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By ANDREW GILL
TopSports.news
Centennial League powers Topeka High and Washburn Rural met for the third and final time of the year in Saturday’s Class 6A girls sub-state basketball championship game, with the Lady Trojans making it a season sweep with a decisive 72-52 win at High.
“We didn’t play our best the first two times we played Rural,'' Topeka High coach Hannah Alexander said. "We came out flat, so we really wanted to make an exclamation point with this game.''.
Topeka High was anything but flat in the third bout, with Alexander most impressed with her team’s defense.
“I felt like it was a team effort. They really bought in this week; we had some great practices. (Defense) was what we tried to excel on and doing that really helped them get the win tonight,” Alexander said.
With Saturday's win the 21-1 Trojans advance to the 6A state tournament for the third straight season and will host 16-6 Wichita Heights in a 6 p.m. quarterfinal game Tuesday. The Falcons routed Wichita East 60-27 in their sub-state final.
Topeka High receives its Class 6A sub-state championship trophy Saturday after its 72-52 win over Washburn Rural. [Photo from Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The Trojans appeared to be in control early, ending the first quarter ahead 16-4, but the Lady Blues slowly chipped away at the lead before halftime.
With just over a minute to go in the half, Rural sophomore Brooklyn DeLeye was fouled on a made field goal attempt and knocked down the free throw to shrink the deficit to just 2 points.
On the ensuing in-bounds play, freshman Zoe Canfield got a steal and found junior teammate Ella Hurtig for a go-ahead 3-pointer.
The Blues’ first and only lead of the game lasted mere seconds, however, as Topeka High senior Lilly Smith answered with a 3-pointer of her own.
The Trojans quickly got the ball back and sophomore Kiki Smith (15 points) managed to beat the halftime buzzer, putting her team up 30-26 at the break.
“The drive from Kiki at the buzzer was huge.'' Alexander said. "We regrouped at halftime and answered back in that third quarter.''
The second half belonged to Trojan NiJaree Canady, who scored 19 of her team-high 21 points after halftime. The junior earned a double-double by grabbing 12 rebounds.
Topeka High junior NiJaree Canady had 21 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday's 72-52 sub-state win over Washburn Rural. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Though pleased with her individual performance, Canady was more focused on the team’s victory.
“At the end of the day, as long as my team wins that’s the main thing,'' she said. "If we win and I only get 2 points, then we win, and I only get 2 points. Whatever it takes to get us to state,” Canady said.
Tae Thomas added 16 points for the Trojans, with a pair of 3-pointers.
Topeka High junior Tae Thomas scored 16 points for the Trojans' in Saturday's 72-52 sub-state win over Washburn Rural. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
DeLeye was the game’s high scorer with a 22-point contribution for the Lady Blues. DeLeye also added 6 rebounds.
Washburn Rural sophomore Brooklyn DeLeye scored a game-high 22 points in Saturday's sub-state final. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The defeat marked the end of an impressive 16-3 season for Washburn Rural.
TOPEKA HIGH 72, WASHBURN RURAL 52
Washburn Rural 4 22 12 14 -- 52
Topeka High 16 14 21 21 -- 72
Washburn Rural (16-3) -- Bagshaw 1 2-2 4, Lutz 1 0-0 3, Krueger 2 3-6 7, Canfield 2 2-3 7, Hurtig 1 0-0 3, Ingram 2 2-3 6, DeLeye 7 8-13 22. Totals: 16 17-27 52
Topeka High (21-1) -- L. Smith 2 2-2 7, Thomas 4 6-8 16, Shields 0 1-2 1, K. Smith 6 0-0 15, Hendricks 3 0-1 6, Canady 9 2-4 21, Lyons 3 0-0 6. Totals: 27 11-17 72
3-point goals -- Washburn Rural 3 (Lutz, Canfield, Hurtig), Topeka High 7 (K. Smith 3, Thomas 2, L. Smith, Canady). Total fouls -- Washburn Rural 14, Topeka High 21. Fouled out -- none.
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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
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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.
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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.
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]](/images/2024/11/TopekaWesttrophy.jpg)
Topeka West with its sub-state championship trophy after Saturday's 55-52 win over Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
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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]](/images/2024/08/Jalen_Lewis.jpg)
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]
