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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University soccer team advanced to the NCAA Final Four with a 3-2 Saturday victory over Missouri-St. Louis in St. Louis.
Washburn soccer celebrates after Saturday's 3-2 Elite Eight road win over Missouri-St. Louis. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn soccer displays its NCAA Final Four sign after Saturday's 3-2 win over Missouri-St. Louis. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
With the win the 14-3-6 Ichabods avenged a 3-0 loss to the Tritons in Washburn's second game of the season.
"That was a great college soccer game,'' Washburn coach Davy Phillips said. "UMSL is a good team that is tough to score on, and to get three today was such a big-time effort from the ladies."
"I thought we were really good for large spells of the game. We had to really earn it today and battle through some challenges that this game provided, but I'm so proud of our team and their character to battle back and find the game winner."
Washburn heads to the Final Four for the second time in program history, and for the second time in three years, traveling to Colorado Springs, Colo. to face Franklin Pierce in a 4 p.m. (Central time) semifinal on Thursday.
Washburn soccer poses for a team picture after earning a trip to the Final Four in Colorado Springs with Saturday's 3-2 win over Missouri-St. Louis. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]Following re-seeding for the Final Four, Washburn is the No. 1 seed and Franklin Pierce No. 4.
The opening 20 minutes were back and forth, with both teams having chances to score first.
The Ichabods would start to gain some momentum shortly with two shots in the 26th and 27th minute, both saved by the UMSL goalie, but after a corner was taken in the 39th minute by Bricelyn Betts that was fumbled by the UMSL goalie, Shaye Taylor would find the back of the net to put Washburn up, 1-0.
Just one minute, 19 seconds later, Aubrey Tanksley would put the Ichabods up 2-0 heading into the halftime break. It was Tanksley's second goal of the season, coming in back-to-back matches.
The Tritons would not go down without a fight and would get one back in the 51st minute to cut the Ichabod lead to 2-1. UMSL would find an equalizer seven minutes later in the 58th minute from a cross that was headed in.
The Ichabods would respond right back four minutes later in the 62nd minute. After Leah Henke's initial shot was saved, Henke put away the rebound to put Washburn back on top 3-2.
It was the freshman's 12th goal of the year, moving her into the No. 4 spot all-time for goals in a single season, passing fellow Bishop Carroll product Khloe Schuckman, who had 11 in 2023.
The Ichabods outshot the Tritons 14-12 and had seven corners to just two taken by UMSL.
Washburn freshman goalkeeper Lili Everley registered six saves during the match.
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By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Perennial state girls power Washburn Rural will have to make do without junior star and Kansas State commit Maddie Vickery for at least the early portion of the 2025-2026 season.
Kevin Bordewick begins his 17th season as Washburn Rural's girls basketball head coach and his 33rd in the program. [File photo/TSN]
But Kevin Bordewick, who is starting his 17th season as the Junior Blues' coach in basketball, said his team has to view Vickery's absence as a chance to get other Rural players accustomed to competing at the Class 6A level.
“It’s going to give us a great opportunity to have others to step up and do other things more,'' Bordewick said. "I’m really excited about the kids we have coming back and some freshmen who are going to step up and play major minutes and we’re going to have a good mix.''
“We work a lot on ball movement and working together instead of relying on (Vickery) to score and rebound for us. I feel like we’ve been more aggressive on shooting, driving and other aspects, too,” senior Ella Hirschi said.
Hallie Walker, Hirschi and Josie Carlgren will be the seniors of this season's Washburn Rural group.
Bordewick said junior Brooklyn Rutherford will be a key contributor and got some big minutes last season. Kailyn Peterson is a post player Bordewick said the Junior Blues will use and he said four freshmen will get minutes.
“We’re all really hard workers,'' Carlgren said. "We want to get better every single day at practice, we all push each other to get better. If there is something that someone needs to work on, we’ll keep them on track, and that goes for everybody.''
Bordewick has led Washburn Rural to 10 6A state titles in volleyball and basketball and said there’s no secret ingredient to success, but said it does come down to some variables.
“You can’t win if you don’t have good athletes,” he said. “They have to work hard, they have to believe in themselves and I think what we try to get out of them is really up to them.
"I told the freshmen, 'We’re going to be on you even as freshmen because if you’re on this varsity group, you’re a varsity ballplayer, you’re not a freshman so we’re going to treat you as a varsity ballplayer and we have standards that we don’t lower no matter what.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West boys basketball doesn't necessarily have a go-to player.
Instead, Christian Ulsaker's Chargers have four or five players that can fill that role on any given night, which could make Topeka West a very dangerous team over the course of the 2025-2026 season.
opeka West senior Loc Duncan (12) led all scorers with 26 points Friday as the Chargers opened their season with an 81-54 UKC win over De Soto. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
West's balance was on full display in Friday's 81-54 United Kansas Conference home victory over De Soto, with senior Loc Duncan leading the way with a game-high 26 points while all five West starters cracked double figures.
Junior Prince Lassiter scored 18 points in Friday's 81-54 UKC Topeka West win over De Soto. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topeka West senior JayVeon Traylor slams home a dunk in Friday's 81-54 Charger win over De Soto. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior Prince Lassiter backed Duncan with 18 points, while senior Jay'Veon Traylor added 12 points and seven rebounds, senior Gad Munganga 11 points and senior Keimani Paul 10.
"Thankfully our guys don't have a huge ego,'' Ulsaker said. "I've got guys like Loc standing next to me and he understands that nobody's above the team, so they get what they need to do.
"If it's Kei's night, he's OK with that. If it's Jay'Veon's night he's OK with that. Tonight it was just Loc's night.''
Duncan agreed with his coach that the Chargers have the firepower to share the wealth.
"I absolutely agree with that,'' Duncan said. "Everybody in the whole starting five can get going and it can be anybody's night any given night.
"If teams try to key on me that leaves my other teammates open, to get open easy buckets for them. They can't really key on one person because we've got five guys that can do anything.''
Both Munganga and Duncan hit three 3-pointers apiece as West, currently ranked No. 7 in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, finished with eight 3s as a team.
The Chargers went wire to wire for the victory, opening up a 17-11 first-quarter advantage and taking a 31-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.
West boosted its lead to double-digits at 53-41 by the end of the third quarter and the Chargers turned the game into a rout with a 28-13 fourth quarter.
Senior Brayan Salas led De Soto (0-1, 0-1) with 15 points while senior Dylan Narayan added 10 for the Wildcats.
TOPEKA WEST BOYS 81, DE SOTO 54
De Soto 11 13 17 13 -- 54
Topeka West 17 14 22 28 -- 81
De Soto (0-1, 0-1) – Patterson 3-8 1-2 9, Dickinson 4-11 1-4 9, Narayan 5-6 0-0 10, Salas 7-19 1-3 15, Krier 1-3 0-0 2, Rapp 1-2 3-3 5, Brady 0-2 0-0 0, Morton 1-1 0-0 2, Hastings 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 23-54 6-12 54.
Topeka West (1-0, 1-0) – Munganga 4-9 0-0 11, Traylor 5-8 1-3 12, Duncan 9-13 5-8 26, Paul 3-6 3-3 10, Lassiter 6-8 6-6 16, Ware 1-3 0-2 2, Phillips 0-2 0-0 0, Fox 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-50 15-22 81.
3-point goals – De Soto 2 (Patterson 2), Topeka West 8 (Munganga 3, Duncan 3, Traylor, Paul). Total fouls – De Soto 14, Topeka West 13. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- De Soto (pre-game dunk), Munganga, Duncan.
Wildcat girls ride 3-point barrage past Chargers
De Soto made nine 3-pointers on the night, including seven in the first half, en route to a 68-21 UKC romp past Topeka West Friday at West.
Five different Wildcats drained 3-pointers, including four players with multiple treys, as De Soto (1-0 overall, 1-0 UKC) took control early and forced a running block throughout the fourth quarter.
Junior Clare Leis paced De Soto with a game-high 15 points while freshman Maddie Leis added 12 points and junior Katie Bush 10.
Junior Sydney VanDyke led Topeka West (1-1, 0-1) with 10 points and eight rebounds.
DE SOTO GIRLS 68, TOPEKA WEST 21
De Soto 18 27 18 5 -- 68
Topeka West 6 8 6 1 -- 21
De Soto (1-0, 1-9) – C. Leis 6-10 1-2 15, O'Brien 2-4 0-0 6, Cinotto 3-3 1-2 9, Gulley 0-0 2-2 2, Chappel 0-2 0-0 0, M. Leis 4-11 2-3 12, Bush 4-9 2-2 10, Carpenter 2-6 3-4 7, Major 1-3 0-0 3, Stapp 1-3 0-0 2, Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Green 0-1 0-0 0, Reiswig 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 24-53 11-17 68.
Topeka West (1-1, 0-1) – Sa'Niya Brooks 0-2 0-0 0, VanDyke 3-10 4-8 10, Ogles 1-5 0-0 2, Hall 0-6 1-2 1, McGlory 1-2 0-0 3, Allen 1-3 0-0 3, Sa'Mya Brooks 0-2 0-0 0, Traylor 1-3 0-2 2, Fox 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 7-33 5-14 21.
3-point goals – De Soto 9 (C. Leis 2, O'Brien 2, Cinotto 2, M. Leis 2, Major), Topeka West 2 (McGlory, Allen). Total fouls – De Soto 16, Topeka West 18. Fouled out – Chappel. Technical fouls -- none.
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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The Shawnee Heights boys had to dig deep after they let a 15-point lead slip away in their season opener Friday night. They relied upon the efforts of a freshman and knocked down clutch free throws to hold off United Kansas Conference foe Basehor-Linwood, 61-55.
JaiMarion Cook led Shawnee Heights with 14 points in Friday's 61-55 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Having graduated senior leaders from last year’s squad, the T-Birds may have a few things to learn about holding a lead. They raced to a 35-20 advantage midway through the second quarter and were still holding on 42-28 early in the third. But the Bobcats began clawing their way back into it.
With 2:49 remaining, the T-Birds’ lead was down to five, 55-50, when Bobcat Isaiah Calvert was fouled attempting a 3-pointer. He knocked down all three of his foul shots. Twenty seconds later, he went back to the line when the T-Birds were whistled for a technical foul. He drained two more free throws to knot the game at 55-55.
T-Bird coach Ken Darting felt, once the tide turned, some players attempted to do too much on their own.
“Selfishness. That’s what was going on,” Darting said. “We played hard the whole game. We played well for two-thirds of the game. But we were totally selfish at the end.”
Notably, the T-Birds were playing their first game without Jaret Sanchez and Deacon Pomeroy, a couple of graduates who hit big shots and played clutch minutes throughout their careers.
“We don’t have any of those 20-point scorers,” Darting said. “So, if we’re not near perfect defensively, rebounding and on our execution on offense, we’re not going to shoot a very high percentage. I don’t get mad when (these players) miss their shots because they’re going to miss most of the time they shoot. But if you’re taking some shot that a star can’t make, now I’m mad.
“But it’s a learning process. We’re playing an offense that’s a read-oriented offense and you’ve got to read everything to play it. So that’s going to take a while.”
Freshman Quincy Dixon (22), who had 11 points in his varsity debut for Shawnee Heights, celebrates a basket with teammate Cam Ross. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Giving the T-Birds a lift in the second half was freshman Quincy Dixon. Playing in his first varsity game, Dixon led the T-Birds with nine points in the second half, when the rest of the team was in a rut. He finished with 11.
Leading the T-Birds was JaiMarion Cook with 14. Cam Ross added 12.
“It was important to get this win,” said senior Ontarius Emmot, one of the T-Birds’ returning starters from a year ago. “(A lot of us) have been playing for eight or nine years together. So, it’s the first game back, but it’s not our first time playing with each other. Our chemistry is there.
“Down the stretch we didn’t handle the ball very well, but you know, crunch time, when it got down under a minute, I think we handled that pretty well.”
Emmot said he encouraged his teammates to feel comfortable in the moment.
“I just told the guys ‘This is nothing new from what you’ve been playing all your life,” Emmot said. “I said ‘You’ve played in close games before. Yeah, there might be a couple more people here now. But the ball is still the same. The size of the rim is still the same. There’s the same amount of players on the court.’”
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS BOYS 61, BASEHOR-LINWOOD 55
Basehor-Linwood 10 16 13 16 -- 55
Shawnee Heights 19 20 10 12 -- 61
Basehor-Linwood (0-1, 0-1) – Brown 2-11 5-6 10, Morrison 5-8 1-3 13, Hofer 0-2 0-0 0, Young 2-8 2-2 6, Calvert 5-10 8-9 19 Hutchinson 0-1 2-2 2, Elliott 2-3 0-0 5, Nixon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-43 18-22 55.
Shawnee Heights (1-0, 1-0) – Alston 1-8 1-4 4, Cook 4-12 4-4 14, Ross 4-13 4-6 12, Scott 1-4 4-4 7, Emmot 3-9 0-0 7, Doby 1-2 0-0 2, Dixon 4-6 3-3 11, Lee 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 20-57 16-21 61.
3-point goals – Basehor-Linwood 5 (Morrison 2, Brown 1, Calvert 1, Elliott 1) Shawnee Heights 5 (Cook 2, Alston 1, Scott 1, Emmot 1). Total fouls – Basehor-Linwood 18, Shawnee Heights 21. Fouled out – Ross. Technical fouls – Ross.
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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
A collection of transfers and a freshman helped lead the Shawnee Heights girls past United Kansas Conference foe Basehor-Linwood 69-49 in the T-Birds’ home opener Friday.
Junior KK Emmot led Shawnee Heights with 18 points in Friday's 69-49 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Pearmella Carter, a junior transfer from Highland Park, and Imani McGlory, a senior transfer from Topeka West, combined for 29 points in their T-Bird home debuts.
Senior Imani McGlory scored 13 points in her home debut for Shawnee Heights Friday, a 69-49 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sami Baum, a home school student, scored four points in her first home game at Shawnee Heights and freshman Bijou Schmidt came off the bench to provide 11 points.
Freshman Bijou Schmidt came off the bench to score 11 points in Shawnee Heights' 69-49 win over Basehor-Linwood Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells has worked this fall to mold the new additions into a cohesive unit. The group had its eyes opened in a first-game loss to Shawnee Mission South and they showed Friday the collaboration is coming together.
“It was hard at first, but they’re learning,” Wells said. “Any time you’re learning a new system and learning how we do things in practice, everything is completely different for them. They have had to buy into what we’re doing. So they’ve been doing great. And the girls who have been in our program have been doing great helping them with everything.”
Shawnee Heights blasted out of the gate with 24 points in the first period with 10 from Carter and seven from junior KK Emmot, who led the T-Birds with 18 points.
The game was halted at the 4:40 mark of the third period when T-Bird sophomore Lauryn Brees fell awkwardly and lay on her back when the officials stopped the action. She remained down for more than 25 minutes before she was placed on a backboard and taken from the gym by first responders. After allowing for a brief warmup period, the game resumed after nearly 35 minutes.
“I just came back to the huddle and told (the team) what I knew,” Wells said about Brees’ injury. “I said, ‘We can all say a little prayer for her, and then the best thing we can do is go and play. Just go out there and play hard for her.’ And they did. I felt like they came out really focused. I was concerned that their minds were going to be someplace else because my mind was for a long time.”
The T-Birds outscored Basehor-Linwood 16-3 the rest of the period to expand their lead to 56-31.
