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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
City players earned three of the seven spots on the All-United Kansas Conference boys basketball first team, led by Shawnee Heights co-UKC player of the year Jaret Sanchez.
Shawnee Heights senior Jaret Sanchez has been named the UKC co-player of the year. [File photo/TSN]
Sanchez, a senior who helped Shawnee Heights advance to the Class 5A state tournament for a second straight season, shares the player of the year honor with Piper senior PJ Moore.
Sanchez and Seaman junior KaeVon Bonner are first-team All-UKC repeat picks while Shawnee Heights senior Deacon Pomeroy moves up to the first team after being a second-team selection in 2024.
Seaman junior KaeVon Bonner is a repeat pick on the All-UKC first team. [File photo/TSN]
Shawnee Heights senior Deacon Pomeroy has been named to the All-UKC first team. [File photo/TSN]
Topeka West junior Malakyah Duncan and Seaman senior Bryer Finley earned second-team recognition while Shawnee Heights juniors Jaeveon Alston and Ontarius Emmot and Topeka West seniors Kamoni Ford and Jalen Foy and Charger junior Keimani Paul all received honorable mention.
Piper coach Steve Wallace, whose Pirates finished third in 5A, was named the conference coach of the year.
ALL-UNITED KANSAS CONFERENCE BOYS BASKETBALL
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Centennial League boys basketball champion Washburn Rural, which went unbeaten in league play, dominated all-league balloting from the league coaches, sweeping all three of the individual awards.
Washburn Rural senior Amare Jones has been named the Centennial League boys basketball player of the year. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural junior Simon Rowley has been named the Centennial League boys newcomer of the year. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Rural senior Amare Jones was named the Centennial League player of the year while junior Simon Rowley was selected as the newcomer of the year and Junior Blues coach Alex Hutchins was tapped as the coach of the year.
Hayden senior James Kuta (right) has been named to the All-Centennial League boys first team. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Jones and Rowley were also named to the all-league first team, along with Hayden senior James Kuta.
Jones, Rowley and Kuta headlined a list of nine city players who received All-Centennial League recognition.
Earning second-team all-league honors were Washburn Rural senior Kaden Ballard and Topeka High junior Bryson McComas.
Hayden junior Connor Hanika and sophomore Mason Becker received all-league honorable mention along with senior King Leonard and junior John Hoytal of Washburn Rural.
ALL-CENTENNIAL LEAGUE BOYS BASKETBALL
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Anna Becker
ANNA BECKER, Seaman
Becker, a senior guard, capped her banner four-year high school basketball career with a game-high 28 points in Saturday's 68-61 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas in the Class 5A girls state championship game. Becker, a Drake signee, hit 4-7 3-pointers and dished out five assists as the Vikings finished a 24-1 season. Becker had 49 points in the tournament.
Kailyn Hanni
KAILYN HANNI, Silver Lake
Hanni, a junior guard, scored a game-high 19 points and hit 7 of 8 free throws in Saturday's 48-45 loss to Halstead in the Class 3A girls state championship game. Hanni's big game in the finals came after she scored 28 points (15 made free throws) with 6 assists and 4 rebounds in the Eagles' 65-58 semifinal victory over Hesston.
Dayne Johnson
DAYNE JOHNSON, Silver Lake
A junior, Johnson registered a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday's Class 3A boys third-place game, leading the Eagles to a 63-51 win over Galena. Johnson scored 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds on Friday as Silver Lake fell 66-60 to Goodland in the state semifinals.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After falling behind by double digits early in Sunday night's NCAA Central Regional semifinal in Lee Arena, Concordia-St. Paul made run after run at top seed Washburn University, but the Ichabods answered each and every challenge, advancing to Tuesday night's regional final with a 94-78 win over the Golden Bears.
Senior Jacob Hanna scored a team-high 24 points in Washburn's 94-78 NCAA regional win over Concordia-St. Paul Sunday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"I don't know that there's a better Division II atmosphere, or really at any level, than what we just played in tonight,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "Our fans were phenomenal. They gave us a ton of energy once again, so shout out to Topeka and everybody that showed up.
"I loved that our team had to battle through some stuff and didn't flinch. The body language was great, the composure was good and every time they had a run we had an answer for it.''
The Ichabods will play for the regional championship for the first time since 2001 at 7 p.m. Tuesday, facing No. 2 seed Minnesota State-Moorhead, a 70-59 semifinal winner over No. 3 Winona State.
Washburn, now 28-3, started the game on a 17-7 run in the first 4:34 of the game while hitting 6 of 8 shots, including 2 of 3 from deep while the Bears (22-9) started the game 2 of 8 from the field.
The Ichabods went on to go up 30-16 at the 10:20 mark, but Concordia-St. Paul answered with a 17-4 run to cut the WU lead to 34-33.
Concordia-St. Paul also got within a point (36-35) with 1:44 left in the half on a bucket from Bears senior star Antwan Kimmons, but Washburn answered with a 3-pointer from sophomore Jack Bachelor and senior Jacob Hanna scored to give the Ichabods a 41-35 advantage.
After another hoop from Kimmons, who led all scorers with 25 points, Washburn ended the half with a tip-in from from freshman Dillon Claussen to take a 43-37 advantage to the locker room at the break.
"That's a great player,'' Hanna said of Kimmons, "and he might have got the best of me a couple of times, but I'm just happy we came out with the win.''
Washburn boosted its advantage back to 13 points (57-44) with 14:52 remaining on a 3-pointer from junior Brady Christiansen, but the Bears fought back to within three (65-62) with 9:53 left.
But again, Washburn had an answer, going on a 9-2 run, punctuated by a monster dunk from senior Michael Keegan, to go back in front by 10 (74-64) at the 7:53 mark.
"You saw the crowd react,'' Hanna said of Keegan's dunk. "That's the loudest in the gym I think I've ever heard after that dunk and going into the timeout that gave us a lot of energy and a big boost.''
Concordia-St. Paul got no closer than eight the rest of the way and the Ichabods opened up a commanding 94-74 lead with 53 seconds left before closing out the 16-point win.
Washburn shot a blistering 58 percent from the field in the second half while getting a double-double from Hanna with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Sophomore Jack Bachelor scored 21 points with three treys and five assists in Washburn's 94-78 NCAA regional win over Concordia-St. Paul Sunday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Bachelor scored 21 (3 of 3 3-pointers) with five assists and senior Andrew Orr finished with 16 points with five boards.
Claussen came off the bench to reach double figures for the second straight game, scoring 10 points with five boards and four blocks.
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By Brad Hallier
For KSHSAA Covered
HUTCHINSON -- As the Halstead girls basketball team was making a comeback Saturday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, the Dragons weren’t jumping up and down. They weren’t hyping each other up, getting in each others’ faces or screaming in excitement.
Silver Lake junior Kailyn Hanni scored a game-high 19 points in Saturday's 48-45 loss to Halstead in the state final. [Photo by Andrew Carpenter/Special to KSHSAA Covered]
Halstead looked right at home for a program playing in its first state championship game.
That’s because, in some ways, the Dragons were used to this environment. During the fall, many basketball players helped Halstead win the school’s first volleyball state championship, which was also won at the Sports Arena.
Heck, even last year’s sub-state basketball tournament was closer to a state tournament with the number of great teams in it.
The lights weren’t too bright and the pressure wasn’t overwhelming for Halstead, as the Dragons came from 13 points down in the third quarter to beat reigning Class 3A champion Silver Lake, 48-45.
“We were used to all the fans and playing in this environment,” said sophomore Jordy Schroeder, who was a part of that volleyball team. “The community always shows up big time.”
The Dragons showed up when it mattered most. Although they trailed the seven-time champions for more than 23 minutes, they never looked uncomfortable.
Silver Lake led 31-23 at half, and soon led by 15 points.
Were the Dragons nervous? Worried? Not even close.
“We don’t get too worked up,” senior guard Kaci Young said. “We just had to get some stops, and I thought we did a good job defending them.”
Silver Lake would score just nine points over the final 11 minutes, 33 seconds.
“They continued to play help defense, and we had a hard time getting to the rim,” Silver Lake coach Kyle Porter said. “They just played better than we did in the fourth quarter.”
Halstead closed the deficit to 39-33 after three quarters. Then the defense dominated for Halstead, as its swarming defense started to make the Eagles uncomfortable..
Addisen Wills was the catalyst of that improved Halstead defense. The junior guard caused problems for the Eagles, and she finished with five steals, including two during the fourth quarter.
With 2:05 left in the game, and Silver Lake leading 45-44, Wills' thievery at midcourt led to a transition opportunity, and Young’s layup sent the Dragon fans into a frenzy as the Dragons took the lead for good..
“We played in a lot of close games these past few years,” Halstead coach Derek Schutte said. “We’ve been on the wrong end of some of them, the losing end, but we didn’t quit.
“(Wills) is awesome. I don’t know if there’s a better defensive guard in 3A than Addie Wills.”
The Dragons needed one more defense stop at the end to ensure the title. Silver Lake executed a set that helped junior guard Kailyn Hanni have a good look at a game-tying 3-pointer in the right corner. But Hanni, who had a game-high 19 points, just missed.
Silver Lake coach Kyle Porter talks to his team during Saturday's state final. [Photo by Andrew Carpenter/Special to KSHSAA Covered]
It ended what was another strong season for Silver Lake. A year after winning a championship with arguably the best 3A girls team in history, and graduating most of the production from that squad, the Eagles still played for the state championship again.
“It hurts a lot and it should,” Porter said. “But once we give it some time, we should be really proud of what this team has accomplished.”
