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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior Isiah Esquibel knew his Topeka High boys basketball team was going to experience some growing pain searly this season after graduating several key players off last year's Trojan team that went 16-6 and shared the Centennial League championship.
That has been evident in the early going, with the Trojans 0-3 overall and in the league entering Friday's 7:30 p.m. league game at Seaman, which is 2-3.
Senior Isiah Esquibel (5) is looking to help Topeka High make a second-half climb after an 0-3 start. [Twitter]
Esquibel, a 6-foot-4 guard, said the key will be getting all of the Trojans, including a host of varsity newcomers, on the same page.
"We're just trying to get this thing all together, just trying to get some wins at this point,'' Esquibel said. "We've played well at times. It's just the experience of the other teams gets to us at times. With the guys we have now, they've stepped up, but we just need a little bit more.''
Topeka High squandered a late lead in a 47-46 loss to Emporia and the Trojans have went through other bad stretches that cost them in 13-point losses to USD 501 rivals Topeka West and Highland Park.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The good news is that Washburn University's women's basketball team will play again, and all WU coach Ron McHenry and the Ichabod players can do is be ready for that day after a frustrating string of three straight postponed games.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn men’s basketball team won last Saturday at Northeastern State despite not being at its best, rallying from a 12-point deficit in the second half to pull out an 85-84 overtime MIAA victory over the Riverhawks.
But Ichabod coach Brett Ballard knows that anything less than WU’s ‘A’ game probably won’t be enough for the No. 5-ranked Ichabods to have a chance to knock off top-ranked Northwest Missouri in Thursday’s 6 p.m. MIAA contest at Maryville, Mo.
"We'll have to play a lot better,'' Ballard said Wednesday. "If we play like we did Saturday it will get ugly.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's still going to be a while before Hayden boys basketball coach Torrey Head is cleared to return to the bench after a scary fall that left him with nine fractured vertebrae in his back.
But while the veteran coach is eager to get back to his team, he also feels completely secure that the Wildcats are being well-taken care of while he continues his recovery.
Head, who operates Head Chimney Service with his brother, Murray, fell approximately 10 feet off a roof in late November, the first time Torrey had suffered a significant injury in more than a decade in the business.
"The bottom of the ladder slid out and I took a tumble,'' said Head, who had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance, but is expected to make a complete recovery.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
John-Martin Schmidt carved out one of the top high school careers in city history as a Hayden swimmer, capturing seven state championships and setting multiple Class 5A-1A state records.
Now the 24-year-old Schmidt’s focus is on passing along his expertise in the sport to the current Wildcat swimmers.
Former Hayden star John-Martin Schmidt, serving as an assistant coach last season in this photo, is in his first season as head coach at his alma mater after swimming collegiately at Missouri S&T. [Photograph by Kyle Grunert]
