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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Topeka High is heading to the Class 6A state tournament for the fourth straight season after a 67-46 victory over the Liberal Redskins in Friday's sub-state final at High..
The Trojans have advanced to the semifinals the past three seasons with a pair of runner-up finishes. High, which will open state tournament play at Wichita State's Koch Arena next Wednesday, was 23-0 in 2020 when the tournament was canceled after the first round due to COVID-19 and finished second a year ago.
Junior guard Kiki Smith fired Topeka High Friday against Liberal, scoring a game-high 33 points as the Trojans improved to 20-2.
“After the first two shots I made and then the 3-pointer right after that, I knew it was going to be a great game,” Smith said. "Everything came together so fast and it felt good, as a team, to get the win and go to state.”
Junior Kiki Smith (23) poured in 33 points Friday night as Topeka High earned a Class 6A state tournament berth with a 67-46 win over Liberal. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Smith’s stellar first quarter was good, but her fourth quarter was even better, with her 13 points in the quarter all coming from the paint.
“I know (Smith) was disappointed in the Junction City game and she really wanted to get back out there, show herself and everyone else how good she truly is,” Topeka High coach Hannah Alexander said. “Most of our starters didn’t get the playing time they wanted, so they all wanted to go out on the court tonight and give everything they had.
“They gave it their all and I’m proud of Kiki and our girls for that.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Obviously Washburn Rural's girls basketball team was happy to earn a trip back to the Class 6A state tournament for the first time since winning the state title in 2019.
But the initial reaction after Rural's 47-27 win over Centennial League rival Manhattan in Friday's sub-state final at Rural was more of concern than celebration after a late-game injury to junior standout Brooklyn DeLeye.
DeLeye, Rural's 6-foot-2 frontliner, led the 20-2 Junior Blues with 13 points, but went down with an injury to her right knee with 55.9 seconds remaining and had to be helped from the floor.
The severity of DeLeye's injury was not immediately known, with Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick hoping for the best.
"We're hoping and praying for the best,'' Bordewick said. "She's obviously an integral part of who we are as a team, and aside from her playing ability and athleticism, she's just a great kid, a great teammate.''
Washburn Rural's girls basketball team earned a spot in next week's Class 6A state tournament with a 47-27 win over Manhattan Friday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural beat Manhattan for the third time Friday night, but the 9-13 Indians remained within striking distance through the first half before Rural put the game away with a 20-9 third quarter.
Bordewick was not surprised that Manhattan gave a tougher battle the third time around.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West's boys basketball team notched yet another in a growing list of impressive accomplishments Friday night.
The Chargers picked up win No. 21 on the season with their 20th straight victory while earning a return trip to the Class 5A state tournament with a 73-59 victory over Andover at West.
"It's this whole program, it's not just these guys but it's last year's team, the year before and the teams that worked to get us to this level,'' Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist said. "To go to state back to back is pretty special for anybody.
"For Topeka West to get there twice in a row and win 20 games back to back says a lot for the kids that we have here, that they believe in what we're doing. They've bought into our system, they bought into our discipline, they bought into everything that we threw at them and this is their reward and I'm so proud of them because they're a great bunch of kids.''
Topeka West's boys basketball team poses with its sub-state championship trophy after Friday's 73-59 win over Andover. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topeka West, the 5A runner-up last season, took control early against the Trojans and never looked back as senior Elijah Brooks and junior Malachi Berg combined for 47 points.
The Chargers opened up a 19-11 first-quarter lead and pushed their advantage to 33-20 at the half.
West led 53-39 at the start of the fourth quarter and led by a game's biggest 22 points (61-39) with six minutes remaining before Andover (17-5) used its pressure to defense to get as close as 10 points twice over the final 2:50.
That was about the only aspect of West's performance that Bloomquist was disappointed in.
"We didn't handle their press very well, but we can fix that,'' Bloomquist said. "We press each other every damn night in practice and we looked like we'd never seen a press before.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- Seaman's bowling team set the bar extremely high with its team championship in the early session of Friday's Class 5A-1A state tournament at Northrock Lanes.
But the Viking girls were definitely up to the challenge, giving Seaman a sweep of the state titles with a 3,173-3,144 win over Bishop Carroll.
Seaman Makenzie Millard reacts to a strike during Friday's Class 5A-1A state bowling tournament. Millard finished second individually as the Vikings won the team title. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Seaman sophomore Cheyenne Turkin beams after receiving her 14th-place medal in Friday's Class 5A-1A state bowling tournament. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Sophomore Cheyenne Turkin said that watching the boys claim the title inspired the girls team to follow suit.
"It's such a good day and just knowing the boys are bringing home first, too, it's so exciting,'' Turkin said. "After the boys won all of us girls were kind of just talking and we were like, 'OK, we have to go out there and bring this home. We can't let them beat us.' ''
Viking senior Makenzie Millard agreed.
"It fired us up a lot,'' Millard said of the boys title. "Seeing them win, it was great. That was a push of extra motivation for us.''
Seaman coach Bob Benoit said the boys and girls have a friendly rivalry between the two teams.
"They compete against each other all year long,'' Benoit said. "It's been that kind of atmosphere all year so when (the boys) won that's the first thing (the girls) thought, 'Now we've got to go do the same thing the boys did or we'll never hear the end of it.'
"I'm just super, super proud of all of them.''
Seaman went into the 2021 state meet undefeated before finishing fourth and Millard said Friday's title was a great bounce back.
"It really is redemption,'' Millard said. "We work very hard at practice, we have been working hard all season, this just pays off. It just shows.
"I'm just very happy with what we did. I'm excited to go home with a trophy.''
Seaman ended the three American Tenpin games with a slim nine-pin lead over Salina South in a crowded team battle and briefly fell behind after the first of four Baker format games before using a pair of 200 games (202 and 211) to take control.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- Seaman bowling coach Bob Benoit has said all season that if his team is just within 100 pins entering the four Baker format games it has a chance.
The Vikings proved that in Friday's biggest meet of the season, rallying from a 98-pin deficit at the start of Baker to claim the Class 5A-1A state championship by a 3,483-3,472 margin over Goddard Eisenhower. Kapaun Mt. Carmel, which was in command after the three American Tenpin games, slipped to third with a 3,462 total.
"When it came to Baker, 'Oh my gosh,' '' Benoit said. "They're just so good at Baker. All I ask of them is, 'Give me two shots each, just give me two great shots in a game. That's all I want from you.' And that's how they approached it.''
"I don't know how to really react,'' Seaman senior Jack Easum said. "We didn't think it was going to happen, but once we heard the names, we're still kind of on cloud nine.
"As a team it was so fun just to see everyone smiling knowing it will probably be one of our top-five memories forever as a team. We'll all bowl league together and we'll remember this.''
