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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University softball team will open its 55th season on Friday, playing five games over three days in the Mardi Gras Classic in Youngsville, La.
Junior pitcher Sadie Walker is a top returner for Washburn University's softball team, winning 20 games last season for the 37-17 Ichabods. [File photo/TSN]
Friday's Jan. 31 start date is the earliest the Ichabods have started a season since Feb. 1, 2019.
"We're all ready,'' said senior first baseman Jaden LaBarge. "We're all antsy and ready to go. We're all excited and a little nervous, but it's a good nervous and we're ready to get at it.''
Ichabod coach Brenda Holaday agreed.
"From a coach's standpoint I think our kids are prepared and ready to go,'' Holaday said. "We have a lot of room to grow. We have a lot of new players and we're at that point where I think we've grown as much as we can in practice and now we need to go play and be able to kind of re-access and also be in live action and play at the speed of the game to grow.''
Washburn is coming off its sixth NCAA appearance in program history last season, finishing the year with a 37-17 record.
The Washburn Ichabods secured their 19th season with at least 30 wins last season and their fourth under Holaday.
Hitting the 30-win mark for the third straight season is the longest streak since the Ichabods won at least 30 games in six straight seasons from 2002-07.
The Ichabods graduated five seniors off last year's team, including former All-Americans and program record-setters Jaycee Ginter and Marrit Mead, but Washburn returns a strong nucleus, including five seniors. The WU roster also includes six juniors, one sophomore and nine freshmen.
"I think we have a very good chance of getting very far with this team,'' LaBarge said. "We're already very well inter-connected and get along very well and are very close and family, so I think we have a good chance.''
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By NICHOLAS GAINEY
Special to TopSports.news
Four Vikings reached double figures as the Seaman boys basketball team downed Topeka High 73-64 on Wednesday night at Seaman.
Junior KaeVon Bonner led Seaman with 16 points in Wednesday's 73-64 non-league win over Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Both offenses took several minutes to warm up, with the visiting Trojans (0-12) jumping out to a quick 5-2 lead in the opening stages of the contest.
A 3-pointer from Landon Wiltz and a layup from KaeVon Bonner gave a five-point swing to the Vikings (9-3).
With little separation between the two teams early on, Seaman’s Matthew McConnaughey began his big screen-worthy first half performance, earning an and-one opportunity and completing the 3-point play to give the Vikings a 16-13 lead after one quarter of play.
Seaman used a big second quarter to pull away, out-scoring Topeka High 22-9 in the period.
The Vikings used a balanced attack to extend their lead, with 3-pointers from Griffin Zuniga and Bonner, along with a 3-point play from Wiltz.
Seaman closed the first half on a 7-0 run to take a 38-22 lead into halftime.
Despite a discouraging second quarter, Topeka High stayed within striking distance, scoring the first 5 points of the third quarter on a 3-pointer from Elisha Guest and a pair of free throws from Octavian McFadden.
The Vikings held on to the double-digit lead for the entirety of the third quarter, with Bonner adding seven of his team-high 16 points in the period.
The Trojans started the fourth quarter much like they did the third, with a quick basket from Jalen Aldridge and a 3-pointer from Mar’Saun Redmond cutting the deficit to seven.
With the lead shrinking, momentum swung back in favor of the hosts following a pair of free throws and a fast-break dunk from Finley to give the Vikings a 63-52 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
The teams continued to shoot at high percentages for the remainder of the contest, but the Vikings held the Trojans at bay.
Aldridge knocked down a pair of late 3-pointers for Topeka High to bring the game to its 73-64 final.
Seaman senior Bryer Finley scored 15 points in the Vikings' 73-64 win over Topeka High Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Landon Wiltz scored 14 points as Seaman improved to 9-3 with a 73-64 win over Topeka High Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Bonner led Seaman with 16 points on 7-9 shooting in the victory. Finley chipped in with 15 points, while Wiltz added 14 points.
McConnaughey scored all 13 of his points in the first half, while leading the Vikings with seven rebounds.
Seaman shot just over 56 percent from the floor as a team.
Jalen Aldridge led all scorers with 25 points in Topeka High's 73-64 loss to Seaman Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Aldridge led all scorers with 25 points for Topeka High while Bryson McComas fell one rebound short of a double-double, tallying 12 points and nine boards. Guest knocked down three triples for nine points.
Seaman coach Craig Cox was impressed with multiple phases of his team’s offense in the victory.
“If we’re able to score over 70 points in a game, we’re going to be pretty happy with that,” Cox said. “We like the way that we can shoot the basketball, and we’re getting better at moving without the ball and hitting cutters and getting some nice shots.”
Perfect 10: Ballard gives Ichabods high marks for how they've handled responsibilities of 19-0 start
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Coaches have a whole list of things they're concerned about and Washburn University men's basketball coach Brett Ballard is no exception.
No. 1-ranked Washburn will be aiming for its 20th straight win in Thursday's 7:30 p.m. MIAA home game against Fort Hays State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
But one thing Ballard doesn't waste time worrying about is how his Ichabods are going to handle their responsibilities on and off the court, including the pressures that go along with being 19-0 (10-0 in the MIAA) and ranked No. 1 in the nation for the third straight week.
"Ten out of ten as far as preparation on the court, off the court and how they've handled everything,'' said Ballard, whose Ichabods begin a three-game homestand at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Fort Hays State. "It's been a lot of fun. The daily preparation's been there, effort, energy, coachability, all that stuff's been off the charts, really good.''
The Ichabods blasted Missouri Western 85-52 on Saturday in St. Joseph, the largest margin of victory in series history, as WU tied a program record with its 19th straight win to open the season. Washburn can set the win mark in Thursday's game.
While the Ichabods are enjoying their success, sophomore standout Brayden Shorter said there's no over-confidence in the Washburn camp.
"I feel like one of the best parts about us is we don't look past any team,'' Shorter said. "Just the level of compete that we all have I feel like is definitely for sure what's gotten us to the point that we're at right now.
"It does feel good, but I just feel like we are really grateful for the opportunity and we get ready for every single game like it's going to be the team that could beat us and we're all just trying to keep doing what we're doing.''
The Tigers are 13-5 overall and 6-3 in the MIAA play after falling at Central Oklahoma, 75-65, on Saturday, snapping a four-game winning streak. Washburn won the first meeting of the season with the Tigers in the second MIAA game of the season, 71-57 in Hays.
Washburn is one of two undefeated teams remaining in the NCAA Division II ranks, joining No. 2 Daemen (14-0).
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball returns to Lee Arena for a three-game homestand, beginning with a rematch against Fort Hays State at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Washburn women's basketball will be looking to bounce back from a six-point loss to Missouri Western when the Ichabods host No. 8-ranked Fort Hays State on Thursday. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn is 11-9 on the year overall and 5-5 in the MIAA after suffering a 62-56 road loss at Missouri Western last Saturday while Fort Hays State, 16-2, 7-2, won its third straight game last time out, defeating Central Oklahoma 81-72 on the road on Saturday.
And while Lora Westling's Ichabods know they face a tough test against the No. 8-ranked Tigers, WU is determined to give FHSU a much tougher battle than it did in an 83-53 MIAA loss at Hays back on Dec. 7 when the hosts raced out to a 48-12 halftime lead.
WU played without junior star Yibari Nwidadah due to concussion protocol in that game while sophomore starter Madelyn Amekporfor was limited after just coming out of protocol.
"We're going to have our full lineup, which wasn't the case the first time,'' Westling said. "We were kind of scrambling that week, and that's not to take anything away from them, it was just that we were trying things that we hadn't tried yet early in the season.
"We have to defend better, we have to keep people out of foul trouble and we have to be solid because that's what Hays is. They're very, very solid.''
Amekporfor said she and her teammates are definitely fired up to get another shot at the Tigers.
"I was limited minutes that game and I was kind of half what I had been the whole season, so I didn't really get to do as much as I wanted to and have as much of an impact,'' Amekporfor said. "But I know that we're going into (Thursday's) game all healthy and all ready to go, so I think that will be a much different game than it was the first time.
"We're a much better, stronger team than we were the first time.''
WU also gained a little bit extra motivation from the fact that they didn't feel like they played well last Saturday against Western, a loss that snapped the Ichabods' three-game win streak.
"We played pretty poorly Saturday,'' Westling said. "Getting into the film we didn't execute the things we wanted to do, didn't defend things we knew were coming and just weren't as focused as we needed to be and had way too many unforced turnovers.
"We know progress isn't a straight line and you're going to have some of those dips and we definitely had a dip Saturday, but we've had a good response and I feel like we're ready for this week's challenge.''
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Highland Park took command of the Meadowlark Conference boys basketball race Tuesday night with a hard-earned 51-48 road win at Atchison.
Senior Mikey Williams led Highland Park with 17 points in Tuesday's 51-48 Meadowlark Conference victory over Atchison. [File photo/TSN]
Top-ranked (Class 5A) Highland Park, which improved to 12-0 overall and 5-0 in the conference, led 14-12 at the end of the opening quarter and 23-18 at halftime before Atchison (7-4, 3-2) cut its deficit to 39-38 at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Scots held a 12-10 advantage over the final eight minutes to hold on for the win.
Highland Park senior Mikey Williams scored 8 of the Scots' 12 fourth-quarter points and went 4 of 4 at the free throw line en route to finishing with 17 points.
Senior Ja'Corey Robinson added 14 points for the Scots.
Junior Kailyn Hanni (4) scored 16 points in Silver Lake's 50-49 win over Rock Creek Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
Silver Lake girls edge Rock Creek, 50-49
Junior Kailyn Hanni led the way with 16 points as Silver Lake improved to 9-1 with a 50-49 non-league win at Rock Creek Tuesday night.
The Eagles trailed 15-14 after one quarter, 26-24 at the half and 42-39 at the start of the fourth quarter before Silver Lake closed with an 11-7 edge over the final eight minutes to pull out the win.
Taylor Zordel and Ella Bolan added 12 points apiece for the Eagles.
Lucy Martinie led Rock Creek with 13 points and Kylee Frazee added 10.
