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By ANDREW GILL
TopSports.news
In Tuesday night’s 49-27 non-league home win over Tonganoxie, Adysen Burghart could not have had a much better game for Shawnee Heights' girls basketball team.
“She’s been having some big nights and was ready to have another breakthrough,” Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said of the senior. “With only four weeks of the regular season left, I think she’s starting to feel being a senior a little bit. She’s been showing up with a different attitude [in practice], I’m hoping that’ll be infectious.''
Burghart shot an impressive 8 for 12 from the field and 3 for 3 from the charity stripe for a game high 20 points. She also managed to snag 7 rebounds.
Fellow senior Taylor Hawkins also came up big for Heights, grabbing 11 rebounds and scoring 7 points. Sophomore Riley Showalter was the only other T-Bird to score in double-digits, adding 12 points.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park's boys basketball is starting to look like the team coach Michael Williams expected at the start of the 2020-21 season, with the Scots running their win streak to four games Tuesday night with a 63-58 home Centennial League win over Emporia.
CJ Powell, a 6-foot-6 senior, had a monster night for the Scots, scoring 31 points as Highland Park improved to 7-5 overall and 6-3 in the league. Junior Juan'Tario Roberts added 16 points with 4 3-pointers as the Scots' 1-2 punch carried the team offensively.
Emporia (6-6, 3-5) led 16-14 at the end of the first quarter, but Highland Park used a 15-7 second quarter to take a 29-23 lead at the half.
The Scots were still in front by 6 points (45-39) at the start of the fourth quarter and held off the Spartans for the win.
Emporia was led by senior Charles Snyder's 24 points.
CAIR PARAVEL LATIN BOYS 44, ST. MARY'S ACADEMY 38
Tuesday wasn't one of Cair Paravel Latin's most productive offensive games, but the Lions did the job defensively, not allowing more than 12 points in a quarter on the way to a 44-38 home boys victory over St. Mary's Academy.
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Marque Wilkerson glides in for a basket having scored 25 points against Washburn Rural (Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN)
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Marque Wilkerson and his Topeka West teammates made sure that Tuesday's Centennial League basketball showdown between boys co-leaders West and Washburn Rural wasn't much of a showdown after all, with the Chargers taking over sole possession of the league lead with a 63-46 romp past the Junior Blues at West.
Washburn Rural scored the first 2 points of the game, but the rest of the night belonged to the Chargers, who improved to 11-2 overall and 8-1 in the league with their fifth straight win as Wilkerson, West's 6-foot-2 senior point guard, led the way with a game-high 25 points.
Junior Elijah Brooks joined Wilkerson in double figures with 11 points while senior Trevion Alexander and sophomore Sincere Austin added 9 and 8 points for the Chargers, No. 7-ranked in the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Class 5A rankings.
Veteran Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist said he was pleased with the way his team imposed its will on the Junior Blues, No. 8-ranked in 6A, from the start.
"We've talked about that, that we have to do it from the start and we also have to do it when (teams) make a run,'' Bloomquist said. "When they make a run at us we ought to do that as well.
"We have to understand that every game we play now is a big game. This was the first and obviously to start it with one of the better teams in the league is kind of worrisome without a doubt. This (West) team worries me all the time, but they're so much to watch when they're on a roll.''
West scored the final 5 points of the first quarter to take a 15-8 lead and led by 15 late in the first half before taking a commanding 31-18 advantage to the locker room at the half.
Topeka West went on to lead by much as 16 in the third quarter and 25 in the fourth before Rural (8-4, 7-2) scored the final 8 points of the game.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Football's National Signing Day is Wednesday, Feb. 3, with multiple Shawnee County athletes expected to sign college letters of intent on Wednesday or in the near future.
Six Hayden players are expected to sign Wednesday, including Wildcat tight end/defensive end Trey Pivarnik and defensive end Jayden Rainer with Washburn.
Wildcat defensive back Ja'mier Garrett, linebacker Jordan Rainer and lineman Tim Wells are expected to sign with Butler Community College while receiver/defensive back Geivonnii Williams is headed to Independence Community College.
Hayden star Desmond Purnell, a running back/defensive back, signed earlier with Kansas State.
Rossville receiver Bo Reeves plans to sign with Central Missouri of the MIAA while linebacker Kaiden Brown is headed to Baker University after the duo helped Rossville win the Class 2A state championship last fall.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Kai Allen
KAI ALLEN, Silver Lake
A 138-pound senior, Allen won his fourth straight Mid-East League individual wrestling title to lead Silver Lake to the team championship last Friday at Wabaunsee. Allen, one of seven league champions for the Eagles, has posted three straight top-three finishes in the Class 3A-1A state tournament, including a state championship in 2019 and a runner-up finish last season.
Dylan Birkenbaugh
DYLAN BIRKENBAUGH, Seaman
Birkenbaugh bowled a 737 three-game series to earn his second individual title of the week, putting together games of 225, 265 and 247 as Seaman won the boys title in the Emporia quadrangular at Flint Hills Lanes by a 2,894-2,578 margin over Derby. Birkenbaugh also won the individual title in the Hayden quad at West Ridge Lanes with a 628 series as the Vikings won by a 2,445-2,185 margin over Topeka West.
