- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It was Seaman that got to hang a championship banner Friday night, but De Soto did gain a measure of revenge in Friday night's rematch of last season's Class 5A state championship game.
Seaman, which beat the Wildcats 66-47 in the 2022 title game, led for most of the night before De Soto took control in the fourth quarter to take a 57-48 United Kansas Conference victory at Seaman.
"To their credit, they fought back and did what they had to do in terms of hitting some big shots late and they made the plays they needed to to win,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said.
Seaman roared out to a 13-3 first-quarter advantage over the No. 4-ranked Wildcats, but De Soto (5-1 overall, 3-0 in the UKC) answered with a 23-13 second quarter to knot the game at halftime, 25-25.
Seaman, 1-3, 1-3, built its lead back to 40-36 at the start of the fourth quarter but De Soto scored the first six points of the final period to take its first lead since early in the first quarter at 42-40 with 5:33 remaining.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Overall, Friday wasn't a stellar night on the offensive end for the undefeated Seaman girls basketball team, which shot just 32.5 from the field and managed just one 3-pointer after hitting 10 treys in its previous game.
But the Vikings were good enough on the defensive end that their offensive struggles were little more than an annoyance as Seaman, No. 2-ranked in Class 5A, never trailed on the way to a 47-36 United Kansas Conference win over No. 6 De Soto at Seaman.
"We played our tails off defensively,'' said Seaman coach Matt Tinsley, whose Vikings improved to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the UKC. "De Soto's a good team and we knew it was going to be a battle. We knew we were going to have to play hard defensively and I told the girls in practice yesterday, 'I'm going to ask you in the second half, when was the last time they ran their offense?'
"That was our emphasis. They can shoot and we had to guard the 3 line and we did that tonight. It was a tough defensive effort. I told the girls that we wanted to keep them from doing what they practice every day and I thought we did that.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's men's basketball team will be back in action Saturday, hosting Missouri Western in a 3 p.m MIAA game at Lee Arena.
The Ichabods are 3-6 and 0-3 in the MIAA after falling 88-81 at Rogers State last Saturday while the Griffons are 5-2 and 2-0 in the MIAA and have not played since a 79-65 win at Missouri Southern on Dec. 3.
Western postponed games with Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State due to COVID-19 protocols.
The Ichabods lead the all-time series with Missouri Western 59-42 and have won the last four overall.
Sophomore Andrew Orr leads the Ichabods in scoring at 15.1 points per game and is averaging 21.7 points in three MIAA contests. He has reached double figures in eight of nine games this season and is second on the team in rebounds at 6.3 per game.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women's basketball team, coming off its first MIAA win, will host Missouri Western on Saturday in a 1 p.m. conference contest at Lee Arena.
The Ichabods earned their first MIAA victory of the young season with a 55-45 decision at Rogers State last Saturday.
With the Rogers State win, Washburn improved to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the MIAA.
Junior point guard Aubree Dewey has started all eight games and leads Washburn in scoring with a 10.3 average and is 11th in the league in assists with 3.4 per game.
Freshman Natalia Figueroa is the only other Ichabod who has started every game and is averaging 9.1 points with 17 3-pointers on the year.
Senior Emma Chapman started her second consecutive game last Saturday and scored a career-high 13 points against the Hillcats, with 11 of those coming in the second half.
Chapman is averaging 7.8 points and 5.8 rebounds, with 22 of her 46 rebounds coming on the offensive end.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka HIgh's girls and Topeka West's boys basketball teams continued their early-season rolls Thursday night, with the Trojans taking a 64-51 non-league win at Bonner Springs while the Chargers took a 58-54 non-league win at Junction City.
Topeka High's boys dropped an 86-78 decision at Bonner Springs while Topeka West's girls lost a tight game at Junction City, 41-36.
TOPEKA HIGH GIRLS 64, BONNER SPRINGS 51 -- Seniors Kiki Smith and Adisyn Caryl combined for 42 points to lead 10th-ranked (Class 6A) Topeka High to its sixth straight victory, 64-51 at Bonner Springs.
Smith scored 26 points and Caryl 16 for the 6-1 Trojans, combining for 14 points in the final quarter.