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Created: 12 March 2022

By Joanna Chadwick

WICHITA -- From the first day of basketball tryouts in November, Washburn Rural junior Brooklyn DeLeye carried with her the intense disappointment of failing to win a Class 6A volleyball title in October.

“Going in undefeated (to state volleyball) … we had this chip on our shoulder,” she said. “And then we just kind of … I guess, we gave it away. We didn’t play our best, and we knew that we had to in the state championship. And it was really disappointing.”

The goal shifted after volleyball to winning a state basketball title, and that’s just what the Junior Blues did on Saturday at Koch Arena with a 40-23 win over Derby.

Washburn Rural's girls basketball team poses for a team picture after winning its second Class 6A state championship since 2019 Saturday in Wichita. [Submitted]

 DeLeye, a 6-foot-2 forward who has committed to play volleyball at Kentucky, had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

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Created: 12 March 2022

By KYLE MANTHE

The Washburn Review

Washburn University men’s basketball entered the NCAA Division II Tournament as the sevethn seed, going up against the second-seeded Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, but the Ichabods did not play like it as they led by as many as 17 points in the process of pulling off the upset victory in Sioux Falls, S.D., 83-73.

“There is no question that this is the best region in Division II,” said Washburn coach Brett Ballard. “Just to get here means a lot, it means you have done something pretty special.”

The 10-point final score was dictated in large part by the play of Ichabod senior All-American Tyler Geiman, who neared a triple-double, finishing with 21 points along with nine assists and nine rebounds.

“I don’t know if there is another player that impacts this team as much as this guy does,” Ballard said. “He just wants our team to win and I am hoping we can keep playing a few more games together.”

The win moves the Ichabods to 22-10 on the year and into the semifinals of the Central Region where they will face Northwest Missouri State for the second straight year on Sunday.

Connor Deffebaugh (left) drives against Minnesota Duluth in Washburn's 83-73 win in the opening round of the NCAA Central Region tournament Saturday in Sioux Falls, S.D. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]

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Created: 12 March 2022

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Silver Lake's girls bounced back from Friday's semifinal loss with a 53-51 win over Nickerson in Saturday's third-place game of the Class 3A state tournament.

The Eagles, who finished the season 24-2, trailed 36-31 at the end of the third quarter, but outscored Nickerson 22-15 over the final eight minutes to pull out the victory at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

Silver Lake held a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Nickerson (23-3) used an 18-7 second quarter to take a 27-22 halftime advantage.

The Eagles outscored Nickerson 31-24 in the second half.

Sophomore Kaibryn Kruger led Silver Lake with 14 points while hitting 4 of 7 3-point attempts while sophomore Makenzie McDaniel added 12 points and junior Taylor Ross 10.

Ava Jones, a 6-foot-2 junior, scored 26 points and grabbed 19 rebounds for Nickerson.

SILVER LAKE GIRLS 53, NICKERSON 51

Nickerson       9 18 9 15 -- 51

Silver Lake     15 7 9 22 -- 53

Nickerson (23-3) -- Allen 0-3 0-0 0, McLean 1-8 2-2 5, A. Ontjes 0-0 0-0 0, K. Ontjes 4-9 0-1 10, Ponds 1-4 0-1 2, Abernathy 4-4 0-0 8, Jones 10-21 5-8 26. Totals 20-49 7-12 51.

Silver Lake (24-2) -- Wehrli 0-0 0-0 0, Farmer 2-6 0-2 5, Deiter 1-3 2-2 5, McDaniel 5-10 2-2 12, K. Kruger 5-10 0-2 14, M. Kruger 2-12 3-8 7, Bolan 0-0 0-0 0, Ross 3-6 4-5 10. Totals 18-47 11-21 53.

3-point goals -- . Nickerson 4 (K. Ontjes 2, McLean, Jones), Silver Lake 6 (K. Kruger 4, Farmer, Deiter). Total fouls -- Nickerson 17, Silver Lake 15. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.

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Created: 12 March 2022

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

EMPORIA -- With Seaman on the doorstep of history, the Vikings knocked that door down, claiming the first boys basketball state championship in school history with a decisive 66-47 romp past De Soto Saturday at White Auditorium.

Ending the season with an 11-game winning streak and four straight double-digit postseason victories, 18-7 Seaman outscored De Soto in all four quarters, including a 36-22 edge in the second half to turn the game into a rout down the stretch.

The win capped an amazing postseason run for the Vikings, who entered the state tournament as the No. 8 seed in the eight-team field.

"All the hard work we put in every single practice -- coach said we had I think about 80 of them -- and every single one we worked to get better and all that hard work finally paid off,'' Seaman senior Ty Henry said. "Going out my senior year as a state champ there aint any better finish than that.''

Seaman celebrates after Saturday's 66-47 win over De Soto in the Class 5A state championship game at Emporia's White Auditorium. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

For the third straight state game, Seaman got off to a hot start, leading 14-10 at the end of the opening quarter.

De Soto (20-5) opened the second quarter with an 8-0 run to take an 18-14 lead at the 5:40 mark of the second quarter, but the Vikings outscored the Wildcats 16-7 to end the half and take a 30-25 advantage.

For the second straight day Seaman junior Kaeden Bonner drained a long, long 3-pointer to end the half and send the Vikings to the locker room with momentum.

De Soto, which will be Seaman's league rival in the United Kansas Conference next season, got no closer than three points in the third quarter and senior Mateo Hyman canned two free throws with 3.2 seconds left in the quarter to give the Vikings their biggest lead of the game at 45-35.

The Vikings opened the final period with hoops by Henry and senior Dreighton Griess and De Soto got no closer than 11 the rest of the way while Seaman went up by 21 (66-45) with two minutes remaining.

"The guys get all the credit for having themselves ready to play, to be focused, especially when you get in an invironment like this,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "It could be easy to be distracted and they were dialed in and just came out of the gates swinging and then I just loved our defense.''

Seaman junior Aron Davis scored a game-high 17 points in Saturday's 66-47 win over De Soto in the Class 5A state championship game. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Seaman junior Kaeden Bonner scored 15 points and hit three of three 3-pointers in the Vikings' 66-47 win over De Soto in the Class 5A state championship game. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Seaman junior Aron Davis led all scorers with 17 points and added 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocked shots while hitting all eight of his shots from the field.

"I try to find my spot and see what I can do best,'' said Davis, who missed nearly half the season with an ankle injury. "Get to the rim, pass it around, get rebounds especially and hold down on the defensive end.

"My teammates were finding me today and I have trust in my teammates.''

Bonner finished with 15 points while hitting all three of his 3-point attempts and Hyman had 9 points, a game-high 8 rebounds and a game-high 4 assists.

The Vikings shot 64.7 percent from the field (22 of 34) and 73.9 percent from the free throw line (17 of 23).

Senior Gavin Wilhelm had eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, but his biggest contribution was on the defensive end.

Wilhelm drew the defensive assignment on De Soto standout David Cobin, who had scored 32 points, including the game-winning hoop, in the Wildcats' semifinal win over St. James Academy on Friday.

Cobin managed just 10 points Saturday while going 3 of 11 from the field and 1 of 5 from 3-point range.

"I knew I would (guard Cobin), I have done this multiple times throughout the year,'' Wilhelm said. "I was obviously worried because having a 32-point game is pretty scary, but I knew in myself I could do it.

"Yesterday I had 10 rebounds and I was doing everything I could to get to the boards. Today was more about not letting him touch the ball. That was my main goal.''

Tyler Schultze led De Soto with 15 points on 5 of 8 shooting from 3-point range while Trent Johnson added 10 points.

Cox won his third career state championship while never losing in a state final.

Cox's Shawnee Heights team won 5A state crowns in 2000 and 2002.

"I think the big difference here is it's the first one for Seaman High School in boys basketball, so that makes it extra special,'' Cox said. "It's pretty cool.''

SEAMAN BOYS 66, DE SOTO 47

De Soto       10 15 10 12 -- 47

Seaman       14 16 15 21 -- 66

De Soto (20-5) -- Johnson 4-8 1-1 10, T. Schultze 5-13 0-0 15, E. Schultze 3-5 0-0 6, Cobin 3-11 3-4 10, James 1-2 0-1 2, Hicks 0-3 0-0 0, Lang 1-2 0-0 2, Dow 0-0 0-0 0, Sullivan 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, McBride 0-0 0-0 0, Chappel 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 18-46 4-6 47.

Seaman(18-7) -- Hyman 2-3 5-6 8, Henry 3-8 2-2 8, Bonner 5-9 2-2 15, Wilhelm 2-3 2-2 8, Davis 8-8 1-5 17, Freeman 0-0 0-0 0, Griess 2-3 5-6 9, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Chapman 0-0 0-0 0, Barta 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-34 17-23 66.

3-point shots -- De Soto 7-21 (T. Schultze 5-8, Johnson 1-5, Cobin 1-5, E. Schultze 0-1, Hicks 0-2, Seaman 5-7 (Bonner 3-3, Wilhelm 2-3, Henry 0-1). Total fouls -- De Soto 18, Seaman 14. Fouled out – E. Schultze, Hicks. Technical fouls -- none.