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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's already been a special season for Highland Park's boys basketball team, which will enter Thursday's Class 5A state tournament as one of only two undefeated boys teams in Kansas (along with 3A Galena) while not having a game closer than 11 points all season.
Highland Park senior Jahmir Kingcannon cuts down the nets after last Saturday's 80-52 win over St. James Academy. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Highland Park poses for a team picture after earning a second straight trip to state with an 80-52 win over St. James Academy Saturday night at Highland Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But although Mike Williams and his 22-0 top-seeded Scots are proud of what they have accomplished after earning a second straight state berth, they also know there is still work to do, beginning with Thursday's 2 p.m. first-round game against No. 8 seed Basehor-Linwood (9-13) at Emporia's White Auditorium.
"We want to polish, clean up and make sure we're on point,'' Williams said. "We're not putting new stuff in, we're not changing the system, but we are challenging ourselves though.
"We've been to this tournament twice in the last three years and kind of laid an egg in the opening round, so we're challenging ourselves to take the opening-round matchup seriously and make sure we're doing something to set us up to make sure we're around Friday and Saturday night.''
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Anyone who follows Kansas high school basketball closely knows that St. James Academy was far from a typical No. 8 state seed.
And it didn't take long for the Thunder to emphatically prove that point in Wednesday's Class 5A state girls tournament opener at White Auditorium, with St. James riding a 20-0 run in the first half to a 65-42 victory over top seed Seaman.
Matt Tinsley talks to his Vikings during Wednesday's 65-42 first-round loss to St. James Academy in the Class 5A state tournament. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Freshman Maddie Gragg led Seaman with 10 points in Wednesday's 65-42 Class 5A state tournament loss to St. James Academy. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
"We didn't have our best game and that's too bad, but that's not going to change what I feel about my girls in that locker room,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "That's not going to change our season. We still had a great run.
"It hurts and the girls are hurt, which means they invested a lot into it, and it should hurt if you put a lot of time and effort and sacrifice into it. We're going to learn from it and we don't want to feel like this again. We want to get back here next year.''
Seaman, which finished its season 21-2, was within 10-8 with 5:05 left in the first quarter after a basket from freshman Maddie Gragg, but the Vikings would go more than eight minutes before scoring their next points, with the Thunder using their mammoth run to take a commanding 25-8 advantage at the end of the opening quarter and a 30-8 lead in the early stages of the second.
"It went to 30-8 quick,'' Tinsley said. "They just seemed to have anothe gear that we didn't have.''
Seaman outscored the Thunder by an 11-4 margin to end the half but St. James still led 34-19 at the break after shooting 73.3 percent in the first quarter and 51.7 percent for the half while limiting the Vikings to 25.9-percent shooting in the half.
The Vikings got no closer than 15 in the second half and St. James, which competes in the powerhouse Eastern Kansas League, closed the third quarter with a 9-1 run to take a 55-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
St. James boosted its lead to a game-high 25 points early in the fourth while Seaman got no closer than 19 down the stretch.
"We play in a great league, the EKL is a really, really strong league and we know that going through the battles in our league, but also our out of league play, we go through some tough tests,'' St. James coach Justin Snell said. "So I try to tell my girls that, 'We may not go undefeated in all those games but those gamess are preparing us for this time.' ''
The Thunder finished the game at 57.1 percent from the field while Seaman finished at 28.6 percent. St. James also finished with a 34-26 rebounding edge.
St. James senior Riley Bruggeman scored a game-high 27 points while 5-foot-11 sophomore Reese Messer added 17 points and senior Lauren Steinlage 10.
Gragg led Seaman with 10 points while sophomore Jaida Stallbaumer added nine points and junior Taylin Stallbaumer and sophomore Anna Becker eight points apiece. Becker also contributed seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
With Wednesday's win St. James advanced to a 2 p.m. semifinal on Friday to face EKL rival St. Thomas Aquinas, which advanced twith a 66-22 first-round win over Highland Park.
"This year we've played them twice and we haven't had a close game yet,'' Snell said. "They kicked our butts both times but hopefully the third time's the charm.''
ST. JAMES ACADEMY GIRLS 65, SEAMAN GIRLS 42
St. James 25 9 21 10 -- 65
Seaman 8 11 13 10 -- 42
St. James Academy (18-5 ) -- Kerwin 2-4 0-0 5, Steinlage 5-6 0-4 10, Bruggeman 10-15 6-8 27, Messer 8-16 0-0 17, Becker 3-6 0-0 6, Halnny 0-0 0-0 0, Robinson 0-2 0-0 0, Menghini 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-49 6-12 65.
Seaman (21-2) -- J. Stallbaumer 3-7 1-2 9, T. Stallbaumer 2-11 2-2 8, Becker 3-11 2-2 8, Gragg 3-12 2-4 10, Gormley 2-3 1-2 5, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Schumann 1-4 0-0 2, McLaughlin 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, E. Stallbaumer 0-0 0-0 0, Wilhelm 0-1 0-0 0, Moulden 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-49 8-12 42.
3-point shot -- St. James Academy 3-12 (Bruggeman 1-4, Messer 1-4, Kerwin 1-1, Becker 0-2, Robinson 0-1), Seaman 6-21 (J. Stallbaumer 2-2, Gragg 2-5, T. Stallbaumer 2-9, Becker 0-3, Gormley 0-1, Schumann 0-1). Total fouls -- St. James Academy 10, Seaman 13. Fouled out -- none. Technical foul -- Seaman bench.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- In terms of state experience, Wednesday's first-round Class 5A state tournament game between No. 4 seed St. Thomas Aquinas and No. 5 Highland Park was a mismatch.
Sophomore Amelia Ramsey led Highland Park with 12 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 66-22 Class 5A state tournament loss to St. Thomas Aquinas. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Highland Park's Se'Ona Gowan-Britt scored eight points with a pair of 3-pointers in Wednesday's Class 5A state tournament loss to St. Thomas Aquinas. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Aquinas entered this week's state tournament looking for its seventh straight state championship while Highland Park was making its first state appearance since 2012.
And Scots coach Rob Brown felt like that edge in experience made a big difference, particularly early on, as the Saints got off to a dominating start of the way to a 66-22 win at White Auditorium.
"I think we were a little overwhelmed,'' Brown said. "That team's a good team. We came out trying to give them all the energy that they could get, all the positive attitude they could get but it was a tough game.
"That's the six-time defending state champion right there and what, 30 appearances in a row so we knew the task ahead was going to be a tough one. I thought we played a better game in the secon half, slowed it down a little bit better, but that was just a tough start.''
Highland Park ended its breakout season with a 19-4 record while Aquinas, 20-3, advanced to Friday's 2 p.m. semifinal to face St. James Academy, which knocked off top seed Seaman 65-42 in Wednesday's opening game.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
MYLES ALONZO, Topeka West
Topeka West junior Myles Alonzo was a Class 5A regional champion and state placer in the 2022 season. [File photo/TSN]
A junior, Alonzo shot a 78 to tie for 17th in the weather-shortened 2022 Class 5A state tournament at Winfield last spring, earning his first state medal. A two-time TopSports.news All-Shawnee County first-team pick, Alonzo took medalist honors in regional competition, shooting a 76 and winning with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff. Alonzo tied for fifth in the Centennial League meet after placing seventh in the city tournament.
TADD ARMSTRONG, Washburn Rurral
A sophomore, Armstrong earned second-team TSN All-Shawnee County recognition as a freshman. Armstrong tied for 15th in the Centennial League meet with an 82, helped the Junior Blues win the city tltle with a 27-hole score of 132 and finished 27th in Class 6A regional competition to help Rural earn a state team berth with a runner-up finish at regionals.
BRYCE BADSKY, Silver Lake
Badsky, a junior, earned a Class 3A state medal for the second straight season, shooting an 80 to place 10th in the weather-shortened tournament at Salina Municipal. Badsky qualified for state with an eighth-place individual finish in regional competition. Badsky finished 13th in the 3A state tournament as a freshman and is a two-time TSN All-Shawnee County first-team selection.
ANDREW BURDETT, Washburn Rural
Burdett, a senior, earned second-team All-Shawnee County honors as a junior. Burdett placed 10th in the city meet with a 27-hole score of 132 for the city-champion Junior Blues, finished 10th in 6A regional competition with an 82 as Washburn Rural finished second as a team and took 14th in the Centennial League tournament with an 81.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Bo Aldridge
BO ALDRIDGE, Highland Park
Aldridge, a senior, scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as undefeated Highland Park earned its second straight Class 5A state tournament berth with an 80-52 romp past St. James Academy in Saturday's sub-state championship game at Highland Park. The Scots have won 22 straight games dating back to last year's first-round state tournament loss to Maize.
Logan Glinka
LOGAN GLINKA, Washburn Rural
A sophomore, Glinka posted a seventh-place individual finish with a 696 series as Washburn Rural dominated the Class 6A state bowling tournament last Friday at Wichita's Northrock Lanes, winning the team championship by a 3,711-3,576 margin over Olathe Northwest. Glinka, one of two underclassmen in Rural's lineup, bowled games of 205, 254 and 237.
Avery Grunert
AVERY GRUNERT, Hayden
Grunert, a junior, only made one basket in Saturday night's 42-40 Class 4A sub-state overtime victory at Fort Scott, but it was the shot of the year for the 15-7 Wildcats. With Hayden trailing 40-39, the Wildcats inbounded the ball with 3.3 seconds remaining and Grunert banked in the game-winning 3-pointer as time ran out, sending Hayden to this week's state tournament in Salina.
