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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For the most part, defense has been the strength of Washburn Rural's boys basketball team this season, while the Junior Blues' offense has struggled at times.
Friday night at Topeka High the Junior Blues flourished on both ends of the court, scoring early and often to take control in the first half while holding the Trojans' offense in check throughout the game en route to a 60-35 Centennial League victory.
"We hit some shots and had some guys step up,'' Washburn Rural coach Kevin Muff said. "I thought we did a really good job on the glass. That was big and defensively we haven't shown man since Christmas, so to come out and guard man to man and make the adjustment we needed to make I thought that was probably the biggest key for us.
"We didn't allow them to get in the paint and that's something we haven't been very good at.''
Washburn Rural senior Quincey Kidd (2) reacts after hitting a 3-pointer in Friday's 60-35 win at Topeka High. Kidd scored a game-high 14 points for Rural, which hit nine 3s in the game. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural, which improved to 8-9 overall and 7-6 in the league, set the tone for the night when it opened up a commanding 22-8 advantage in the opening quarter.
The Junior Blues increased their lead to 37-17 at halftime and took a 49-25 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Washburn Rural outscored Topeka High (4-13, 4-9) in all four quarters Friday night while not allowing more than 10 points in a quarter.
Washburn Rural junior Jack Bachelor, who had 12 points, drives to the basket in Friday's 60-35 win over Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Offensively, senior Quincey Kidd led three players in double figures for the Junior Blues with 14 points while junior Jack Bachelor added 12 points, Wyatt Conklin 11 and Griffin Durst eight.
The Junior Blues connected on nine 3-pointers, with Conklin hitting three treys and Kidd and Durst two apiece.
Rural has been up and down as of late, but the Junior Blues won two of three games on the week, sandwiching wins over Junction City and Topeka High around a loss to Seaman.
"I was not happy with our performance against Seaman and Hayden (the previous Friday), but I thought we played good against Junction,'' Muff said. "We've got to find that consistency and for us it's got to come from our bench because we've got to be able to rest Quincey, we've got to be able to rest Jack and some of those guys that put a lot of miles on.''
Sophomore BJ Canady led Topeka High with eight points while senior Matt Flenoy added seven.
WASHBURN RURAL BOYS 60, TOPEKA HIGH 35
Washburn Rural 22 15 12 11 -- 60
Topeka High 8 9 8 10 -- 35
Washburn Rural (8-9, 7-6) – Kidd 4 4-4 14, Hirschi 2 0-0 4, Bachelor 5 1-1 12, Durst 3 0-0 8, Conklin 4 0-0 11, Bunck 0 0-1 0, Morris 2 0-0 5, Bowen 0 0-0 0, J. Heim 0 0-0 0, JC Heim 1 0-0 2, Ross 2 0-0 4. Totals 23 5-6 60.
Topeka High (4-13, 4-9) – Lyons 1 1-2 3, Mays 0 0-0 0, Cameron 0 0-0 0, Thrasher 1 0-0 3, Canady 4 0-0 8, Brown 0 0-0 0, Baumgardner 2 0-0 6, Norman 1 0-0 2, Flenoy 3 1-2 7, Hales 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Gome 2 0-0 6, Kincade 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 2-4 35.
3-point goals – Washburn Rural 9 (Conklin 3, Kidd 2, Durst 2, Bachelor, Morris), Topeka High 5 (Gomez 2, Baumgardner 2, Thrasher). Total fouls – Washburn Rural 6, Topeka High 14. Fouled out – none.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High senior girls basketball standout Tae Thomas thinks there are still people that question how good the Lady Trojans really are.
But that is becoming increasingly harder to do, especially after Friday's 46-42 home comeback victory over Washburn Rural in a showdown between Class 6A's No. 2 Trojans and No. 3 Junior Blues at Topeka High.
With the win the Trojans improved to 16-0 overall and 12-0 in the Centennial League while taking a two-game lead in the league race over the Junior Blues, who are now 15-2 and 11-2.
"I feel like this definitely set us off for the rest of the season with our confidence and our motivation and how many people doubt us and everything,'' Thomas said. "I feel like we're used to that now and we're used to being the underdog, so I feel like this definitely proved to the city, proved to the state that we are where we're supposed to be and we belong there.''
Topeka High celebrates at the end of Friday's 46-42 Centennial League win over Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural equaled its biggest lead of the night with 3:08 remaining when sophomore Jada Ingram scored to give the Junior Blues a 37-32 advantage.
Thomas hit a free throw to cut the Trojans' deficit to four points with 2:56 left and over the next 36 seconds multiple things went against the Junior Blues and Topeka High took full advantage, scoring 10 unanswered points to build a five-point advantage with 54.6 seconds remaining.
With the Junior Blues nursing a 37-33 lead after a Thomas free throw, Rural's Ingram was whistled for what appeared to be a non-contact foul and fouled out with 2:53 left.
Thomas then scored to cut Rural's lead to 37-35 at the 2:45 mark before Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick was called for a technical foul four seconds later.
Bordewick insisted that all he was trying to do was get a time out.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University men's basketball team won its 15th game in a row at Lincoln, remaining unbeaten since the Eisenhower Administration in Jefferson City, Mo. with a 77-61 MIAA win over the Blue Tigers Thursday night in Jason Gym.
Washburn, which snapped a brief two-game losing streak, led 39-26 at the break after jumping out to a 10-2 lead 3:35 into the game as Jalen Lewis scored seven of Washburn's first 12 points of the game.
Lincoln cut the lead to 12-9 but the Ichabods used a 10-0 run to push the lead back to 22-9. Washburn stretched its lead to 15 but three straight layups by the Blue Tigers (2-18, 1-14 MIAA) forced an Ichabod timeout before Washburn (14-9, 11-6 MIAA) finished with four points in a row to take the 13-point lead into the locker room.
Senior Tyler Geiman paced five Washburn double-figure scorers with 18 points in Thursday's 77-61 win at Lincoln. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn shot 55 percent in the opening frame, hitting 15 of 29 shots and 5 of 9 from deep, while holding Lincoln to 34 percent and 2 of 11 from 3-point range.
Washburn out-rebounded the Blue Tigers 22 to 13 in the half.
To start the second half, the Ichabods outscored the Blue Tigers 11-2 over the first three minutes while hitting 5 of their first 6 shots while building a 50-28 lead.
After the Blue Tigers cut back the lead to 16 at 56-40, Washburn used a 9-0 lead to go up a game-high 25 before Lincoln finished on an 11-2 run to end the game.
Senior Tyler Geiman led the Ichabods with 18 points, pacing five Washburn players in double figures.
Jeremy Harrell recorded his second double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Lewis and Connor Deffebaugh finished with 10 points as did Jonny Clausing, who hit 5 of 6 shots off the bench.
Michael Keegan had nine points and nine boards.
The Ichabods held the Blue Tigers to 39 percent shooting on 24 of 61 from the field while the Ichabods finished at 51 percent, going 31 of 61 overall as Washburn led 39:18 of the game.
Washburn also held a 43 to 32 advantage on the glass and outscored Lincoln 42 to 28 in the paint.
Washburn will host Central Missouri at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Five Washburn University women's basketball players reached double figures in scoring while Abby Oliver and Macy Doebele registered double-doubles in Thursday's 67-55 MIAA road win at Lincoln.
Senior Hunter Bentley made program history again at the start of the game as she passed April Roadhouse (2002-06) for the most games played in a Washburn uniform.
Bentley has played in every Washburn game since her 2017-18 freshman season and has now competed in 136 games in her career.
Senior Hunter Bentley made Washburn women's basketball history when she played in her 136th career game Thursday night at Lincoln. [File photo/TSN]
Thursday's first quarter was back and forth as there were five lead changes and two ties.
Washburn (11-11, 9-7 MIAA) took the lead with a 6-0 run starting at the 1:35 mark before the Blue Tigers hit a jumper to cut the Ichabod lead to 13-10 at the end of the opening period.
Lincoln (5-18, 1-16 MIAA) leveled the score at 13 and then 17 before Shae Sanchez sparked an 8-0 spurt to put the Ichabods up, 25-17, with 3:05 left in the first half.
The Blue Tigers fought back and scored nine unanswered points, capped off by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to hold a 26-25 advantage at halftime.
The Ichabod offense got off to a hot start in the second half as WU opened the third quarter on a 12-2 scoring tear to go in front, 37-28, at the midway mark.
Washburn outscored Lincoln 23-12 in the quarter and held a 48-38 lead heading into the fourth.
The Blue Tigers hit two free throws to begin the fourth frame and pull within eight points, but they would get no closer as Washburn closed out the double-figure victory.
Washburn finished the night shooting 36.8 percent from the field while Lincoln had a 32.3 field goal percentage. WU made 5 of 17 attempts from 3-point distance while LU was 3 of 15. The Ichabods dominated on the glass and pulled down 20 more rebounds than the Blue Tigers, 53-33.
Sanchez scored a season-high 15 points off the bench and was a perfect 3 for 3 from behind the arc.
Doebele notched a double-double after she made 7 of 10 shots from the field for 14 points to go with 11 boards, five assists, and two steals.
Bentley contributed 13 points and six rebounds and Nuria Barrientos was right behind with 12 points and seven rebounds. Oliver achieved her first double-double of the season, totaling 11 points and 10 rebounds while dishing out four assists.
The Blue Tigers had three players finish in double-digits and were paced by Hya Haywood's 15 points.
The Ichabods will return home to host their Pink Out Game against Central Missouri on Saturday at 1 p.m.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Thursday's Centennial League swimming and diving championships at the Capitol Federal Natatorium still went down to the final event to decide the team champ.
But after winning the city title by a mere four points over Seaman, Washburn Rural ended up with just a little more breathing room in the league meet, using a win in the meet-ending 400-yard free relay to take the title by a 413-396 margin over the Vikings.
Washburn Rural entered the final event of the day with just a nine-point advantage over Seaman, but the foursome of Jack Miranda, Will Powell, Brogan Meier and Nathen Trachta took a dominating eight-second win over Manhattan in 3 minutes, 23.92 seconds to close out the chqmpionship.
"I was a little nervous when I heard that one of our swimmers got (disqualified in an event), but I had faith that we could pull it off,'' said Trachta, a senior.
Thursday's win gave the Junior Blues a three-peat in both the city and Centennial League meets.
"It feels really good, I'm proud of the team,'' Trachta said.
Senior Nathen Trachta won four gold medals on the day, helping lead Washburn Rural to its third straight Centennial League team title. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural's Jack Miranda followed up his four gold-medal performance in the city meet with four more golds in Thursday's Centennial League swimming and diving championships. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural posted wins in six of 12 events on the day, with Miranda and Trachta both earning four gold medals.
Miranda won the 200 freestyle (1:49.41) and the 500 freestyle (4:54.93) while Trachta took wins in the 100 butterfly (54.19) and the 100 backstroke (57.18).
In addition to the 400 freestyle relay Miranda and Trachta teamed with Jalen Eilert and Luke Lemke to win the 200 free relay in 1:33.25.
Washburn Rural coach Jordan Metz knew that Thursday's meet had the potential to be just as close as the city meet was, but she said she had confidence in her team.
"I still just had to put my faith in the guys,'' Metz said. "I knew they did it at city and I was like, 'They can get it again today at league.'
"They did and I couldn't be prouder of them.''
In her second season as the Junior Blues' coach, Metz has never lost a city or league meet with Rural.
"It's a great feeling,'' Metz said. "As this is my second season, going back to back in both meets it's a very fun feeling and I know the guys are super excited and that just makes me excited.''
Seaman's Colin O'Rourke was the Centennial League champion in the 200 individual medley, helping the Vikings finish second as a team. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman's Adin Florence finished a close second in the 100 freestyle (above) and won the league title in the 100 breast. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Runner-up Seaman got wins from Colin O'Rourke in the 200 individual medley (2:06.58) and Adin Florence in the 100 breaststoke (1:04.20) and the Vikings posted top-three finishes in eight of 12 events.
Manhattan finished third in the team standings, picking up a win in the meet-opening 200 medley relay (1:42.82), while Topeka High finished fourth as a team, followed by Junction City, Hayden, Emporia and Topeka West.
Junction City's Gabriel Lamb was a double individual winner, taking victories in the 50 freestyle (22.71) and the 100 freestyle (51.65).
Emporia's Braxton Higgins won the one-meter diving event with a score of 455.00.
The boys state swimming and diving championships will be held Feb. 17-19 at the Capitol Federal Natatorium.
TOPEKA CITY SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS At Capitol Federal Natatorium
Team scores
