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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
While the Washburn Rural girls basketball team squeaked by with a five-point victory over Manhattan 12 days ago, the story was completely different on Wednesday night in the Class 6A sub-state semifinal.
Senior Brooklyn DeLeye led the way with 16 points as Washburn Rural advanced to a sub-state final with a 43-30 win over Manhattan. [File photo/TSN]
The 43-30 victory over Manhattan (7-14) was crucial for Washburn Rural (15-5), which extended its win streak against Manhattan to 14 games and clinched a spot in Saturday's sub-state championship game against Topeka High.
"I thought we got off to a pretty good start," Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said. "I thought our intensity was pretty good, especially on the defensive end. We got up 10-0, and then we had a little lapse on offense and a little lapse on defense, and they cut the deficit in half.
"We need to take care of the ball better. At the end of the second quarter, and at the end of the fourth quarter, we didn't do that very well at all. So it's a problem that we realize we need to work on. And we are getting better at it, but we have got a lot of strides to take."
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's Class 5A boys basketball title reign officially came to an end in Wednesday night's 51-41 home sub-state semifinal loss to St. James Academy.
Freshman KaeVon Bonner led Seaman with 16 points in Wednesday's 51-41 Class 5A sub-state semifinal loss to St. James Academy. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Aron Davis (33) scored 12 points in Wednesday's 51-41 Class 5A sub-state semifinal loss to St. James Academy. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But the short-handed Vikings, who played without senior standout Kaeden Bonner (knee injury), didn't go down without a fight.
St. James Academy, which finished third in last year's state tournament, led by only four points at the end of the opening quarter, by a point at the half and by three points at the start of the fourth quarter before using a 17-10 scoring edge over the final eight minutes to pull out to its biggest lead of the night.
"I'm proud of our effort, especially after being down 11-2, to get back in it and be right there at the half and really we were fine, but down the stretch just didn't make the plays we needed to make,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said.
Injured Seaman senior standout Kaeden Bonner (left) watches from the bench in Wednesday's 51-41 sub-state loss to St. James Academy. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Kaeden Bonner, who had been fighting a left knee injury over the final part of the regular season, aggravated his injury in Seaman's regular-season finale against Kansas City-Turner and did not suit up Wednesday.
"He was so valuable in every aspect of the game and I'm proud of his development from starting as a freshman and just being a spot shooter basically to all the things that he did for this team this year,'' Cox said.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It wasn't always pretty, particularly at the free throw line, but Topeka West's boys basketball team achieved the only objective Charger coach Rick Bloomquist really cared about Wednesday night, giving itself a chance at a third straight Class 5A state tournament berth with a 61-51 sub-state semifinal win over Arkansas City at West.
Senior Xavier Alexander, with Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist during a break in the action, scored 19 points Wednesday night as the Chargers took a home 61-51 Class 5A sub-state semifinal win over Arkansas City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
West connected on only 24 of 48 free throw attempts in a game that turned into a foulfest in the fourth quarter, and let Arkansas City get a little closer than Bloomquist would have preferred after the Chargers opened up a 15-point lead late in the third quarter.
But Bloomquist also saw plenty of things he liked, particularly out of his youngsters, as Topeka West improved to 14-7 on the season and earned a berth in Saturday's sub-state championship game at 20-1 Hutchinson.
"We found a way to win, which is good this time of year,'' Bloomquist said. "It was a little sloppy in parts, but then we were really good in parts.
"We were more good than we were bad.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden's boys basketball team was ice cold in the first quarter of Tuesday's Class 4A sub-state semifinal at Parsons, but the Wildcats warmed up quickly on the way to a 62-41 victory.
Junior Cooper Colboch jump-started Hayden with four 3-pointers in the second quarter as the Wildcats posted a 62-41 Class 4A sub-state win at Parsons Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
With the win No. 9 seed Hayden advanced to a 7 p.m. sub-state final on Friday at top seed Atchison, an 81-45 winner over Coffeyville on Tuesday.
Parsons led 8-5 at the end of the opening quarter but Hayden hit the host Vikings with a 28-12 second quarter and cruised the rest of the way.
Junior Cooper Colboch hit four 3-pointers in the second quarter to power Hayden (11-10) to a 33-20 halftime advantage while Dominic Ridley also hit two 3s in the quarter.
Hayden boosted its lead to 49-30 by the end of the third quarter and held a 13-11 advantage over the final eight minutes.
Senior Jake Muller led Hayden with 15 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Colboch added 14.
Hayden will be looking to get back to the 4A state tournament after finishing fourth a year ago.
Senior Troy Heiman scored 10 points to lead a balanced Silver Lake attack in Tuesday's 37-24 Class 3A sub-state win over Maur Hill. [File photo/TSN]
SILVER LAKE BOYS 37, MAUR HILL-MT. ACADEMY 24 -- No. 6 seed Silver Lake rode a stifling defensive effort to Tuesday's 37-24 win at No. 3 seed Maur Hill in a Class 3A sub-state quarterfinal.
The Eagles, who improved to 8-13, advanced to a 7:30 p.m. sub-state semifinal Friday at tournament host Perry-Lecompton (17-4).
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
What’s more stressful than facing a team twice? Facing a team three times for a chance to keep a season alive.
Coach Bob Wells talks to his Shawnee Heights team during Tuesday's 38-35 Class 5A sub-state win over De Soto. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
For the Shawnee Heights girls’ basketball team, defending its home court against United Kansas Conference foe De Soto required an extra dose of blood pressure medication.
Luckily for Shawnee Heights, it could hold on tight in the fourth quarter at the Birdcage, ending De Soto’s season with a 38-35 victory Tuesday in the semifinal round of Class 5A sub-state play.
“They know us, and we know them, which makes the situation even tougher,” Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. “I thought (De Soto) played well against us and against the tiniest of adjustments that we made. They were doing everything that they could do not to let some of our kids be successful. That’s what good coaches do, and they have one.
“It took for us to make the plays down in the end. For us, being able to get into our trapping situations really helped us because we were able to get some turnovers out of it. That was huge for us.”
Shawnee Heights had split the season series before its win on Tuesday night.
The Thunderbirds dropped the season opener to De Soto, losing by four, but avenged its loss with a nine-point victory on Jan. 12.
Both of the previous contests were in the rearview, and the only thing that mattered to Shawnee Heights was getting the job done on Tuesday night, so they could keep its state tournament hopes alive.
