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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The Rossville boys earned a second straight trip to the state tournament by blitzing Kansas City Christian with defense and pace Saturday, winning the sub-state final at Mission Valley, 60-49.
Rossville senior Jakoby McDonnell hoists the Class 2A sub-state trophy after Saturday's 60-49 win over Kansas City Christian. [Photo by Todd Fertig]
Rossville boys basketball poses for a team picture after earning a second straight trip to the Class 2A state tournament Saturday night. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
A few seasons ago, Rossville couldn’t have been much further from a tournament team. Now this Bulldawg team will be the seventh seed in the Class 2A field, drawing a match with Berean Academy at 7:30 p.m. next Wednesday in Emporia.
Rossville coach Brandon McDonnell said getting back to state will quiet the doubters.
“There’s a stigma that this might have been a fluke last year,” McDonnell said. “You gotta repeat it in order for it not to be that fluke. Ok, so be it. We’re not afraid of that competition.
“I want the boys to know that 10 years ago, we weren’t even in this conversation. We were in the conversation three years ago. And people didn’t expect that. Then, the year after that, we won it. Well, don’t make it a fluke. Go get it again. And now we’re here.”
The Bulldawgs came out with a fullcourt press that the Panthers did not figure out until late in the third period. The strategy helped produce a 32-8 run that spanned nearly all of the second period and more than half the third period. The Panthers led 10-8 early in the second period, but when the onslaught ended, they trailed 40-18.
McDonnell said he spent time watching film of Kansas City Christian. But he admitted the press wasn’t a product of the scouting report.
“That wasn’t the film part of it,” McDonnell said. “It was that we were getting bored, sitting back waiting for things to develop and then we get antsy and then start to do something like foul when we don’t need to. So, I said to get that antsy-ness out, let’s go ahead and get into our press, let’s accelerate our feet, accelerate our hands, accelerate our minds. Let’s see if we can get something out of it. And lo and behold, we had three stops right off the jump and they had to call a timeout.
“Usually I don’t keep them in (the press) for that long, but it was working. And I don’t fix it if it’s not broke. So, we stayed in it, and it worked out for us in the end.”
McDonnell’s son, Jakoby McDonnell, said the pressure counteracted the Panthers’ plan to slow the pace.
“They were trying to walk the ball up the court and slow us down,” the coach’s son said. “We’re more of a fast-paced team. We feed off each other’s energy. If one of us is getting steals, getting touches, we’ll all feed off of him.”
Jakoby McDonnell spearheaded the press and earned several fastbreak opportunities off turnovers. Late in the game, he also drew a number of fouls from the desperate Panther defense. In the second half, he deposited nine free throws to hold off a Kansas City Christian comeback bid. The point guard finished with 21 points to lead the Bulldawgs.
“For this particular (game), my son’s a senior,” Coach McDonnell said.” It was marvelous seeing him play and see what he does well and see him get tired and see him still trying to navigate. As a dad, that was phenomenal.
“As a coach, seeing every single one of (the Bulldawgs) going out there and knowing what the goal was…this is my family away from my family. So, seeing them play and take home what’s rightfully theirs, it’s amazing.”
Jack Donovan added 15 points, followed by Cameron Miller’s 13 and Connor Bush’s eight for the Bulldawgs.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Saturday night probably wasn't one of the Shawnee Heights' girls best performances of the season.
But it was definitely the most important.
Shawnee Heights junior KK Emmot accepts the Class 5A sub-state trophy after Saturday's 60-47 win over Pittsburg. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Fighting off the upset bid by Pittsburg, Shawnee Heights pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 60-47 win in Saturday's Class 5A sub-state final at Heights, with the T-Birds earning their first state tournament appearance since 2011 as veteran coach Bob Wells picked up career win 350, all at Heights.
"You never know about the nerves of these kids and I told them from the very beginning, 'No. 1, you have to earn this and there's going to be some adversity and we're going to have to fight through that and you have to be mentally tough enough to do it,' '' Wells said. "And thank goodness we were.''
Shawnee Heights' girls basketball team poses for a team picture after clinching its first Class 5A state tournament berth since 2011 Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Improving to 21-4 on the season, Heights advances to a 5A state quarterfinal game on Wednesday, with the pairings to be announced after the conclusion of all Saturday's sub-state finals.
Pittsburg (16-9) jumped out to an early 6-2 lead but Shawnee Heights answered with an 11-0 run, including a pair of 3-pointers from senior Imani McGlory and a trey from junior Sami Baum.
The T-Birds never trailed the rest of the night, but Pittsburg was within two points (29-27) at the half after fighting back from a 24-11 deficit and the Dragons were still within five (46-41) at the start of the fourth quarter.
But Shawnee Heights took control down the stretch, outscoring Pittsburg 14-6 over the final eight minutes, with the final score matching the T-Birds' biggest lead of the game.
McGlory led Shawnee Heights with a team-high 21 points and four 3-pointers, putting an exclamation point on a memorable night.
Shawnee Heights senior Imani McGlory is presented with a banner commemorating her 1,000-point milestone Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
McGlory entered the night needing seven points to surpass the 1,000-point scoring milestone for her career and got that out of the way on a hoop with 15 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
McGlory said she was aware of how many points she needed to reach 1,000 and said it was good to get the milestone out of the way early in the game.
Senior Imani McGlory scored 21 points with four 3-pointers in Shawnee Heights' 60-47 sub-state win over Pittsburg Saturday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"It was good,'' she said. "Then I didn't have to worry about it the rest of the game and just play basketball.''
McGlory said she felt like the T-Birds did a good job of keeping their composure even when Pittsburg threatened their lead.
"It's just another game and you've got to work through all the adversity throughout the game and just play hard,'' McGlory said.
Senior Reianna Vega scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half Saturday as Shawnee Heights pulled away for a 60-47 win over Pittsburg. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Reianna Vega was right behind McGlory with 19 points (two 3s), giving the T-Birds a big lift with 15 second-half points, including the first seven of the third quarter.
"I was really struggling the first half, and it was kind of getting to me and I knew that some of the other girls weren't doing too well, so I flipped the switch in the locker room and all of a sudden I started making (shots),'' Vega said. "And I started making it in warmups, so I knew I could do it.''
"They've done that all year,'' Wells said of McGlory and Vega. "These girls are all so capable. That's what makes it so fun.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Defending Class 4A-1A state boys bowling champion Hayden didn't get the day it was looking for Friday in the 2026 state tournament at Wichita's Bowlero Northrock, finishing fifth as a team.
Hayden junior Kelton Meier finished sixth in Class 4A-1A bowling with a 717 series, leading the Wildcats to a fifth-place team finish. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]
Junior Reece Renyer bowled a 698 series for Hayden to finish eighth in Class 4A-1A bowling Friday in Wichita. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]
But Wildcat junior standouts Kelton Meier and Reece Renyer wrapped up outstanding seasons with top-eight individual finishes.
Meier finished sixth individually with a 717 three-game series while Renyer was two spots back in eighth with a 698.
Meier opened his day with a 254 game and finished with a 268 after a second-game 195 while Renyer had a consistent day with games of 247, 215 and 236.
The Wildcats also got a 569 series from Ashton Litke, including a 236, while Andrew Lee had a 562, Jason Ahlstedt a 509 and Ben Mayer a 482.
Ottawa won the team championship with a 3,753 total while Hayden finished fifth at 3,297.
Central Christian's Andrew Burchfield won the individual title with a 773 series.
Hayden's girls finished seventh as a team while Jenna Henkensiefken earned an individual medal with an 18th-place finish, rolling a 486 series.
Emily Peterson bowled a 427 series and Izzy Glotzbach a 421 to round out Hayden's top three.
Ottawa won the team title at 2,900, giving the Cyclones a sweep of the team championships while Hayden finished at 2,260.
Buhler's Cheyan Geesling was the individual winner with a 629 series.
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
The Topeka High girls made the more than five-hour trip to Liberal to face the 3-seed Liberal Redskins Friday night with a trip to the Class 6A state tournament on the line.
Topeka High girls basketball is headed back to the Class 6A state tournament after a 65-58 sub-state win at Liberal Friday night. [Photo by Justin Burkhardt/TSN]
The Trojans entered the matchup riding a 10-game winning streak and continued their winning ways with a 65-58 win at No. 3 seed Liberal to earn a state berth.
Coming off a perfect February that saw them capture the Centennial League title for the first time since 2022 the Trojans advanced to the sub-state championship after defeating Maize in the first round, setting up the showdown with Liberal for a chance to return to the state tournament for the first time since 2022.
The Trojans reached this same stage a year ago when they traveled to Wichita Heights with a state berth on the line but came up short.
One year later, however, the story has a different ending.
In year two under legendary coach Ron Slaymaker, the Lady Trojans are going dancing.
Senior Keimara Marshall opened the scoring with the first basket of the game to give the Trojans an early lead, but Liberal quickly answered when Shamari Lewis scored to tie the game at 2–2.
Topeka High responded with a 5-0 run to take a 7–2 advantage before Liberal found the basket again.
Sophomore Hailey Caryl helped the Trojans create separation late in the first quarter, scoring six of her 16 points in the final minutes to help Topeka High take a 15-7 lead into the second quarter.
Caryl opened the second with another basket and completed the three-point play at the free-throw line to make it 18–9.
Topeka High junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton, who was held to just two points in the first quarter, knocked down a 3-pointer as she began to find her rhythm offensively, pushing the lead to 23-13.
However, the Trojans became sloppy with the ball, allowing Liberal to go on a 7–0 run to cut the deficit to three at 23–20.
High senior Sasha Gotru stopped the run after drawing a foul and hitting the first free throw. On the second attempt, senior Trish Short grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back in to extend the Trojan lead to 26-20.
Rayton then knocked down two free throws late in the half to give Topeka High a 29–24 lead at the break.
Rayton had nine of her team-high 30 points by halftime.
“Shy will always show up. She could have the worst three quarters of her life, but she will show up in the fourth. She's absolutely a workhorse,” said Marshall about her teammate.
“We went into the locker room at halftime and I told myself I need to wake up and get going to help my team,” Rayton said.
The Trojans started the third quarter slowly as the Redskins opened with a 6-2 run to tie the game for the first time since it was 2-2 early in the first quarter.
But Topeka High quickly regained control.
Marshall attacked the basket for a layup, followed by another bucket from Gotru. Rayton then began to heat up, scoring on back-to-back possessions and knocking down consecutive 3-pointers to stretch the Trojan lead to 47-36.
“She was so far below what she normally plays, and I kept wondering what was going on with her,” Slaymaker said. “But I’m glad she got it going for us after halftime.”
Marshall added another basket late in the quarter as the Trojans carried a 49-40 lead into the fourth. Despite the nine-point advantage, foul trouble loomed large for Topeka High entering the f inal period, with three of the five starters carrying three or more fouls.
“We just kept saying that we need each other and that we can't play without one person,” Marshall said. “We need every single piece. So if somebody fouls out, we're in trouble.”
Rayton delivered when it mattered most. With Caryl getting six of her seven assists in the fourth quarter, the junior Rayton exploded for 11 points in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory.
With the win, Marshall will be heading to her first-ever state tournament in basketball.
“My team has a lot of heart and we definitely play for each other,” Marshall said. “As much as we might want to give up in hard games or when someone is struggling, we pick each other up and remember the bigger picture. Our turnaround is definitely something we did for each other.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
