- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seven Shawnee County basketball teams earned state rankings in the latest rankings released Tuesday by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
Topeka West, which has won 10 straight games to improve to 11-1, is No. 2 in the Class 5A boys rankings, just ahead of Highland Park (10-2) at No. 3.
Rick Bloomquist's Topeka West boys are ranked No. 2 in Class 5A by the KBCA after winning last weekend's Topeka Invitational Tournament. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Silver Lake, 9-1 on the season, moved up to No. 2 in the 3A girls state rankings.
Topeka High's girls are ranked No. 4 in 6A while Washburn Rural holds down the No. 6 spot in 6A.
Topeka High is 9-0 entering this week's Capital City Classic at High while Rural will take a 9-1 record into the Lady Firebirds Winter Classic at Lawrence Free State.
Shawnee Heights and Seaman cracked the 5A girls rankings at No. 9 and No. 10.
KANSAS BASKETBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION STATE RANKINGS
GIRLS
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's men's basketball team, which has won five of its last six games and seven of its last nine, will be looking to continue its hot streak when the Ichabods host Newman in a 7:30 p.m. MIAA tilt Wednesday night in Lee Arena.
The Ichabods, 11-7 overall and 8-4 in the MIAA, will be facing a Newman team that is 4-11, 1-9.
The Ichabods are coming off 68-65 home win over Emporia State last Saturday, winning on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by junior Jalen Lewis.
Washburn junior Jalen Lewis (left), who leads the Ichabods with a 13.4 scoring average, hit a game-winning 3-pointer in Saturday's 68-65 win over Emporia State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn senior Tyler Geiman has helped the Ichabods win five out of their last six games and seven of their last nine. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Jets are coming off an 82-53 loss to Northwest Missouri on Saturday.
Washburn won the first meeting of the season against Newman on Dec. 11 in Wichita, taking a 72-61 victory over the Jets.
The Ichabods lead the all-time series with Newman, 27-7, and have won the last six games in a row.
Lewis leads the team in scoring with a 13.4 scoring average while hitting 39 of 97 3-pointers.
Senior Tyler Geiman is averaging 13.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 6.3 assists in 11 games this season.
Geiman went over the 600 assist plateau against Missouri Western and the 600 rebound mark in his career against Missouri Southern.
Freshman Michael Keegan is averaging 9.8 poiints and 6.1 rebounds per game, while sophomore Connor Deffebaugh is averaging 9.4 points and has averaged 14.7 points in is last three games.
Israel Barnes leads Newman with an 18.8 scoring average while Stevie Strong averages 15.4 points.
Washburn closes out the week on Saturday, hosting Central Oklahoma in a 3 p.m. MIAA game.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women's basketball team continues its homestand this week, hosting Newman in a 5:30 p.m. MIAA contest Wednesday at Lee Arena.
The Ichabods won back-to-back home games last week, improving to 7-9 overall and 5-5 in MIAA play with a 72-67 win over rival Emporia State on Saturday.
Washburn has won its last four home games heading into Wednesday's game against Newman, 2-17, 0-13.
The Ichabods and Jets met earlier this season in Wichita, with Washburn posting a 51-40 win on Dec. 11.
Newman is winless on the road this season with a record of 0-7 in true away games.
Senior Hunter Bentley averages a team-high 13 points for Washburn, which will host Newman in a 5:30 p.m. contest Wednesday at Lee Arena. [File photo/TSN]
Senior Hunter Bentley averages a team-high 13 points for Washburn, ranking 12th in the MIAA, and has scored eight or more points in 14 of 16 games this season.
Bentley, who scored a game-high 18 points against Emporia State, is No. 8 on Washburn's career scoring list with 1,409 points. She needs 59 more points to pass former teammate Reagan Phelan.
Bentley passed Phelan for the second-most minutes played in a Washburn uniform and is up to 3,838. Shelley Foster (1991-95) is the all-time leader with 3,978 minutes played.
Abby Oliver continues to excel off the bench and has scored in double-digits in each of the last three games, including 13 points against Emporia State on Saturday. Oliver averages 4.4 rebounds.
Macy Doebele contributes 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds for the Ichabods and finished with seven points and six rebounds against the Lady Hornets.
Senior Nuria Barrientos averages 6.3 points and leads the Ichabods with 5.4 rebounds per game. She has also registered a team-best 21 blocks (1.3 average), ranking fifth in the league.
Barrientos is coming off a 15-point, 14-rebound performance against ESU, her third double-double of the season.
Newman went 4-18 in the conference-only season last year. The Jets' two victories this season came back-to-back on Nov. 23 and Nov. 27 against Cottey College and Manhattan Christian College.
Newman is led by Tiffany Dortland, who averages 10.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.6 asists.
Britney Ho averages 9.3 points while Faith Mason-Vestal leads the Jets with 5.5 rebounds per game and shoots 87 percent from the free throw line.
Drew Johnson is in his first season coaching the Jets after coaching four seasons at Bethel. Johnson's wife, former Kansas State star and WNBA player Nicole Ohlde-Johnson, is the co-head coach.
Washburn closes out the week on Saturday, hosting Central Oklahoma in a 1 p.m. MIAA game.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Forty-three. 43. XLIII.
No matter how you put it, scoring 43 points in a high school basketball game is a monster number, and senior Elijah Brooks and his Topeka West Chargers needed every last one of those 43 points to pull out a 67-66 overtime Centennial League victory over a talented Junction City team Tuesday night at West.
Brooks who scored 30 or more points for the fourth straight game, hit 15 of 20 shots from the field, including a 3-pointer, and connected on 12 of 16 free throws as No. 2-ranked Topeka West battled back from 12-point deficit early in the third quarter to improve to 11-1 overall and remain tied for the Centennial League lead at 7-1.
"I'm just glad to get out of here with a win,'' Brooks said. "Coming off the (Topeka Invitational) and playing tonight, it was kind of hard. We played alright, but the intensity was down and the energy was low.
We were all sluggish and stuff, but we got it done and we'll go on.''
Topeka West senior Elijah Brooks (4) scored a career-high 43 points as the Chargers outlasted Junction City in overtime, 67-66, Tuesday night at West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Tuesday's game included nine ties and 11 lead changes, including seven lead changes and three ties in the fourth quarter, before the game went to overtime tied at 61.
West, which was coming off its first Topeka Invitational Tournament title since 2004, went up 61-59 on a Brooks dunk with 3:34 left in regulation before Blue Jay senior David Rowell tied the game up at the 2:49 mark.
Both teams missed opportunities down the stretch, sending the game to the four-minute extra session.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Rossville's girls basketball snapped a five-game losing streak in Monday's opening round of the Jefferson County North Invitational, with sophomore Emma Mitchell powering the Bulldawgs to a 55-49 win over Perry-Lecompton.
Mitchell led the Bulldawgs with a game-high 25 points as Rossville improved to 5-6 on the season.
Emma Mitchell
Rossville trailed the Kaws 16-12 at the end of the first quarter but the Bulldawgs used a 19-13 second quarter to take a 31-29 halftime advantage.
The Bulldawgs pushed their lead to five points with a 10-7 third quarter and held on for the win, outscoring Perry-Lecompton 14-13 over the final eight minutes.
Mitchell scored 12 points in the first half and 13 after halftime, including 10 in the fourth quarter.
Mitchell went nine of 11 at the free throw line as the Bulldawgs hit 19 of 23 charities as a team.
Sophomore Kinley Porter joined Mitchell in double figures with 10 points while senior Caylee Douglas and sophomore Kinsey Perine added eight points apiece.
The Bulldawgs will play the NEK Saints at 6 p.m. Thursday and will play a place game on Saturday.
The fifth-place game is set for 12 p.m. Saturday, followed by the third-place game at 1:30 and the championship game at 3 o'clock.
