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Details: Created: 02 March 2021

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Tyler Geiman's buzzer-beating three-quarters-court 3-pointer that gave Washburn University the MIAA Tournament championship with a 69-68 win over top-ranked Northwest Missouri Saturday night in Maryville, Mo. had to be a miracle, right? A once-in-a-lifetime heave. Manna from heaven.

Not so, said Geiman's teammate, Jalen Lewis.

"I've seen him hit that shot in practice a lot, more than anyone I've ever met, so all I can say is thank God we have that guy on our team,'' Lewis told KTPK radio. "When we're messing around he shoots a lot of them. The whole team does, but no one makes even near as many as he makes.

"We're definitely putting the ball in his hands for the halfcourt for sure.''

After Northwest Missouri, which had its string of five straight MIAA Tournament championships snapped, went up 68-66 on two free throws from Diego Bernard with 2.7 seconds remaining, Jace Williams inbounded the ball to Geiman, the two-time MIAA first-teamer, who took a couple of dribbles and launched the shot that is likely to make highlight shows across the nation.

"Honesly, right as I released it, it felt good,'' Geiman told KTPK. "I knew it was going to be on line for sure, so it had a chance. Jace looked at me on the out of bounds and said, 'You want it?' I said, 'Yeah,' even though that really wasn't the play, it was the second option.

"I just let it fly and it felt good and it was awesome. It really hasn't hit me yet. I was just running around out there after I hit it. I didn't know what to do.''

Tyler Geiman

Details: Created: 12 January 2021

TopSports.news

Washburn's women's basketball team was looking for a second straight MIAA Tournament upset in Saturday's semifinals and, for a while anyway, the Ichabods' chances looked promising.

But after trailing the Ichabods by 4 points after the first quarter and leading by just a point at the half, No. 14-ranked Nebraska-Kearney took control with a 24-9 third quarter en route to a 59-40 victory at Hays, ending Washburn's season at 12-12.

The No. 3 seed Lopers (21-3) advanced to Sunday's championship game against top seed and No. 5-ranked Fort Hays State.

Details: Created: 12 January 2021

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Topeka West senior Marque Wilkerson helped open the door for Seaman in Saturday's Class 5A boys sub-state championship game by missing his first three free throw attempts and four of his first five.

But the Charger point guard slammed the door on the Vikings with 12.6 seconds remaining, hitting a pair of charites to clinch a 55-52 win that earned West a spot in the Class 5A state quarterfinals.

DSC 0383 Topeka West's Marque Wilkerson slams the door on the Vikings with 12.6 seconds remaining, hitting a pair of charities to clinch a 55-52 win that earned West a spot in the Class 5A state quarterfinals. (Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN)

"I thought, "These have got to count. I haven't hit none all game, so these have to count. I've got to knock them down,'' Wilkerson said after the Chargers earned their first trip to state since 2010 with their 13th straight victory.

Topeka West, now 19-2, will travel to Hays on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. contest, with the Indians improving to 22-0 with a 61-48 win over Salina South.

Topeka West with its sub-state championship trophy after Saturday's 55-52 win over Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Details: Created: 12 January 2021

TopSports.news

Two of Washburn University's six regular-season men's basketball losses came at the hands of Missouri Western, but Brett Ballard's Ichabods took no chances of that happening a third time, going wire to wire for a 101-72 romp past the Griffons in the MIAA Tournament semifinals Friday night at Maryville, Mo.

With the victory the 18-6 Ichabods advanced to the 6 p.m. championship game Saturday against 23-1 Northwest Missouri on the Bearcats' home court. Northwest Missouri, whose lone loss on the year came against Washburn, advanced to the championship game with a 104-72 win over Central Oklahoma.

Washburn rode 9-0 and 18-0 first-half runs to a commanding 57-29 cushion over Missouri Western and never looked back, leading by as many as 35 points in the second half.

“We played terrific,” Washburn coach Brett Ballard told KTPK radio. “The first couple of times we played them I thought they were the more aggressive team, so we really tried to emphasize to our guys that we wanted to come out and attack them and we were really good that first 20 minutes. I thought our guys executed at a high level.

"Everybody was good, and certainly when you score 57 points in a half, there's a lot of things going well.''

Junior Jalen Lewis finished with a career-high 29 points while connecting on 6 of 9 3-point attempts. Senior Tyler Geiman backed Lewis with 21 points and a huge 12 assists while junior Jonny Clausing added 16 points as WU 62 percent from the field (38 of 62) with 14 3-pointers.

Jalen Lewis scored a career-high 29 points as Washburn advanced to the MIAA Tournament title game with a 101-72 romp past Missouri Western. [File photograph from Rex Wolf/TSN]

Details: Created: 12 January 2021

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

EMPORIA -- Perseverance paid off for Seaman's girls basketball team Friday night, with the Vikings upsetting Emporia 37-27 in a Class 5A sub-state final to advance to the Class 5A state tournament for the third straight season.

"Like I told the girls before the game, we've had to overcome so much this year," Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "Twenty-four days in quarantine, cancellations, COVID protocols, and we took those setbacks and let it fuel our comeback. I'm just so happy for the girls that they get to experience this."

Seaman, which will take a 6-14 record into Monday's 6 p.m. 5A quarterfinal game at Salina Central (18-4), entered postseason on a 5-game losing streak while Emporia started the night on an 8-game win streak, but the Vikings rode outstanding defense and some timely offense to the upset win.

Seaman's girls basketball team celebrates after receiving the Class 5A sub-state championship trophy Friday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]