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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topekan Peyton Williams is headed overseas for her fifth season of professional basketball, this time to China.
The product of Cair Paravel Latin and Kansas State University is now a veteran of four professional seasons. She played in Russia upon graduation, then spent a season in France and two in Hungary.
Former Cair Paravel and Kansas State star Peyton Williams is getting ready for her fifth professional basketball season and her first in China. [Submitted photo]
Williams will play this season for the Wuhan Shengfan Basketball Club.
“My agent and I talked about Spain, Turkey and China, all of which have really good leagues. Because China is a little bit farther away, he wanted to make sure I was actually interested in that. I said, ‘Let’s give it a try,’ '' Williams said. "He was able to connect with some people and help me find a team.”
An anthropology major at K-State, Williams is looking forward to the opportunity to experience a different part of the world.
“I have really enjoyed playing in the Europe circuit. But I’ve never been to China and have been really interested in the culture, as well as to see what basketball is like there.” Williams said. “I know that they have a really competitive league. So, it’s a chance to push myself as a professional and also to experience a different culture.”
Williams said the Chinese league, made up of 21 teams, covers such a large geographic area that the league is split into divisions. She said unlike Europe, where most of the travel was done in vans or on commuter trains, the team in China will travel primarily by airplane or on the country’s “bullet trains.”
“It will be somewhat similar to what we did in Russia,” Williams said. “There, almost all our travel was by plane, and sometimes those flights were across four or five time zones.”
Williams said the level of play she has experienced thus far in her career would be a step up from what she saw in the Big 12. She noted that a lot of the best players from the Big 12 have been among her opponents in Europe. She expects the Chinese league to be as challenging as anywhere she’s played, if not more so.
“I think every league that I’ve played in has had a lot of talent, but I’ve heard the Chinese league is really good because it attracts a lot of really good players from the U.S.,” Williams said.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Rossville junior football standout Conner Bush and Washburn Rural junior cross country standout Emily Graf have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2024-2025 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Bush and Graf over the past week:
Rossville junior Conner Bush (5) has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency male Rising Star of the Week after helping lead the Bulldawgs to the second round of the Class 1A playoffs with a 47-13 win over Wabaunsee. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
CONNER BUSH, Rossville
A 5-foot-11, 176-pound running back, Bush scored three touchdowns last Friday night as Rossville advanced to the second round of the Class 1A football playoffs with a 47-13 win over Wabaunsee.
Bush scored TDs on runs of 51, 9 and 25 yards as the Bulldawgs improved to 6-3 on the 2024 season while posting their sixth straight victory.
Bush has carried the ball 54 times on the season for 551 yards and nine touchdowns.
Washburn Rural junior Emily Graf has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency female Rising Star of the Week after earning her second straight Class 6A state medal last Saturday at Rim Rock Farm. [File photo/TSN]
EMILY GRAF, Washburn Rural
Graf earned her second straight Class 6A state medal in last Saturday's state cross country meet at Rim Rock Farm as Washburn Rural tied Olathe West for the team championship and finished second on a tiebreaker.
Graf posted a career-best 14th-place state finish in a five-kilometer time of 19 minutes, 26.3 seconds.
Graf, who helped the Junior Blues sweep city, Centennial League and regional team titles this fall, placed 19th in the state meet as a sophomore.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University will open its 120th season of men's basketball with a pair of games in Kansas City, Mo.'s storied Municipal Auditorium, starting on Friday at 3 p.m. when the Ichabods will face Sioux Falls (S.D).
Washburn will then face preseason No. 1 and defending NCAA Division II champion Minnesota State (Mankato) at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Seniors Andrew Orr (24) and Michael Keegan (23) are part of a strong returning nucleus for the Washburn Ichabods, who posted a 19-11 record a year ago. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods played their lone exhibition game on Oct. 29, facing NCAA Division I top-ranked Kansas and falling 84-53 in Allen Fieldhouse.
Washburn coach Brett Ballard said he feels like the Ichabods got what they needed to out of the KU game and will get an idea this weekend how they will stack up against top Division II competition.
"It's two really challenging games out of the gate and two regional games, which have implications on the postseason, so we're jumping right into the deep end, but we've had a good preseason and I feel like the KU exhibition and our closed door scrimmages were really beneficial for us,'' Ballard said.
Sioux Falls will also be playing its first games of the season in Kansas City, while Minnesota State opened the season with a pair of losses to fellow ranked teams at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, falling to No. 19-ranked Florida Southern 91-86 in overtime and 57-49 to No. 9-ranked North Georgia the following day.
Washburn finished the 2023-24 season with a 19-11 record, advancing to the MIAA Tournament semifinals.
The Ichabods have recorded 30 20-win seasons and four under Ballard in his seven seasons, receiving four NCAA postseason berths.
Washburn returns four players who started at least half of last season's 30 games and eight players return who saw action last year for the Ichabods.
WU senior Andrew Orr received second-team All-MIAA honors last season after averaging 13.3 points and 5.6 rebounds while junior Sam Ungashick received all-conference honorable mention after averaging 12.2 points and 3.8 rebounds.
Other returning starters include junior Brady Christiansen (7.9 points, 6.6 rebounds) and senior Michael Keegan (7.4 points, 5.3 rebounds) while sophomore Jack Bachelor started 11 games and averaged 11.5 points and 3.8 rebounds with 3.9 assists.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball will begin its 2024-25 regular season with a pair of games in St. Cloud, Minn. for the Central Region Crossover.
Washburn junior transfer Payton Sterk has opened her career for the Ichabods with double-figure games against Kansas State and Kansas. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will face Southwest Minnesota State to open the season at 4 p.m. on Friday before Washburn before facing the host team, St. Cloud State, at 4 o'clock on Saturday.
Washburn wrapped up its preseason exhibition schedule with an 81-54 loss at Kansas last Friday. Junior Yibari Nwidadah was a rebound shy of a double-double against the Jayhawks, finishing with 15 points and nine rebounds while juniors Gavi Gionannetti and Payton Sterk added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The Kansas game followed an 89-36 exhibition loss at nationally-ranked Kansas State, with transfer Sterk scoring a team-high 12 points for the Ichabods.
Third-year Washburn coach Lora Westling said the two Division I exhibitions should help prepare the Ichabods for anything they'll face over the upcoming season.
"We're not going to see that much talent on a roster for the rest of our season, but what we were hoping to get out of it is some highlights, which I think we did,'' Westling said. "We were able to try out kind of a new defensive system for us and create some turnovers against some really talented players.
"We wanted to make sure we had a bright light on what we need to improve on and I felt like we got that. We've got to take care of the ball better and find better spacing and flow in our offense. We wanted to be excited about the upcoming season and I think we got that accomplished as well, so overall just great experiences with our exhibition games and now we're ready to compete against teams at our level.''
Washburn is coming off a 13-16 season in 2023-24, finishing 10th in the MIAA with an 8-14 record, and advancing to the first round of the MIAA Tournament.
The Ichabods were picked to finish ninth in the MIAA Preseason Media Poll and were tabbed 10th by the coaches.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
(All kickoffs at 7 p.m.)
Seaman senior Max Huston has passed for 2,078 yards and 26 TDs and rushed for 627 yards and nine TDs for the 7-2 Vikings. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman senior Bryer Finley (1) has caught 67 passes for 1,404 yards and 21 TDs this fall for the 7-2 Vikings. [File photo/TSN]
Class 5A
VALLEY CENTER (No. 11 West: 3-6) at SEAMAN (No. 3 West: 7-2)
Seaman advanced to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs with a 65-7 win over Topeka West last Friday while Valley Center upset No. 6 West seed Goddard, 7-6. The winner of Friday's game will advance to play the winner of Friday's game between No. 2 West seed Eisenhower (7-2) and No. 7 Maize South (6-3). Seaman senior Max Huston has completed 122 of 194 passes for 2,078 yards and 26 touchdowns and has rushed for 627 yards and nine TDs on 96 attempts. Senior Bryer Finley has 67 receptions for 1,404 yards and 21 TDs while junior Kaden McKinney has carried the ball 126 times for 823 yards and 11 TDs. Junior Cameron Brian leads the Vikings with 100 tackles (56 solo) with eight tackles for loss. Valley Center senior Connor Brian has completed 63 of 166 passes for 655 yards and eight TDs. Junior Rylan Bailey has 401 rushing yards and three TDs on 173 attempts while sophomore Ray J Logan has caught 33 passes for 424 yards and five TDs. Senior Steel Schomaker leads Valley Center with 93 tackles.
Hayden senior quarterback Jett Wahlmeier has passed for 1,448 yards and 16 TDs for the 8-1 Wildcats. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Hayden senior Jensen Schrickel has 426 receiving yards, 288 rushing yards and has scored 11 touchdowns for the 8-1 Wildcats. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Class 3A
GIRARD (No. 6 East: 6-3) at HAYDEN (No. 3 East: 8-1)
Hayden, which played for the Class 3A state championship last fall, advanced to the second round of the playoffs with a 56-6 win over Hiawatha last Friday, while Girard is coming off a 43-15 first-round win ovr Kansas City-Bishop Ward. The winner of Friday's game will play the winner of Friday's game between No. 2 East seed Frontenac (9-0) and No. 10 Perry-Lecompton (4-5). Hayden senior quarterback Jett Wahlmeier has completed 96 of 139 passes for 1,448 yards and 16 touchdowns while junior Kade Mitchell has carried the ball 78 times for 696 yards, caught 23 passes for 398 yards and scored 21 total touchdowns. Senior Jensen Schrickel has caught 28 passes for 426 yards, rushed for 288 yards on 23 attempts and scored 11 total TDs. Junior Jude Krentz leads Hayden with 87 total tackles.
