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Details: Created: 05 March 2026

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Top seed and No. 3-ranked Washburn University men's basketball was good enough in the first half Thursday night to open up a 10-point advantage over Central Oklahoma.

Junior All-MIAA guard Jack Bachelor celebrates one of his five 3-pointers in Thursday's 91-52 Washburn MIAA Tournament win over Central Oklahoma. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Washburn Athletics]

But the Ichabods were unstoppable after halftime, riding a 55-point second half to a dominating 91-52 quarterfinal win over the Bronchos in the MIAA Tournament in Municipal Auditorium.

"I'm really pleased with how we came out at halftime,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "I kind of challenged the guys at halftime just to stay in the moment and stay mentally locked in one possession at a time and I thought we were as good as we've been probably all year that first seven, eight minutes of the second half.

"We get going and these guys are turned up like that we can play at a pretty high level.''

The Ichabods, who avenged a loss to UCO in the 2025 MIAA tournament, will now face the winner of Friday's game between Missouri Western and Arkansas-Fort Smith at 6 p.m. on Saturday in a semifinal.

Washburn, which improved to 29-1, set the tone early as junior point guard Jack Bachelor opened things up with a 3-pointer and the Ichabods would never trail.

The Ichabods went on to push their advantage to 16-6 five minutes into the game and Washburn would go on to lead by as many as 13 points in the half.

Central Oklahoma (17-16) cut its deficit to 27-21 with 3:02 left in the half, but the Ichabods closed the half with a 9-5 run, including six straight points from Bachelor in the final 1:16 to take a 36-26 lead into halftime.

The second half belonged entirely to Washburn, which opened the final 20 minutes with a 17-1 run in the first 4:32, including a 15-0 run to start the half.

Washburn went on to lead by as many 42 points, going 10 for 15 from 3-point range in the second half while shooting a blistering 70 percent overall (21 of 30).

The Ichabods shot 58.6 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range on the night while holding Central Oklahoma to 31.3 percent shooting and just 2 for 20 on 3-point attempts.

Washburn also forced 16 Broncho turnovers, converting them into 28 points, and dominated the paint with 44 points inside.

Bachelor, a Washburn Rural product, led the Ichabods with a game-high 24 points, hitting 9 of 17 shots from the field and 5 of 11 from 3-point range, while also adding seven assists with no turnovers.

"Municipal's awesome, this MIAA Tournament's awesome,'' Bachelor said. "We kind of had a bad taste in our mouth from last year. We were fired up, we were ready to go and this is postseason basketball. This is March, this is what you dream of.''

Sophomore Dillon Claussen scored 21 points in just 18:26 of work in Thursday's 91-52 Washburn MIAA Tournament win over Central Oklahoma. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Washburn Athletics]

Sophomore Dillon Claussen finished with 21 points on 7 of 7 shooting from the field, including 2 of 2 from 3-point range while senior Brady Christiansen added 11 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Tyson Ruud led the Ichabods with six rebounds off the bench.

Details: Created: 05 March 2026

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

The Washburn Ichabod softball team returns to the road for four games this weekend at the Grand Slam Classic in Branson, Mo. where Washburn will face Illinois-Springfield for two of the games with single contests against Lincoln and Truman.

Sophomore Makenzie Sais has helped lead Washburn softball to a 21-4 record in 2026, leading the nation with 50 stolen bases. [File photo/TSN]

Washburn will open the tournament at 3 p.m. Friday against Illinois-Springfield and will take on Lincoln at 5 p.m.

On Saturday the Ichabods will face Illinois-Springfield at 11 a.m. and Truman State at 3 p.m.

The 21-4 start by the Ichabods this season is the best 25-game start in program history.

Washburn received votes for the second straight week in the NFCA Top 25 coaches poll.

The Ichabods went 4-1 last weekend at the Midwest College Classic in Shawnee and will enter this weekend on a three-game winning streak.

The Ichabods have hit the 30-win mark for four straight seasons dating back to the 2022 season, the longest streak of 30 wins since a run between the 2002-07 seasons when the Ichabods recorded 30 wins six seasons in a row.

Brenda Holaday is in her 10th season as the Ichabod softball coach, recording a 304-174 overall record while going 136-74 in MIAA contests and leading the Ichabods to two MIAA regular-season titles (2018, 2022) and three NCAA Central Regional berths (2018, 2022, 2024). Holaday became Washburn's all-time winningest coach with a 13-0 win over Illinois-Springfield on Feb. 8, 2025.

Sophomore Makenzie Sais became the Ichabod single-season leader in stolen bases against Montana State Billings with her 34th and she enters the weekend with a nation-best 50 stolen bases, 26 ahead of the No. 2-ranked player on the chart.

Sais' stolen bases total is also 24 more than the NCAA Division I leader and 29 ahead of the NCAA Division III leader.

Sais is also second in the nation in hits with 37 and second in runs scored with 30.

Dalaney Anderson leads the nation in RBI with 36 and she is 11th in home runs with seven. Anderson also ranks 13th in hits with 32 and 18th in runs scored.

Pitcher Sadie Walker is third in the nation in shutouts and she is seventh in strikeouts with 71. Jenna Sprague is seventh in the nation in saves.

Details: Created: 05 March 2026

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn University women's basketball enters the MIAA Tournament as the No. 3 seed and will face off with No. 6 seed Pittsburg State at 2:15 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinal round in Kansas City, Mo.

All-MIAA first-team pick Yibari Nwidadah leads Washburn women's basketball into Friday's MIAA Tournament quarterfinal against Pittsburg State. [File photo/TSN]

The Ichabods are 21-7 on the season, a three-win improvement over last season, and are trying to wrap up a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2012-2013 season. Washburn is currently ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Central Region rankings with eight teams advancing to the tournament.

"We're just trying not to look too much in advance,'' Washburn senior standout Yibari Nwidadah said. "We're trying to take each day as it is and we're trying to get better still.

"We still have things we can improve on and I feel like everyone in our locker room has that same mindset of getting better today, getting better tomorrow and better the day after that.''

If the Ichabods are able to garner an NCAA berth, Nwidadah said it would be a major accomplishment for the program, which has made a 10-win improvement from her freshman season in 2022-2023.

"It would be amazing,'' Nwidadah said. "That's been the goal for me and the goal for the program overall, to bring the program back to tournament level, so just getting the opportunity to do that would be special for all of us.

"We're just trying to take care of business like we need to and not leave anything up to chance.''

Washburn coach Lora Westling agreed.

"I think that's been the message to our team is that (the selection process) is out of our control and trust me, that gets a little more wild than you think,'' Westling said. "But what we do have control over is our effort and our execution against Pitt State, a really good team that has the talent and the ability to play really well.

"So all of our energy is into that game. I think this program, thankfully, is starting to move past the, 'Just happy to be here' mentality and focused on, 'How do we get the job done?' I know this group really wants to get the job done in Kansas City and hopefully we're mature enough to make a run at it. ''

Washburn finished the regular season on a six-game win streak, defeating Missouri Southern 83-64 last Saturday, while Pittsburg State closed out the regular season with a 73-58 road loss to Central Missouri and is 18-10 on the season.

Washburn is 43-25 overall in the MIAA Tournament.

Washburn landed three players on the 2025-26 All-MIAA squad, headlined by first-team pick Nwidadah, who also earned All-Defensive team recognition.

Nwidadah is the first Washburn first-team All-MIAA selection since Laura Kinderknecht in 2012-13.

"I was pretty surprised and obviously excited, too,'' Nwidadah said. "It just goes back to everything we've done as a team. I could never have done that without our team.''

Senior Payton Sterk earned All-MIAA second-team honors for the second time in her two seasons with Washburn while senior Gabi Giovannetti received all-conference honorable mention.

Nwidadah is averaging 11.5 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds while also shooting a team-high 57.5 percent from the floor.

Sterk leads the Ichabods with a 12.3 scoring averag while hitting a team-high 48 3-pointers.

Giovannetti is scoring 11.1 points per game and is second on the team with 40 3-pointers.

Details: Created: 05 March 2026

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Topeka has long been known as a bowling town, and Shawnee Heights' boys and Seaman's girls teams added to that tradition on Thursday at Wichita's Bowlero Northrock with a dominant performance in the Class 5A state tournament, sweeping the state team championships by a combined 461 pins.

HeightsJubePistol2026 1 Shawnee Heights celebrates its Class 5A state boys team championship after putting three bowlers in the top 10 en route to a 103-pin victory. [Photo by Brent Maycock/KSHSAA Covered]

Competing in Thursday's morning session, Shawnee Heights's boys put three bowlers in the top 10 and all six T-Birds bowled 600-plus series, including two with 700-plus series, as Heights won its second state 5A team championship in three seasons by a 3,727-3,624 margin over Bishop Carroll.

Seaman's girls celebrate their 358-pin win in Thursday's Class 5A state bowling tournament at Wichita's Bowlero Northrock. [Photo by Brent Maycock/KSHSAA Covered]

Seaman's girls then took center stage in the afternoon and ran away with the 5A girls title by a whopping 358 pins (3,297-2,939) over Emporia as third-place Claire LaDuke led four Vikings in the top 16.

Senior Chevy Stallbaumer bowled a 738 three-game series to pace Shawnee Heights' boys with a sixth-place individual finish while Larry Donath finished eighth with a 725 series and Evan Jones finished 10th with a 693.

Senior Chevy Stallbaumer paced state champion Shawnee Heights with a sixth-place individual finish with a 738 series Thursday in Wichita. [Photo by Brent Maycock/KSHSAA Covered]

Stallbaumer put together games of 255, 237 and 246 while Donath rolled a final-game 276 after 222 and 227 games and Jones' series included games of 242, 224 and 227.

The T-Birds also got a 645 series from Braden Evans, a 640 from Henry Schattilly and a 636 from Kaden Evans.

Bishop Carroll's Ryan Pfeifer won the 5A individual championship with a 770 series to lead the Eagles to their second-place team finish while Andover finished third at 3,612, 12 pins behind Carroll.

Seaman's Garrett Shaw, competing as an individual, earned a state medal with a 15th-place finish, registering a 678 series.

Seaman's Claire LaDuke posted a third-place finish in Thursday's Class 5A state bowling tournament. [Photo by Brent Maycock/KSHSAA Covered]

LaDuke rolled a 688 series en route to her third-place individual finish to pace the Seaman girls while Leah Crawford finished fifth with a 655 series, Paige Snyder placed eighth with a 588 and Ava Carlson was 16th with a 552 series.

LaDuke put together a consistently strong series with games of 234, 247 and 207 while Crawford had the Vikings' high game of the day with a final game 254.

The Vikings also got a 515 series from Kayla Duncan and a 479 from Laci Cole.

Seaman also led the field with an 807 four-game total in its four Baker format games, including games of 245 and 226.

Shawnee Heights' girls finished fifth as a team with a 2,794 total while Reese Bell finished 14th with 560 series and Addison VanMetre was 15th with a 558.

Andover Central's Addison Crumley, competing as an individual, won the state individual title with a 718 series.

Details: Created: 27 February 2026

By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

No. 2 East girls seed Shawnee Heights opened postseason play in dominant fashion Wednesday night at home, defeating No. 15 seed Kansas City-Sumner 89-15 in the first round of the Class 5A sub-state playoffs.

Shawnee Heights senior Imani McGlory scored 35 points in Wednesday's 89-15 sub-state win over KC_Sumner. [File photo/TSN]

Shawnee Heights set the tone early with suffocating defense, forcing 18 turnovers in the first half and holding Sumner to just one point in the opening quarter.

The T-Birds came out firing offensively, jumping out to a 19-1 lead in the first quarter. Sumner’s first basket came with 1:28 left in the quarter on a free throw from Mila Sims.

Heights kept the momentum rolling in the second quarter as junior Pearmella Carter and junior KK Emmot continued the offensive push. Emmot was perfect from the field in the first half, shooting 5 for 5.

Senior Reianna Vega and Carter combined for a quick 10-0 run, with Vega scoring four points and Carter adding six. Senior Imani McGlory then knocked down a 3-pointer -- part of her game-high 35 points -- to stretch the lead to 36-1. Sumner managed back-to-back baskets before Vega answered with a 3-pointer to make it 39-5.

McGlory then connected on back-to-back threes to give her 15 points before halftime as Shawnee Heights entered the break leading 45–5.

“That was something we really wanted to emphasize -- playing solid defense, not giving up drives, moving our feet, and playing without our hands,” said Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells. “I thought they did a good job of it for the most part.”

McGlory caught fire in the third quarter. After scoring on a layup to start the half, she followed with three consecutive 3-pointers and scored 18 straight points to extend the T-Birds’ lead to 63-5.

“When she starts shooting the ball and it goes in, it barely even touches the net,” Wells said. “There was a lot of that tonight. She was shooting the ball great and feeling great. Her teammates wanted to get her the ball, and that was a lot of fun to see.”

McGlory, who entered the night needing 42 points to reach 1,000 for her career, said her teammates encouraged her to stay aggressive.

“I try to get locked in in the locker room before the game,” McGlory said. “My teammates kept telling me to shoot, especially coming out of halftime. My goal was to try to get at least 30 points tonight so hopefully it’ll be easier next game.

"I feel like the feeling will be way better if I get my 1,000 and we win sub-state on the same night.”

Shawnee Heights led 77-9 after the third quarter, triggering a running clock in the fourth.

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