the floor and we were just patient and had good spacing with our offense to kind of make that little break at the break,'' Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said. "And then I thought the start of the third quarter we had an intention about getting the ball inside a little bit more and then Madison Lemke stepped up and took two charges and I think it took them out of their rhythm a little bit.''
Rural tacked on six more unanswered points to take a 43-30 lead 49 seconds into the second half, took a 58-42 lead at the end of the quarter and went on to lead by as many as 29 points late in the contest.
Maddie Vickery, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, led all scorers with 33 points, going 15 of 19 at the free throw line as Rural took advantage of a decided height advantage.
"We were really trying to get paint touches,'' Vickery said. "That's one of the big things we strive for as a team because even in practice when we get a paint touch everything good happens.''
Vickery was the only player in double figures for the Junior Blues, but Rural had nine players crack the scoring column, including seven with five or more points.
Senior Brynnae Johnson led Lawrence (6-5) with 13 points.
Washburn Rural will face city rival Shawnee Heights in Saturday's 11:30 a.m. championship game.
WASHBURN RURAL 75, LAWRENCE 48
Washburn Rural 20 17 21 17 -- 75
Lawrence 18 12 12 6 -- 48
Washburn Rural (7-3) – Hinck 4-8 0-0 8, Rutherford 2-5 0-0 6, Vickery 8-19 15-19 33, Lemke 3-7 2-3 8, Bunck 2-5 1-2 5, Hirschi 0-3 0-0 0, Moore 1-1 2-2 5, Hayes 2-3 0-0 6, Walker 0-1 0-0 0, Simpson 0-0 0-0 0, Carlgren 1-3 0-0 2, Petersen 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 24-57 20-28 75.
Lawrence (6-5) – Glover 0-2 0-0 0, Baars 3-6 0-0 9, Barnes 2-2 0-0 5, Johnson 4-12 4-5 13, Ramos 2-3 0-0 6, Barber 4-9 0-0 9, Juelsgaard 2-9 1-3 6, Urish 0-0 0-0 0, Koehn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-43 5-8 48.
3-point goals – Washburn Rural 7 (Vickery 2, Hayes 2, Rutherford 2, Moore), Lawrence 9 (Baars 3, Ramos 2, Barnes, Johnson, Juelsgaard). Total fouls – Washburn Rural 13, Lawrence 22. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden sophomore boys basketball standout Mason Becker and Silver Lake junior girls basketball standout Kailyn Hanni 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 bulk of the 2024-2025 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Becker and Hanni over the past week:
Hayden sophomore Mason Becker has been named as the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency male Rising Star of the Week after helping lead the Wildcats to the Baldwin Invitational championship. [File photo/TSN]
MASON BECKER, Hayden
Becker scored 20 points with five 3-pointers last Saturday as the Wildcats won the tournament championship in the Baldwin Invitational with a 63-49 win over the host Bulldogs. Becker helped Hayden cap a 3-0 run in the tournament, also scoring 16 points in a 63-50 win over defending Class 3A state champion Wellsville.
Silver Lake junior Kailyn Hanni has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency female Rising Star of the Week after leading the Eagles to the Burlington Invitational title. [File photo/TSN]
KAILYN HANNI, Silver Lake
A junior guard, was named the Most Outstanding Player in last week's Burlington Invitational after helping lead Silver Lake to the tournament championship. Hanni scored 22 points in the Eagles' 70-60 win over Labette County in the championship game and scored 64 points in the tournament for the Eagles. Hanni followed that up with 16 points in the Eagles' 50-49 win over Rock Creek on Tuesday.
