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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
The defending state Class 5A champion and current top-ranked Seaman Lady Vikings hosted the Lansing Lions in their first home game of the season on Tuesday, improving to 2-0 with a 70-22 romp past the Lions.
Seaman senior Anna Becker led the way with 17 points in Tuesday's 70-22 UKC win over Lansing. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
The Lady Vikes jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game, forcing a Lansing timeout. The lead was extended to 17-0 before Lansing scored its first basket. The quarter ended with Seaman leading 32-5.
The hot shooting of the Lady Vikes cooled in the second quarter and they only outscored the Lions 15-9, taking a commanding 47-14 lead into halftime.
The third quarter began like the start of the game, with the Lady Vikes scoring the first nine points of the quarter to lead 56-14 and forcing the Lions to take a timeout. Lansing hit two 3-pointers to end the quarter and the Lady Vikes led 63-20 going to the fourth quarter.
The running clock was in effect for the fourth quarter and the Lady Vikes cruised to the 48-point victory.
“The conversation before the game was to come out and be sharp and keep building those good habits,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "The ball will find the right person to shoot if you keep moving it and I thought we did that tonight, especially in the first quarter.”
The Lady Vikes had six players score at least six points which Tinsley commented, “I like our balance.”
Seaman junior Maddie Gragg scored 14 points Tuesday as the Vikings rolled to a 70-22 win over Lansing. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Seaman junior Ryin Miller scored 14 points as the Vikings improved to 2-0 with a 70-22 win over Lansing. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
The Lady Vikes were led in scoring by senior Anna Becker with 17 points while juniors Maddie Gragg and Ryin Miller tallied 14 points each. Becker also had 7 steals, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and one block for the game. With her seven steals Becker took over the No. 1 spot on Seaman's all-time list with 214 for her career.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Hayden's boys basketball team is still in the process of knocking off some rust after three of its five starters are just 10 days removed from the end of the Wildcats' football season.
But Hayden took a big step in that direction Tuesday, taking a 62-47 victory over Wichita Trinity in the first round of the Paul Terry Classic at Emporia High School while giving the Wildcats' Dwayne Anthony his first win as a head coach.
Hayden's Dwayne Anthony picked up his first win as a head coach in Thursday's 62-47 win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Wildcats were coming off a 15-point season-opening loss at Class 6A Shawnee Mission West last Friday but went wire to wire for Tuesday's win after scoring the first seven points of the game.
"These kids do their best to go as hard as they can as well as listen, so we just tried to tighten up some of the things that we saw happen on Friday,'' Anthony said. "Unfortunately, Friday the basket was closed to us but they fixed that today and just so many other things, so I'm really pleased with their progress.''
Balance was the key for the Wildcats, with six players scoring between 8 and 14 points against the Knights.
Junior Connor Hanika (5) led Hayden with 14 points in the Wildcats' 62-47 win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Connor Hanika, a 6-foot-4 junior, paced the Wildcats with 14 points while seniors James Kuta and Jacob Deister scored 11 points apiece, junior Kade Mitchell and sophomore Mason Becker had 8 each and senior Cooper Zwiesler scored six points on a pair of 3-pointers.
Senior James Kuta (3) finishes off a basket in Tuesday's 62-47 Hayden win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden senior Jacob Deister (4) is congratulated after being fouled in Tuesday's 62-47 win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I believe that we've got kids who can do that every night and it could change who might have the 14 or who has the 8, but I liked the way they shared the ball and we're going to get better doing that,'' Anthony said. "I think that's a testament to the kids that I'm blessed to coach.''
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Hayden's girls basketball coach Carvel Reynoldson knows his Wildcats still have plenty to work on moving forward, particularly on the offensive end and free throw line.
But Hayden appeared to be in midseason defensive form in Tuesday afternoon's season-opener against Wichita Trinity, with the Wildcats rolling to a 55-24 win in the opening round of the Paul Terry Classic at Emporia High.
Hailey Schmidtlein scored 17 points in her high school basketball debut Thursday, leading Hayden to a 55-24 season-opening win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Wildcats, who finished third in Class 3A last season before moving back to 4A, scored the first 16 points of Tuesday's game and opened up a commanding 21-2 first-quarter lead while forcing 12 Trinity turnovers over the first eight minutes.
Hayden went on to lead 32-8 at halftime while forcing 21 turnovers in the first half and 35 for the game while harrassing the Knights into 26 percent shooting from the field.
"I thought we really came out with great energy and that was nice to see,'' Reynoldson said.
The Wildcats were just 8 of 27 performance at the free throw line and went 3 of 15 from 3-point range, but those struggles were little more than an annoyance as Hayden rolled to the victory, forcing a running clock (30-point lead in the fourth quarter) with 1:40 left on a hoop by freshman Blakely Walters.
"We've been shooting a lot of free throws and been doing really well, so I don't know where the free throw shooting came from,'' Reynoldson said. "That was really bad, but we'll work on it and we'll get better at it.
"And not only were we not hitting free throws, but we weren't hitting 3s either and I think this is a pretty good shooting team.''
Hailey Schmidtlein, a 5-foot-11 freshman, got her high school career off to an impressive start for Hayden, scoring 10 points in the first quarter on the way to a game-high 17 points.
"She comes to practice every day with tremendous energy and she's a leader the way she communicates,'' Reynoldson said. "We knew that she's going to be a difference maker.''
Hayden senior Millie Ramsey registered a double-double in Thursday's 55-24 win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Millie Ramsey added a double-double for the Wildcats, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Brylee Meier had eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park wrestling legend Melvin Douglas was back in his old stomping grounds on Saturday, taking in the Highland Park Invitational while on a pre-holiday trip from his home in Arizona to visit family and friends.
Topeka wrestling legend Melvin Douglas was back in Topeka on Saturday, watching the Highland Park Invitational at his alma mater. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And for Douglas, the former high school and NCAA champ and two-time United States Olympian, it felt good to be home.
"I was like, 'Wow, much hasn't changed,' and I came in and I looked and I saw that my picture's still up,'' Douglas chuckled as he eyed his Highland Park Wall of Honor display in the gym.''
This past summer Douglas was picked No. 4 on TopSports.news' list of the Top100 Athletes in Shawnee County History after winning three state high school wrestling championships for Highland Park (1979, '80 and '81), capturing a pair of NCAA titles for Oklahoma and making the United States Olympic team in 1996 and 2000.
Highland Park grad Melvin Douglas was a state high school wrestling champ, an NCAA champ and a two-time Olympian. [File photo[
But these days the 61-year-old Douglas is enjoying life away from the mat.
"I drive a semi, a flatbed 18-wheeler,'' Douglas said. "I like it. I get to stay in town and I traveled so much in my life that I hate traveling now. I like staying home and I'm home every day.
"The only bad thing about it is I get up real early, I'm at work at 4 a.m., but I'm also off early.''
Following his competitive career Douglas also did some coaching, but these days he is content to mainly keep track of the sport he loves from afar.
"I was coaching, but I got to the point to where if somebody comes to me and asks me to help them, then I help them,'' Douglas said. "But that's about it.
"I had my time and I'm enjoying the later parts of my life. I tell everybody I'm in the fourth quarter of life and I'm going to enjoy it. I'm just taking care of my grandkids and I spend time with them and sit back and watch wrestling. I still watch (USA Wrestling) and keep my eye on it.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shannon (Suddarth) Wisne's spectacular swimming career at Hayden Catholic High School and Notre Dame is well behind her, but sports are still a very important part of her life.
Former Hayden swimming and cross country star Shannon (Suddarth) Wisne was back at her alma mater Saturday to be inducted into the Hayden Hall of Fame. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"We have six children, 23 to 8 years old, and they keep me very busy,'' said Wisne, who was back at Hayden Saturday to be inducted into the Hayden Hall of Fame. "We had 13 games this just one weekend and actually my son (Brock) is going to be on ESPN+ during this (ceremony).''
"He plays D-I basketball for Northern Colorado and my daughter (Arielle) played for the Indiana Hoosiers. She played her fifth year last year and my son is a junior. I have another one in college and I have son who is highly-ranked in the state in basketball, a middle-schooler and then our baby is an 8-year-old.''
Basketball is the sport of choice for the offspring of Wisne and her husband, former Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Jerry Wisne, but Shannon still remains heavily involved with swimming, the sport that made her a six-time state champion at Hayden and a nine-time All-American at Notre Dame.
"I've coached our local swim team for 15 years and I have (my children) swim on my swim team until they're going into high school, but they're all basketball, a little bit of golf,'' said Wisne, who also works as a substitute teacher. "Actually, some of them are good at swimming, but then basketball takes over.
"I think it's because my husband's really tall, he's 6-foot-9 and I'm tall, so my daughter's listed at 6-5, my son is 6-9 and my other son is 6-6. My other daughter is over 6 feet, so that's how basketball happened and (Jerry) wouldn't let them play football. No football and they just love ball sports.''
In addition to her record-setting swimming career at Hayden, Wisne was also an integral part of three state championship cross country teams and was the individual state runnerup in cross country and Saturday gave Wisne, who now lives in Denver, a somewhat rare opportunity to get back to Topeka.
"The Streckers (Rick and Kathy) made a huge impact on me,'' Wisne said. "It's a very big community, but most of all I loved Hayden because it had God in it and the church part. And for me, that's where I grew in my relationship with the Lord and that was the foundation of what Hayden did for me and it was just a beautiful experience.
"It was so wonderful here that there are some things in life that when you appreciate them in the moment you know it's really awesome and being here was amazing.''
Wisne was part of Hayden's five-member 2024 induction class along with Mark Burghart, the late Jessica Mae Carpenter, Judy Cucciniello and Jack McGivern.
Hall of Fame capsules:
