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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Hayden’s Lady Wildcats saw themselves in familiar position Saturday night, with their third straight sub-state state tournament berth on the line againt Baldwin.
Hayden's girls pose for a team picture after clinching a third straight state tournament berth with Saturday's 52-22 win over Baldwin. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN
The Wildcats would see the Lady Bulldogs put up a early fight by taking a early 6-5 lead and then getting within three at 15-12 early in the second quarter, but that would be all she wrote for the Bulldogs as Hayden would take off and outscore the bulldogs 37-10 the rest of the way on the way to a 52-22 rout.
The Wildcats would get a early three from senior Bella Reid.
“I was excited and I was glad it went in because all my friends and family were their watching me,'' Reid said. “This season has been a highlight of my basketball career, playing beside by my best friends has meant everything to me. This season has definitely been my favorite and I will be sad when it is over.”
The Wildcats, who have featured a starting lineup that features four seniors and a standout freshman in 5-foot-11 Hailey Schmidtlein, who would score 11 points for the Cats.
“It means a lot to go to state as a freshman,'' Schmidtlein said. "The way we played that game, was one play at a time. We really came out strong each quarter, and we really came out strong in the second half. I am so proud of us and I can’t wait to see what we can do at state.”
Senior Norma Greco on making it back to state: “I think that over the recent years we have had good teams and that our program has really taken a step up in the right direction.”
Senior Millie Ramsey scored 12 points in Saturday's 52-22 Hayden sub-state win over Baldwin. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Wildcats will miss a huge senior class next season and a big part of the four-member senior class will be the tandem of Brylee Meier and Millie Ramsey, with Meier being a four-year varsity member and Ramsey being a mid-season transfer a year ago. This will be Ramsey's third trip in a row to the state tournament, with her first trip coming during her time at Highland Park when she would lead her Scots to the 5A state tournament.
Meier and Ramsey would share scoring honors on a special night for the Cats as they would both score 12 points.
“We just came out with a lot of energy and the crowd was really good tonight,'' Meier said. "Everyone came ready to play and we were able to get the win. This program has improved a lot over the years. My teammates and I have all worked really hard to get where we are today. Us going to state for a third year in a row shows all of the blood, sweat and tears we all have put into this program.”
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
A spot in the Class 5A state tournament was on the line as the Topeka West Chargers hosted the Valley Center Hornets on Saturday night. It was a tight contest over the first 16, but in the second half Topeka West picked up the defensive pressure and won the game in dominating fashion, 81-54.
Senior Jalen Foy scored a game-high 21 points in Saturday's 81-54 Class 5A sub-state win over Valley Center. [File photo/TSN]
Senior Kamoni Ford scored 15 points in Saturday's 81-54 Topeka West Class 5A sub-state win. [File photo/TSN]
The Chargers will travel to Emporia for Thursday’s first round of the 5A state tournament.
“The team was focused tonight, listening and following the game plan,'' first-year Topeka West coach Christian Ulsaker said.
As the game began, it seemed that Topeka West was going to run away with the contest, jumping out to an 8-0 lead in the first 2:30 of the game, forcing Valley Center to call a timeout. However, Valley Center responded with a 5-0 run of its own, cutting the Chargers lead to 8-5. The quarter ended with the Hornets having the lead, 18-16, thanks to four 3-pointers in the quarter.
The second quarter matched the intensity of the first quarter. Valley Center extended its lead to four points early in the quarter, but Topeka West responded by scoring six straight points to take the lead, 22-20. For the rest of the first half, both teams traded baskets and the Chargers took a one point lead to the locker room, 33-32.
"In the first quarter, Valley Center came out aggressive and hit four 3-pointers and we were able to adjust and take that away in the second quarter, but we still only led 33-32 at the half,'' Ulsaker said.
The complexion of the game changed in the third quarter. On offense, the Chargers made a change as noted by Ulsaker. “We moved Keimani Paul inside and moved Kamoni Ford outside and told Keimani to attack when he caught the ball in the short corner,'' Ulsaker said.
Defensively, the Chargers got into the passing lanes, forcing eight turnovers, which led to multiple layups in transition. West out-scored the Hornets 24-9 and took a commanding 57-41 lead into the final quarter.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's always tough to try to beat a team three times in the same season, a task that Washburn Rural faced in Saturday's Class 6A sub-state final against Centennial League rival Manhattan.
But the Junior Blues, the No. 3 West seed, were up to the challenge, riding fast starts in both halves to a 46-31 home win over the No. 6-seeded Indians.
Washburn Rural's girls are headed to the Class 6A state tournament for the fourth straight season after Saturday's 46-31 sub-state win over Manhattan. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural's girls will open this season's Class 6A state tournament bid at 8 p.m. Thursday against Blue Valley North in Wichita. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural, which improved to 16-6, earned its fourth straight trip to state and will looking for its fourth straight berth in the 6A state final. Rural, the No. 6 state seed, will open this year's state bid at 8 p.m. Thursday against No. 3 Blue Valley North (18-4) in Wichita's Koch Arena.
"We'll see what happens Thursday and hopefully we can have three good days of practice and kind of get some things more solidified, but we're excited,'' Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said.
The Junior Blues, intent on pounding the ball inside to sophomore standout Maddie Vickery, never trailed after scoring the first seven points, all by Vickery, before Manhattan got on the scoreboard two and a half minutes into the game.
Rural went on to go in front 14-2 on a Tenly Bunck 3-pointer at the 2:50 mark before Manhattan (14-8) scored the final three points of the quarter.
Vickery scored five more points early in the second quarter as the Junior Blues pushed their advantage to 20-5 with 5:08 left in the first half on the way to a 23-12 halftime lead.
Washburn Rural opened the second half with four straight points to push its lead back to 15 (27-12) and led 37-24 at the start of the fourth stanza.
Manhattan clawed its way within seven points (38-31) with 2:10 left, but Rural ran off the final eight points of the game after the Indians were whistled for an intentional foul with 1:28 left.
Kate Hinck hit two free throws followed by two charities from Brooklyn Rutherford and a hoop from Gracie Hayes to end the scoring.
"I think when we followed the game plan a little closer to getting the ball inside and getting some paint touches I thought things were working really well,'' Bordewick said. "Then we kind of got away from that and got back to it so it was just kind of an ebb and flow.
"We've got to get in a better rhythm of working inside out, but we got off to a good start.''
Sophomore Maddie Vickery registered a double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds in Washburn Rural's 46-31 sub-state win over Manhattan Saturday. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Vickery, a Kansas State commit, registered a double-double with game-high totals of 20 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Junior Blues while Bunck added nine points.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Shawnee Heights boys survived a knock-down-drag-out Class 5A sub-state battle with St. Thomas Aquinas 49-42 Saturday night to earn a return trip to the Class 5A state tournament.
Shawnee Heights senior standout Jaret Sanchez cuts down the nets after Saturday's 49-42 Class 5A sub-state win over St. Thomas Aquinas. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
Shawnee Heights poses for a team picture after Saturday's 49-42 Class 5A sub-state win over St. Thomas Aquinas. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
The T-Birds utilized a new defense to stymie the Saints in the first half. In a low scoring struggle, Shawnee Heights held the visitors scoreless for all but 2.7 seconds of the second period to build a 16-10 halftime lead.
The T-Birds led by as many as nine points in the third period, and as many as 10 midway through the fourth period. But the Saints wouldn’t fold. They closed to within three points with just under two minutes remaining. But Shawnee Heights held on to punch their ticket for the state tournament, which tips off next Wednesday at Emporia’s White Auditorium.
“We’re feeling great. We know that hard work pays off,” said Shawnee Heights senior Jaret Sanchez. “But now it starts over here. The new season has begun.”
Shawnee Heights coach Ken Darting prepared his team for just such a moment as this.
“This is the first time we played zone all year,” Darting said. “It might be about the fifth time in the history of my 50 years, but we’ve been practicing it all year for this game and for the state.”
“Coach (Darting) said back at Christmas break that the 3-2 and 2-3 zone is going to win us the state,” said Sanchez. “We saw that in the first round, (Aquinas) struggled against zone. So, we just knew that we were going to come out here and play it to the best of our ability.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Washburn University women's basketball secured a trip to the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament as they knocked off the No. 4 seeded Nebraska-Kearney Lopers 78-65 on Friday night in the quarterfinal round.
Junior Yibari Nwidadah had 28 points and 15 rebounds in Washburn's 78-65 Friday's MIAA tournament win over Nebraska-Kearney. [File photo/TSN]
The No. 5 seed Ichabods will face the top seed and No. 9 nationally-ranked Pittsburg State at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
The first four points of the game came from Washburn (18-12) on buckets from Yibari Nwidadah and Gabi Giovannetti.
The Lopers (19-9) were held off the board until the 7:32 mark in the first quarter and did not make a field goal until the game was nearly five minutes old.
After a basket by Giovannetti put the Ichabods up 8-3 Nebraska-Kearney scored the next eight points to go ahead by three. The lead changed hands twice more in the opening quarter with the Lopers in front 16-14.
A 5-0 run early in the second quarter tied the game for Washburn after a layup by Madelyn Amekporfor.
After two more lead changes the Ichabods took a lead they would never relinquish with a 3-pointer by Aniyah Wayne the five-minute mark. The run continued with the final nine points of the quarter, finished by a buzzer-beating layup by Amaya Davison to go into the break leading 33-24. Washburn outscored Nebraska Kearney 19-8 in the quarter, shooting 8-12 from the field.
The run continued into the second half, with Nwidadah and Giovannetti each with buckets, forcing a Loper timeout. A fast break layup by Amekporfor pushed the lead to a game-high 16 points with 7:42 left in the quarter. Nebraska-Kearney responded, heating up from deep with three made triples in the quarter cutting the lead to as little as six. A 3-pointer from the Lopers on the final possession made it 52-44 going into the fourth.
