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Washburn Rural junior Emma Krueger (left) battles Seaman freshman Marin Schuler for the ball in Tuesday's 3-0 Junior Blues win over the Vikings. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural didn't have much time to dwell on Monday's heartbreaking road loss to three-time defending Class 6A state girls soccer champion Blue Valley West, with the Junior Blues returning to action 24 hours later.
That turned out to a good thing, with Rural bouncing back with a 3-0 Centennial League victory over Seaman Tuesday night at McElroy Field, improving to 6-2-1 on the season.
"It was probably wasn't real smart with our schedule to play Blue Valley West on a Monday and then come and play a Seaman team that always plays really hard,'' Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. "That's a tough back to back, but at the end of the year and you get to the playoffs, if you're lucky enough to be one of the last four teams, you do that then, so it's not bad practice for us.''
Washburn Rural, the state runner-up to the Jaguars in the 2018 and '19 state championship games, had Blue Valley West down 2-1 in the closing stages of Monday's game, but West scored twice over the final three minutes to stun the Junior Blues, 3-2.
"We had them and let them off the hook,'' Hensyel said.
Obviously, Rural was still stinging from that defeat, but after a scoreless first half against the 2-2-1 Vikings, the Junior Blues dominated the second half to remain undefeated in league play.
"We had a lot of girls play a lot of minutes last night and it was a really hard, tough, physical game,'' Hensyel said. "Obviously mentally it was tough, too, to flip that switch and come back and play against a team that was really ready to compete today, but I loved the second half.
"We kind of needed the halftime to maybe kind of re-energize and then the second half we controlled the game.''
Washburn Rural got the only goal it would need about 12 minutes into the second half on a shot from senior Joy Ngibuini and the Junior Blues got insurance goals from junior Emma Krueger with 10:55 remaining and from junior Belle Kennedy with just 1:04 left.
Senior Brynn Fitzgibbons and junior Hunter McWilliams were credited with assists while sophomore Hailey Beck picked up the shutout in goal for the Junior Blues.
Seaman will be back in action Wednesday, hosting St. James Academy in a 6:15 p.m. non-league game while Washburn Rural will travel to Bishop Carroll Friday for a 6:30 p.m. non-league contest.
WASHBURN RURAL 3, SEAMAN 0
Seaman (2-2-1) 0 0 -- 0
Washburn Rural (6-2-1) 0 3 -- 3
Washburn Rural -- Goals: Joy Ngibuini, Emma Krueger, Belle Kennedy. Assists: Brynn Fitzgibbons, Hunter McWilliams. Shutout: Hailey Beck.
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Topeka West senior Marque Wilkerson (2) finished the 2020-21 season as the city scoring champion with a 17.1 average. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TWN]
NOTE: Statistics for city Centennial League and United Kansas Conference boys basketball teams were compiled by Seaman girls coach Matt Tinsley, with assistance from Seaman junior Jackson Stuewe.
SCORING
Name, school Gms. Pts. Avg
Wilkerson, Topeka West 24 410 17.1
Smith, Topeka High 20 340 17.0
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
NiJaree Canady
NiJAREE CANADY, Topeka High
A junior, Canady picked up the pitching wins in both ends of Friday's 6-3, 10-1 doubleheader softball sweep over Seaman, throwing a four-hitter and striking out 13 in the opener and combining with sophomore Quincy Smith for a four-hitter in the second game. Canady pitched the first five innings in the second game, allowing four hits and a run while striking out seven.
Zoe Caryl
ZOE CARYL, Topeka High
Caryl, a senior catcher, had another big day at the plate for 8-0 Topeka High last Friday, going 4 of 5 with three home runs, a triple and seven runs batted in as the Trojans took a 6-3, 10-1 doubleheader sweep over Centennial League rival Seaman. Caryl, an Illinois signee, had a triple and a two-run homer in the opener against the Vikings and hit two-run and three-run homers in the nightcap.
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Washburn University's volleyball team will host the MIAA Spring Tournament Friday and Saturday at Lee Arena. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn volleyball team will host the Spring MIAA Volleyball Tournament Friday and Saturday at Lee Arena, with the Ichabods opening their tournament bid with a 1 p.m. Friday match against Northwest Missouri State.
Washburn will take a 13-4 overall record and 5-3 MIAA mark into its opening match while Northwest Missouri is 12-2, 6-2.
The tournament will get under way at 11 a.m. Friday, with Central Oklahoma (5-4, 5-3) facing Fort Hays State (3-9, 0-8) at 11 a.m. on Court 1 and Newman (3-14, 1-7) facing Pittsburg State (5-9, 3-5) on Court 2.
Washburn will face Northwest Missouri at 1 o'clock on Court 1 while Emporia State (2-12, 2-6) will take on Missouri Western (2-6, 2-6) on Court 2.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High's boys basketball program will be led by its third head coach in four seasons in 2021-22 after the resignation of Trojan coach Eric King.
King confirmed to TopSports.news Monday that he was leaving his coaching post after two seasons and plans to retire from coaching, but intends to remain at Topeka High as a physical education teacher.
"I've had a great career and I want to retire with grace,'' King said. "I love being inTopeka, I love my school and hopefully they still want me to stick around and be a P.E. teacher. I'll support from the back.''
Eric King has stepped down after two seasons as Topeka High's boys basketball coach. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
