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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
No. 7-ranked Hayden girls basketball hosted city and Centennial League rival Topeka High Tuesday night, remaining undefeated in league play with a 51-40 home win over the Trojans.
Sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein scored a game-high 16 points Tuesday in Hayden's 51-40 Centennial League win over Topeka High. [File photo/TSN]
Topeka High would score first with senior Trish Short scoring the first basket, but Hayden would answer with sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein finding the basket to tie it up at two.
Hayden would go on a 8-2 run to end the first quarter up 10-4.
“In the first half, we only turned the ball over three times,'' Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said. "So when you only turn the ball over three times, you know you're going to start hitting stuff. I was actually happy when it was 10-4, I know we only had 10 points, but we were playing good defense.''
Both teams would wake up in the second quarter and would start finding the basket, as Topeka High junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton would score 4 of her 7 points in the quarter and the Trojans would go into halftime trailing the Wildcats, 23-15.
Both teams would come out of the locker room hoping for a spark and Hayden would get off to a hot start with a 9-5 run to get the third started and the Wildcats would stretch its lead to 32-18.
The Trojans would get a little spark but Hayden’s Alana Mitchell would get a steal at halfcourt and drive to the basket and force another turnover on the very next possession and grab another basket to kill the Trojans' rally as the third quarter would come to an end with the Wildcats up 38-26.
Topeka High sophomore Hailey Caryl would try to give her team a spark in the fourth as she would score the first two baskets in the quarter and would score 7 of her team-high 15 in the fourth quarter.
It wouldn’t be enough because Hayden’s Schmidtlein would score 6 more of her game-high 16 in the fourth to solidify the win for her team.
“Honestly, a big thing is I focus on my defense and my defensive effort and my attitude on defense can carry over and it will carry over,'' Schmidtlein said. "If we just keep playing as a team on defense, we were bound to start making shots.”
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By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' girls basketball team avenged its only United Kansas Conference loss of the season Tuesday night, postin a 63-56 home victory over Piper.
“Majority of the time, we kept the ball moving and any time they would try to come double, we would move the ball out of their double teams and a lot of times we got layups because of it,'' Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. "I just liked their overall composure.
“We made substitutions to keep the girls fresh and avoid turnovers and came back and held their composure,which is a testament to them.”
“I liked how everyone just stayed calm and we knew that we worked on it and we knew that we had to do what we did in practice,” said junior KK Emmot, who led the T-Birds with 15 points.
Emmot started out strong in the first quarter, nabbing the game's first bucket and would push SHHS out to an early 6-2 lead.
Piper’s Giuliana Benedetto hit a triple to make it 6-5 but Emmot’s 3-pointer later in the quarter from the top of the key made it 11-5 and the T-Birds led by six after one quarter.
Both teams were playing 2-3 zone on defense, which caused some fits for both teams creating turnovers and rushed possessions. The T-Birds were able to get out and run a little bit when getting a steal and lead to some points on the other end.
Piper’s Faith McCallop trimmed Shawnee Heights' lead to two at 16-14 after a mid-range jumper, with the Pirates going on a mini 6-2 run.
One thing that helped Shawnee Heights stay ahead in the first half was offensive rebounds and creating second chances. Senior Reianna Vega was one example, following the shot of senior Aubrey Hamilton in the paint and banking it off the glass for two.
“That was something we had talked about, that I thought that rebounding was going to be a big part of this game,” Wells said. “I think our girls took that to heart and we did a good job rebounding for the majority of the time.”
After a steal from Emmot, the T-Birds were able to run in transition as freshman Bijou Schmidt finished for a bucket, pushing the lead to seven, 23-16.
Emmot nailed another trey to give Heights a 26-18 advantage with three minutes left before halftime. In the winding seconds of the quarter, both teams traded buckets and SHHS led 29-25.
The third quarter was Vega’s quarter, scoring six straight, but and despite a brief cold spell, the T-Birds took a 39-32 lead.
Shawnee Heights extended its lead with a Imani McGlory 3-pointer off an inbounds play on the left wing and then SHHS forced a turnover, leading to another bucket from the senior, with the T-Birds reaching a 13 point lead at 46-33 and going into the fourth up 46-35.
In the fourth, Piper went on a 8-0 run, forcing Wells to call a timeout with 6:18 left.
Emmot picked up her fourth foul shortly after the timeout and had to sit for a couple of minutes to avoid the fifth foul.
But Heights was able to stave off the Pirates, asMcGlory hit a clutch 3 with 4:45 to stop the Piper run, 53-45.
After that, junior Permella Carter put the nail in the coffin with a baseline floater and then it became the foul game for Piper as the T-Birds picked up their seventh win of the season.
“Everyone was hype because practically beating them means we win the league pretty much and that’s our goal and we knew we had to beat them to get there,” Emmot said.
“Everyone of them had opportunities and took advantage of it whether it was a perimeter shot or taking it to the basket and it was a great team effort in practice and in the game to get this win,” Wells said.
Emmot led the T-Birds with 15, while McGlory and Carter both had 13 points and Vega added 12.
Piper's Faith McCallop led all scorers with 28 points for Piper and Brylee Gerber added 11.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 63, PIPER 56
Piper 8 17 10 21 – 56
Shawnee Heights 14 15 17 17 – 63
Piper (6-3, 5-1) – Benedetto 3 0-0 6, McPerson 1 0-0 2, F. McCallop 9 8-12 28, H. McCallop 1 0-2 2, Hollinshed 3 1-4 7, Gerber 4 2-2 11.
Shawnee Heights (7-3, 6-1) – Emmot 6 1-2 15, Brees 1 0-0 2, McGlory 5 1-2 13, Schmidt 1 0-0 2, Carter 3 7-10 13, Baum 2 2-4 6, Vega 6 0-0 12.
3-point goals – Piper 3 (F McCallop 2, Gerber 1), Shawnee Heights 4 (Emmot 2, McGlory 2). Total fouls – Piper 17, Shawnee Heights 17. Fouled out – none. Technical foul -- none.
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By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights boys basketball was in danger of letting a 25-point lead get away Tuesday night, but the T-Birds were able to hold off No. 7-ranked Piper in the final seconds for a 72-70 home United Kansas Conference victory.
JaiMarion Cook led Shawnee Heights with 25 points in Tuesday's 72-70 UKC win over Piper. [File photo/TSN]
The two programs have had their battles with one another over the last couple of years, especially in the state tournament, and Heights was able to snap a five-game losing streak to Piper.
“The first half was great and we were beating a great team by over 20 points,'' Shawnee Heights coach Ken Darting said. "We played great, but these guys get tired, missing free throws, turning the ball over, the shot comes up short. We can’t work any harder, I promise you, we just got to get more guys playing.''
Darting said the T-Birds currently have a small rotation and when they play a game like Tuesday's, players get gassed. Ja'Veon Alston started cramping and while freshman Quincy Dixon left the game after falling hard on his back drawing a foul early in the game.
“First half I thought we played great, we played as a team,'' Heights senior JaiMarion Cook said. "The whole season we’ve had a problem with closing games. Every game we’ve lost has come by single digits. We just got to learn how to stay poised as a team and I trusted in my teammates tonight and that’s why we got the win.''
Senior Aiden Scott scored the first seven points for SHHS after hitting a triple, putting them up 7-2. Piper would draw within one at 11-10 but that’s the closest they got for the remainder of the half.
Cook hit a 3-pointer with four seconds left in the first quarter off an assist from junior Cam Ross to put the T-Birds up 21-13.
Cook then took off, scoring 11 of the 13 points in the second quarter, while hitting two 3s, putting Heights up 27-17. About a minute later, off an offensive rebound, Alston put one off the window, forcing the Pirates into a timeout with 3:21 left in the half after Heights claimed its biggest lead, 29-17.
Cook went on to score five points down the stretch of the quarter, hitting three 3s in the right corner pocket, helping SHHS to an eight point lead at halftime, 34-26.
In the second half, Cook picked up where he left off, hitting another shot from distance to put the T-Birds in front 39-28 and Heights kept increasing its lead. Alston scored in transition off a turnover that caused Piper to call a timeout with 5:19 left in the third quarter.
The T-Birds got their lead up to 25, 57-32, after another Cook 3 and headed into the fourth quarter up 58-42.
But then the Pirates pressed, trapped and doubled teamed anytime they could to cut the deficit and they accomplished that goal, getting it down to a 60-52 game until Ross hit two free throws to put it back up to 10.
“For me it was how I can keep this team together?” Cook said. “How can I keep us all calm because we’ve been in these situations so many times and this game was the first time we got one of these done. I was trying to get my teammates all on the same page. During free throws, I was talking to each one of them on how we have to communicate.”
Piper brought it down to just two with 1:39 left in the game after converting a three-point play, 66-64, but then Ross and Alston put up four straight for the T-Birds as they led 70-66. But then Piper would score again, making it a two-point game.
It was getting loud and the tension was growing knowing the stakes of this game and recent history. Cooper Crawford for Piper drove in for a two-hand flush as SHHS led 71-70. Ross was then fouled off the inbounds play, made one of two free throws with about 10 seconds left and Piper couldn’t get a shot off as time expired.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There's no doubt that Seaman's earlier boys basketball game against Topeka West was a low point of the Vikings' 2025-2026 season, really the only low point in what has been an outstanding start.
Playing in front of their home fans on Dec. 12, the Vikings gave up 30 points to West in the opening eight minutes and trailed by 31 points after three quarters en route to a 71-57 loss to the Chargers.
Seaman senior KaeVon Bonner (33) scored a game-high 28 points in Tuesday's 57-52 UKC road win at Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
No. 3-ranked Seaman evened the score in Tuesday's rematch at No. 2 West, leading for most of the opening three quarters before rallying from a four-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to take a 57-52 United Kansas Conference victory.
"We gutted it out,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "I told our players that was probably the thing that stuck out to me the most was getting behind in that fourth quarter and being able to regroup, maintain some composure and find a way to get it done.''
Seaman, now 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the UKC, fell behind 6-0 early in the game, but the Vikings fought back behind senior star KaeVon Bonner to take a 13-12 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
The Vikings led by as many as eight points in the second stanza and took a 29-24 lead to the locker room at halftime, but Topeka West (7-2, 6-1) doubled up Seaman 14-7 in the third quarter to take a 38-36 advantage and scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter to go up by four points at 40-36.
Seaman answered with four straight points to knot things at 40-all and the game was close the rest of the way
West went up 52-50 on a hoop from junior Jasper Phillips with 1:52 remaining, but Seaman ended the game with the final seven points.
After Bonner tied the game at 52, senior Griffin Zuniga put the Vikings ahead to stay with 1:08 left and Bonner, senior Landon Wiltz and senior Matthew McConnaughey hit one of two free throws (Seaman was 11 of 22 on the night) down the the stretch.
Seaman senior Landon Wiltz reacts to a big play in Tuesday's 57-52 UKC win at Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Several players came up big down the stretch on both end of the floor, including Wiltz, who had 6 points, 8 rebounds and a pair of 3-pointers on the night.
"That's what we're going to need,'' Cox said. "As great as KaeVon is, we know those other guys are going to have to take advantage of their opportunities when those opportunites arise and they can help us. I think their confidence is growing and they're feeling real good about their team.''
Bonner, who was coming off a 42-point game at Lansing, scored 28 points Tuesday night while Zuniga added 15.
Bonner said Tuesday's win was huge for the Vikings, especially considering how the earlier game with West went.
"We definitely just wanted it a lot more this game,'' Bonner said. "We knew they beat us that first game and it was pretty embarrassing that first quarter. We just knew we had to get out on them because they shot really well against us, so we got out on them and we just wanted it a lot more (this game).
"We knew they were ranked higher than us and we just wanted this one really bad. I know I made a couple of dumb turnovers and I was getting a little exhausted, but we had people on our team that stepped up and really helped us out toward the end.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman senior standout Maddie Gragg reached the 1,000-point scoring milestone early in Tuesday night's United Kansas Conference game at Topeka West and the Vikings took control in the second half en route to a 49-26 win.
Seaman senior Maddie Gragg (32) eclipsed the 1,000-point milestone for her career in Tuesday's 49-26 UKC road win at Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Gragg entered Tuesday's game needing just three points to reach 1,000 points and scored the first four points of the game to reach the milestone a minute into the contest on the way to a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
"She's so unselfish and her role this year is a lot different than it was the last few years,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "She's taken on that leadership role well and I like that she's bringing the young kids along with her.
"She really doesn't like the attention, but this was a good accomplishment for Maddie and the girls are happy for her, too.''
It took Seaman a lot longer to reach its top form as a team, with the No. 10-ranked (Class 5A) Vikings leading by just four points at the end of the opening quarter (16-12) and by just three points (19-16) at halftime before pulling away after halftime with a dominating performance.
The Vikings, now 6-2 overall and 6-1 in the UKC, scored the first eight points of the second half, building a 27-16 advantage with 6:18 left in the third stanza on a 3-pointer from junior Brynn Spencer.
Seaman led 38-26 at the start of the fourth quarter and pitched a shutout over the final eight minutes, outscoring the Chargers 11-0 to stretch its final advantage to 23 points.
"I had to get into them a little bit at halftime,'' Tinsley said. "And that's just kind of been our thing this year, teams being a little tougher than we are and someone gets in our face and we don't take it right back to them, so I challenged them at halftime pretty good and I'm so proud of how they came back and responded.
"I told them, 'There's no secred to this game. You just have to be stronger than they are and when someone gets in your face you need to accept the challenge because that's what being a competitor is.' ''
Seaman junior Brynn Spencer (top), battling for a loose ball, scored 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers in Tuesday's 49-26 UKC win at Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman freshman Baylee Ayres (23) scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Tuesday's 49-26 UKC win at Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
In addition to Gragg's double-double, Spencer and freshman Baylee Ayres also scored 10 points apiece while junior Jaydin Frickey added 9 points. Ayres also grabbed nine rebounds and sophomore Lydia Dreher had eight boards.
