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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West survived a tough road challenge at Junction City Friday night, taking a 65-62 Centennial League win to improve to 15-1 overall and 11-1 in the league.
West, which ran its win streak to 14 games, protected its share of the league lead while sweeping the season series with the Blue Jays in a pair of close wins. The Chargers took a 67-66 overtime decision over Junction City in the first game between the two teams.
No. 2-ranked Topeka West led 17-15 at the end of the first quarter Friday night and led by seven (41-34) at the half before pushing its advantage to 56-46 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Junction City (11-6, 8-5) rallied over the final eight minutes but the Chargers were able to hold on for the important league win despite hitting just eight of 23 free throw attempts on the night.
Junior Sincere Austin, who scored 25 points in Tuesday's win over Manhattan, led Topeka West with 21 points while senior star Elijah Brooks added 17, all in the first half.
Junior Malachi Berg was the third Charger in double figures, scoring 10 points.
Topeka West will host Hayden on Tuesday.
TOPEKA WEST GIRLS 54, JUNCTION CITY 22 -- Topeka West rolled to a 54-22 road win over Junction City Friday night, with the Chargers picking up their second win of the season.
Topeka West, now 2-14 overall and 2-10 in the Centennial League, avenged a 32-30 loss to the Blue Jays earlier in the season.
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By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Seaman and Hayden boy’s basketball faced off Friday night in a game featuring two teams towards the opposite end of the Centennial league standings.
That separation showed in the second half when the Vikings rattled off 52 points en route to an 82-52 win over the Wildcats at Hayden.
Eighty-two points is a season-high for Seaman, which shot over 70 percent in the game and converted 24 free throws.
“Those guys that started the game tonight are all very capable of having a big night and I love the fact that they found each other and were able to all contribute on the offensive end,” Seaman coach Craig Cox said.
The win moved Seaman to 9-7 on the year while Hayden fell to 3-12, marking a third straight loss.
It was a post-centric game to begin, which benefitted Hayden junior Joe Otting, who had eight in the first eight minutes.
After falling into a hole early the Vikings responded quickly. Senior Ty Henry and junior Kaeden Bonner each had four in the opening quarter as Seaman led, 13-11.
The Vikings began to build a lead in the second quarter, with five players scoring in a balanced offensive attack, led by five points from senior Mateo Hyman as the lead expanded to as many as 11.
“I thought our guys did a great job of finding each other and still attacking and being able to build a big lead,” Cox said. “I thought our defense and our rebounding were outstanding in limiting Hayden’s opportunities.”
On the other end, Otting converted an and-one with just under a minute remaining in the quarter to make it a 30-22 game at halftime.
Seaman came out of the break on a 9-0 run in the first three minutes, capped off by a 3-pointer from Bonner.
The Wildcats responded with three quick 3-pointers, two coming from junior Jake Muller, to stay within 10.
The Vikings would keep pushing with strong inside play from Henry and drives by Bonner as the entire team lived at the free-throw line where they converted 24 of 27 attempts in the game.
Five more points inside of the final eight seconds would blow the game open and result in an 18-point game at the end of three.
Seaman would quickly push the lead to 20 in the fourth quarter as all five starters entered into double figures. The Vikings emptied the bench as the lead touched 30, where it would stay with the final score of 82-52.
“We got two games at home this week, so we want to build on these two that we got this week and try to get as much momentum as we can heading into the playoffs,” Cox said.
Henry led Seaman with 18 on 7-8 shooting, Bonner finished with 17 and Hyman with 14. Senior Gavin Wilhelm and junior Aron Davis each finished with 10 points.
For Hayden, Otting had 18 points, Muller had 12 and senior Trent Duffey had 11.
The win was the second in a row for the Vikings, who moved to 8-5 in league play. On the other side the Wildcats fell to 2-10 in the league.
Both teams stay home for their next game, with Seman taking on Topeka High on Tuesday and Hayden playing host to Tonganoxie Monday.
SEAMAN BOYS 82, HAYDEN BOYS 52
Seaman 13 17 25 27 -- 82
Hayden 11 11 17 13 -- 52
Seaman (9-7, 8-5) – Parsel 0-0 0-0 0, Freeman 1-1 0-0 3, Hyman 3-3 8-9 14, Unruh 0-0 0-0 0, Henry 7-8 4-4 18, Bonner 6-8 2-2 17, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Wilhelm 1-1 7-8 10, Finley 1-1 2-2 4, Barta 1-1 2-2 4, Davis 4-7 2-2 10. Totals 24-30 24-27 82.
Hayden (3-12, 2-10) – Bartlett 1-2 0-0 3, Muller 4-9 0-0 12, Scott 0-1 0-0 0, Foster 1-3 0-0 3, Duffey 3-8 3-4 11, Ham 0-2 0-0 0, Gorman 0-3 0-0 0, Otting 7-10 5-5 19, Rice 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 17-37 8-9 52.
3-point goals – Seaman 4 (Bonner 2, Wilhelm, Freeman). Hayden 8 (Mueller 4, Duffey 2, Bartlett, Foster). Total fouls – Seaman 11 Hayden 23. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – Hayden ench.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Winning basketball games in the Mid-East league is always a difficult task and for Rossville's boys, those wins have been hard to come by this season.
The Bulldawgs' fortunes changed with a narrow 46-43 home win over rival Silver Lake Friday night.
“Tonight was pretty intense that’s for sure,” said Rossville coach Eammon Bradley. “The kids deserved it. We’ve been a team that’s struggled to get all of our players to practice. COVID, football, and all of this stuff. Our guys have bought into playing hard, playing tough, playing with good defensive fundamentals… They’ve grown a lot.”
The Rossville win would’ve been much harder to achieve if guard Kade Perine hadn’t stepped up in a big way.
Perine has been in his element lately with 24 points on Friday night and 68 points in his last three games.
“Being more calm and collected has helped me a lot this year,” said Perine. “Getting my teammates the basketball more has helped me more. The more shots they hit, the more shots I hit.”
Rossville’s confidence was rolling early. The Dawg defense held an athletic Silver Lake offense to four points in the first quarter, while the offense scored 13.
Silver Lake would fight back and put some points on the board in the second quarter, outscoring the Dawgs, 11-9. The momentum flipped in favor of Silver Lake going into the halftime break.
Although the Eagles were in a 7-point deficit at the half, they had Rossville right where they wanted them.
Silver Lake needed to avoid the lack-of-point production in the third quarter as they did in the first. Fortunately for Rossville, the defense produced again.
The Eagles were only able to put up a slim six points in the third quarter. Rossville would have the game in their favor with the 14-point lead by the end of the third.
After struggling for most of the night to shoot the ball, the Eagles did not resist in crunch time.
In the first 5:16 of the fourth quarter, Silver Lake went on a 14-5 run, inching closer and closer to Rossville.
With 3:08 to go, Silver Lake missed four consecutive shots but collected the offensive rebounds. They would go on to miss the fifth shot and Rossville took advantage of the opportunity shortly after with a critical timeout.
Rossville would work slowly and methodically keep the basketball away from the Eagles' hands. Silver Lake would lose patience and needed to foul Rossville to get the ball back.
Perine would work his way out of double teams and the Eagles pressing defense to get the ball in his hands. Perine would be fouled three times in the closing minutes of the game which was troublesome for Silver Lake as Perine would knock down six of his eight free throws in the fourth quarter.
Silver Lake outscored Rossville in the fourth quarter, 22-11, but it wouldn’t be enough to take away Rossville’s lead.
The “War on 24” games between Silver Lake and Rossville is always emotional. In Friday night’s win, the team fed off of the energy in the gym.
“I always love beating Silver Lake,” said Perine. “I had a lot of confidence the first time we met this year and tonight. I am so glad we beat (Silver Lake).”
Rossville will take on the Wabaunsee Chargers on Tuesday.
“Wabaunsee is always a pretty tough matchup,” said Bradley. “They’re well-coached, good defensively and they are terrific offensively. I know the (previous) game wasn’t that long ago, but this is a different group. We’ve been a lot more productive in our practices.”
ROSSVILLE BOYS 46, SILVER LAKE 43
Rossville 13 9 13 11 – 46
Silver Lake 4 11 6 22 – 43
Rossville (3-13) – Perine 7 7-10 24, Patrizi 2 2-3 6, Bush 0 1-3 1, Lietz 2 0-0 4, Badura 2 2-2 8, Broce 0 2-4 2, Horak 0 1-2 1.
Silver Lake (6-11) – Mountain 3 0-0 6, Kaniper 3 1-1 7, Renfro 1 0-0 2, Heimen 3 0-2 7, C. Johnson 1 2-2 4, Womack 4 0-0 9, Vandevelde 2 2-4 6, Stithem 1 0-0 2.
3-point goals – Rossville 5 (Perine 3, Badura 2), Silver Lake 2 (Heiman, Womack). Total fouls – Rossville 13, Silver Lake 25. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
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By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Hayden's girls basketball played host to Seaman on Friday night, with the Vikings coming in ranked No. 8 in Class 5A and fourth in the Centennial League, just one spot above the Wildcats.
Seaman would stay on top, using a balanced scoring attack and attacking offense to post a 50-38 win over the Wildcats.
“The girls were great, they came out with a great attitude from the get-go,” Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. “We just had to battle tonight. The game honors toughness and we were really tough tonight.”
The game moved Seaman to 11-5 on the year while Hayden fell to 8-7.
After scoring only 20 points earlier in the week Seaman’s offense started strong, with 16 points in the first quarter.
Strong defense led to easy opportunities for the Vikings and limited Hayden’s opportunities to make it a 16-7 game after one.
Four early points in the second quarter from Seaman sophomore Taylin Stallbaumer pushed the lead to double digits.
“I thought offensively we shot the shots that we talked about wanting to shoot before the game. And defensively had we not fouled them early I thought we did a pretty good job of guarding them,” Tinsley said.
For the Wildcats, senior Macy Smith kept them in the game with aggressive drives to the basket, converting two old-fashioned three-point plays and scoring eight points in the half.
The Vikings' offense kept humming, with a second 3-pointer from Stallbaumer extending the lead to 13 points just before the two-minute mark. They would take a 30-16 lead into the break.
“They put us in kind of what felt like a panic mode, where we were shooting really quick shots and not the best shots and that hurt us,” said Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson.
Both sides had trouble with turnovers in the third quarter, leading to a low-scoring eight minutes. Four early points in the frame from Hayden senior Carly Stuke helped cut the lead down to 12 points heading into the fourth quarter.
Offense picked up again in the fourth quarter, first for the Wildcats. Freshman Brylee Meier knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game, cutting the lead to nine points early on.
On the other end, sophomore Brooklyn Gormley continued to work out of the post for Seaman, scoring four quick points to put her in double figures for the game.
The lead stayed at or above eight points into the final four minutes as the Vikings began to run down the clock. Two offensive rebounds from Seaman freshman Anna Becker helped drain more than two minutes of clock in one possession.
Hayden would not get any closer down the stretch as the Vikings made free throws late to give them the 12-point win.
“The biggest factor was rebounding, we didn't rebound very well,” Reynoldson said. “I think we got it to seven … then we had to foul them and they made their free throws so it was a frustrating night.”
Becker led Seaman with 13 points, after going 5-6 at the line down the stretch. Stallbaumer had 12 with two 3-pointers and Gormley had 11 on 5-8 shooting.
“We are better when everyone is involved and we are getting people with their heads up at the right time. Hayden had a good game plan and we just came out and executed,” Tinsley said.
The Wildcats were led by Smith and Stuke with 12 points each, including two triples from Stuke.
The game moved the Vikings to 9-4 in league play while Hayden dropped to 6-6 in the Centennial.
Both teams will stay home for the next game with Seaman taking on No. 2 ranked Topeka High on Tuesday and the Wildcats hosting Tonganoxie Monday.
SEAMAN GIRLS 50, HAYDEN 38
Seaman: 16 14 7 13 -- 50
Hayden: 7 9 9 13 -- 38
Seaman (11-5, 9-4) – Anderson 1-6 0-0 3, Schumann 2-4 0-0 4, Stallbaumer 4-8 2-5 12, Becker 4-12 5-6 13, Gormley 5-8 1-2 11, Mills 0-1 0-0 0, Esser 1-4 5-6 7. Totals 17-43, 13-19 50.
Hayden (8-7, 6-6) – Grunert 0-1 0-0 0, Lenherr 1-2 0-0 2, Sandstrom 0-4 1-2 1, Smith 5-17 2-2 12, Stuke 5-11 0-0 12, Schmidtlein 0-0 0-0 0, Meier 2-5 0-0 6, Greco 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-41 4-6 38.
3-point goals – Seaman 3 (Stallbaumer 2, Anderson 1). Hayden 4 (Stuke 2, Meier 2). Total fouls – Seaman 12, Hayden 14. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Silver Lake’s 21-8 run in the third quarter was the boost that the Lady Eagles needed in Friday night’s 68-46 victory at Rossville.
Silver Lake extended its winning streak against Rossville to 10 games with Friday night’s Mid-East League victory.
Despite holding the No. 1 ranking in Class 3A, Silver Lake has one of the youngest teams in the Mid-East League.
Out of the 17 girls on the roster, only one player is a senior. Yet, the Eagles play a veteran-like style of basketball.
Leading the youthful squad is the sophomore trifecta of McKinley Kruger, Kaibryn Kruger and Makenzie McDaniel, which continued its success with solid performances against Rossville.
Kaibryn Kruger led Silver Lake with 19 points, while McKinley Kruger added 14 and McDaniel 13 points.
Kaibryn Kruger knocked down five 3-pointers to provide a spark for the Eagless.
“I’ve been working on my three’s and building confidence in myself throughout the season,” said Kaibryn Kruger. “I feel like that not just me, but the team is becoming who we want to be when we shoot. We are in a good rhythm.”
Although Silver Lake won by a sizeable margin, the game was close in the first half. Rossville was just two points away from a tie and the Lady Dawgs had the lead three times in the first half.
“The first half, credit to Rossville, (they) made us pay,” said Eagle coach Kyle Porter.
The morale and swagger of the Lady Eagles were flipped by a McKinley Kruger 3-point buzzer-beater going into the locker room at halftime. The mood from that point changed.
A barrage of 3-pointers by the Lady Eagles in the third quarter made it impossible for Rossville to catch up.
Coach Porter wanted the girls to take more high-quality shots in the second half and do it quickly.
“We talked a lot in the locker room about taking better shots,” Porter said. “We settled into too many bad shots in the first half which gave (Rossville) the upper hand. In the second half, we didn’t settle. We attacked the paint much better, played tougher and took better shots.”
Any momentum that the Lady Dawgs did have disappeared after Silver Lake’s 21-8 run in the third.
After playing its third game of the week, Silver Lake will get some much-needed rest. They will have six days off before they hit the road to take on Royal Valley.
“We’re going to learn from the games we played in this week,” said Porter. “There are plenty of things for us to get better at. We have things to get better at on both sides of the ball. We are looking forward to a good four days of practice.”
Rossville will look to bounce back with a win on Tuesday against Wabaunsee. They defeated the Lady Chargers back on February 4th.
SILVER LAKE GIRLS 68, ROSSVILLE 46
Silver Lake 16 11 21 20 – 68
Rossville 12 13 8 13 – 46
Silver Lake (15-1) -- Farmer 3 0-0 6, McDaniel 6 1-5 13, K. Kruger 6 2-2 19, M. Kruger 5 2-2 14, Ross 3 0-2 6, Deiter 3 1-2 8, Menhert 0 1-2 1, Brewster 0 1-2 1.
Rossville (9-8) – Perine 4 0-0 8, Douglas 2 2-4 6, Mitchell 5 3-3 13, Porter 2 2-4 8, Gillum 2 1-2 6, Haehn 2 0-0 4, Rezac 0 1-2 1.
3-point goals – Silver Lake 8 (K. Kruger 5, M. Kruger 2, Deiter), Rossville 3 (Porter 2, Gillum). Total fouls – Silver Lake 16, Rossville 17. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.