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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
One of the best things about a season-opener is getting a starting point for the season, and the Washburn Rural girls basketball team set the bar high right out of the gate with Friday's season-opening 54-14 Centennial League romp past Topeka West at West.
"You've kind of got to see where you're at and it was getting to the point in practice where we needed a game just to see what we really can do,'' Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said. "Now obviously there's a ton of things we can work on, but I thought our effort and our energy was really good.
"I thought we played with a lot of effort tonight.''
Rural, ranked No. 2 in Class 6A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, did not allow a Topeka West field goal until the 4:40 mark of the third quarter and just five on the night, putting the game away with a 30-2 first half.
The Junior Blues increased their lead to 52-8 at the end of the third quarter before a running clock was used throughout the fourth quarter.
Washburn Rural played without junior star Brooklyn DeLeye (illness), but the Junior Blues still had five players score at least six points, led by senior Emma Krueger with 13 points and sophomore Zoe Canfield with 12 points and all three of her team's 3-pointers.
Senior Emma Krueger paced Washburn Rural with 13 points in Friday's 54-14 season-opening win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural sophomore Zoe Canfield (15) scored 12 points with three 3-pointers in Friday's 54-14 win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Jada Ingram added eight points, senior Campbell Bagshaw with seven and junior MaRyah Lutz with six points.
Junior Jazmyn Ford led Topeka West with five points while sophomore Zoe Clark added four points, including a 3-pointer.
The Chargers struggled through a five of 29 shooting night from the field and also committed 29 turnovers.
WASHBURN RURAL GIRLS 54, TOPEKA WEST 14
Washburn Rural 11 19 22 2 -- 54
Topeka West 1 1 6 6 -- 14
Washburn Rural (1-0, 1-0) -- Lutz 2-7 2-2 6, Krueger 5-9 3-5 13, Canfield 3-5 3-4 12, Brogan 2-3 0-2 4, Ingram 4-8 0-1 8, Bagshaw 1-3 5-6 7, Whitmore 1-3 0-0 2, Carlgren 1-5 0-0 2, Schuler 0-3 0-0 0, Ochs 0-0 0-0 0 . Totals 19-46 13-23 54.
Topeka West (0-1, 0-1) -- Sanchez 0-2 0-0 0, Benson 0-5 0-0 0, Clark 1-2 1-2 4, Ford 2-6 1-2 5, Bearman 1-4 0-0 2, Mays 0-3 0-0 0, Duncan 1-6 1-2 3, Hopper 0-1 0-1 0, Foy 0-0 0-0 0 . Totals 5-29 3-7 14.
3-point goals -- Washburn Rural 3 (Canfield 3), Topeka West 1 (Clark) Total fouls -- Washburn Rural 13, Topeka West 19. Fouled out -- Clark.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Even though he was coming off an outstanding high school basketball career for Blue Valley North that ended with a Class 6A state championship, Andrew Orr thought he might have to bide his time to get much playing time early in his first college season after joining a veteran, nationally-ranked Washburn University team that was coming off a 20-7 season and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
But nobody could have predicted the circumstances that put three of WU's best players on the sidelines during the early portion of the season, a situation that has thrust the 6-foot-8 Orr into a major role from Day 1.
And although he didn't necessarily see that coming, Orr has continued to grow into his role with the Ichabods and has turned in a solid performance, averaging 6 points and 3.9 rebounds while earning two starts and seeing action in all seven games.
"Coming in I didn't really think I was going to be playing as much as I am right now, but I feel like the coaching staff and even the team has done a really good job of getting me ready for this and helping me prepare and be confident in my abilities and doing what I do,'' Orr said.
Washburn freshman Andrew Orr is coming off a career-high 14-point performance in Wednesday's 68-58 loss to Fort Hays State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Orr, also the 6A state high jump champion as a senior, is coming off the best performance of his young college career in Wednesday's 68-58 home MIAA loss to Fort Hays State, scoring 14 points on 7 of 7 shooting from the field while also grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots.
"We emphasized it in practice (before Wednesday's game) that we need to get the ball inside and play through our big guys because that's what works for us,'' Orr said. "That's what we've been doing in practice and that's what's been working so we just knew that's what we needed to do and we got it done for at least some of the time.''
Washburn has been stung by several close losses in a 3-4 start to the year, but Orr thinks better days are right around the corner if the Ichabods can continue to make progress, particularly on the defensive backboard.
"It is frustrating because we give up too many offensive rebounds and that's really at the end of the day what loses us the game because we can't give up those extra possessions and those extra shots and that's what really gets to us,'' Orr said. "Once we start getting that down then we'll be straight.''
Washburn, which will host Nebraska-Kearney in a 3 p.m. Saturday contest at Lee Arena, has been without All-America guard Tyler Geiman, 6-9 junior Jonny Clausing and sophomore guard Tyler Nelson and Ichabod coach Brett Ballard said he's pleased with the way Orr has stepped up for WU.
"He's playing good for a freshman,'' Ballard said. "Those are experienced guys he's going against and I thought he did well.
"He's giving us good minutes and he's been really solid for us for a true freshman. He's going to be good.''
Washburn will face a Lopers team Saturday that is 3-3 after an 81-70 loss at Emporia State on Thursday.
The men's game will follow a 1 p.m. women's game between Washburn and Nebraska-Kearney.
The 1-5 Ichabods will take on an UNK team that is 6-1 on the season with five straight wins after a 59-58 win at Emporia State on Thursday.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake's boys basketball team opened its 2021-2022 season in impressive fashion Thursday night, rolling to a 55-25 victory at Jefferson West.
The Eagles opened up a 17-9 first-quarter advantage and took a 28-13 lead to the locker room at halftime.
Silver Lake increased its cushion to 41-16 by the end of the third quarter and cruised the rest of the way for the 30-point victory.
Balance was the key for the Eagles, who had 11 players crack the scoring column, including four with at least 7 points.
Senior Troy Heiman paced Silver Lake with 10 points while Carson Johnson and Kamryn Kaniper added 9 points each and Sam Kaff had 7 points.
SILVER LAKE GIRLS 48, JEFFERSON WEST 41 -- Silver Lake, which is ranked No. 5 in Class 3A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, opened its season with a 48-41 victory over Jefferson West as McKinley Kruger, MaKenzie McDaniel and Mariah Farmer combined for 43 points.
Kruger led the way with 16 points while McDaniel had 15 points and Farmer 12.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 5-seeded Washburn University volleyball team got off to a lightning start Thursday night and didn't slow down much the rest of the night, rolling to a 3-1 win over No. 4 seed Winona State in the NCAA Central Region quarterfinals and earning a spot in Friday's semifinals at Warrensburg, Mo.
Washburn, which improved to 27-5 on the season, overwhelmed the Warriors 25-12 in a first-set victory.
Then, after Winona State (28-5) bounced back to a take a 25-19 second-set win, Washburn closed out its victory with 25-16 and 25-17 victories.
Washburn's volleyball team celebrates a point during Thursday's 3-1 win over Winona State in an NCAA Central Regional quarterfinal at Warrensburg, Mo. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics}
With the win the Ichabods advanced to a 7:30 regional semifinal Friday night to face top regional seed and tournament host Central Missouri, which swept Arkansas Tech 3-0 in the quarterfinals. Washburn has split its previous two matches with the Jennies this season.
The quarterfinal match was back-and-forth to start as neither team held a lead of more than two points until Washburn put together an 18-2 scoring tear to take a commanding 23-9 advantage. Allison Maxwell put the set away with a kill to give the Ichabods a 1-0 lead.
The second set started out similar to the first, but it was the Warriors who put together a 9-2 run to go in front, 17-13. Trailing 19-14, the Ichabods won five of the next six points to pull within one, but that would be as close as it got as Winona State closed out the set with five unanswered points.
The Warriors scored the first two points of the third frame, but Washburn responded with a 9-1 run and never looked back. Genna Berg ended the 25-16 win with her seventh kill in the set.
Winona State took an early lead and was up 9-7 in the fourth set when a kill from Sydney Fitzgibbons sparked an 8-2 run to give the Ichabods a 15-11 lead. The teams traded points until Berg knocked down a kill to make it 21-16 and Washburn went on to claim four of the final five points, capped off by a kill by Kelsey Gordon.
Washburn hit .232 on the night while Winona State was limited to an .084 hitting percentage. The Ichabods led in kills, 52-43, and in digs, 85-71.
Berg led all players with 19 kills and added 14 digs to record her seventh double-double of the season. Maxwell knocked down a dozen kills and Gordon also contributed double-figure kills with 10. Defensively, Gordon and Fitzgibbons were a wall at the net and were a part of seven blocks.
Setter Allison Sadler recorded her 10th double-double with 40 assists to go with 14 digs.
![Washburn senior Faith Rottinghaus led all players with 27 digs in the Ichabods' 3-1 win over Winona State in a Central Region quarterfinal Thursday night at Warrensburg, Mo. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]](/images/aa-images/FaithNCAAs.jpg)
Washburn senior Faith Rottinghaus led all players with 27 digs in the Ichabods' 3-1 win over Winona State in a Central Region quarterfinal Thursday night at Warrensburg, Mo. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
In the back court, Shawnee Heights product Faith Rottinghaus led all players with 27 digs. Taylor Antonowich scooped up 12 digs and landed two of Washburn's six service aces.
For the Warriors, Megan Flom had 17 kills and a .239 hitting percentage.
Nebraska-Kearney, which knocked off Northwest Missouri in the quarterfinals, will meet Concordia-St. Paul in Friday's first semifinal at 5 p.m.
MATCH RESULT
Washburn def. Winona State, 25-12, 19-25, 25-16, 25-17.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Coaches always preach to players that if they work hard enough good things will happen.
Washburn University women's basketball freshman Alie Fulks, a former Shawnee Heights basketball and soccer standout, is proof of that.
Alie Fulks
Things didn't exactly go the way Fulks envisioned when she originally joined the Ichabods, but the 5-foot-9 guard has no complaints with how things have worked out so far.
The plan was for Fulks to play for the Washburn junior varsity in the 2020-2021 season, but she never got the chance when COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the entire JV season.
But Fulks continued to show up for practice every day with the varsity, got the opportunity to suit up for the Ichabods and even got into two games for Washburn in mopup time.
"At the end of the year I looked back and reflected and I felt like I improved a lot on my game and just as a player in general,'' Fulks said.
Shawnee Heights product Alie Fulks scored the first points of her college career on a 3-pointer in Washburn's 72-50 loss to No. 1-ranked Fort Hays State Wednesday night. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Fulks continued to improve over the offseason and has moved into a more prominent role this season, progressing to the point that veteran Ichabod coach Ron McHenry put her in the game in the first half of Wednesday's MIAA opener against the nation's No. 1-ranked Division II team, Fort Hays State.
"I was a little shocked, but as a bench player I'm always ready to hear my name and step into the role that I need to be for the team,'' said Fulks, who played 9 minutes, 13 seconds in the Ichabods' 72-50 loss to the Tigers.
"For sure I was excited to get in there and just help in any way I could with the team. It sucks with the loss, but it's really exciting to hear my name called and get out there and get in the fight with my teammates.''
The highlight of the night came with 4:35 remaining when Fulks canned a 3-pointer from the top of the key for the first points of her college career.
"It was exciting, but we were down pretty good so the first instinct is to get back on defense and try to keep going,'' Fulks said.
Now the goal for Fulks, who continues to see spot duty for the junior varsity, is to keep moving forward.
"Looking back and looking at where I am now, I've just come so far and I'm looking forward to keep improving and helping the team out.''
