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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
HOYT -- The Hayden Wildcats were hoping to make easy work of Jefferson West in Saturday's Class 3A girls sub-state championship game, but the Tigers had other plans as they would battle with the top-seeded Wildcats and trail just 17-12 after the first quarter.
Hayden's girls basketball team poses for a picture after winning the Class 3A sub-state title on Saturday at Royal Valley. [Photo by Kyle Grunert/Special to TSN]
Hayden's girls celebrate their Class 3A sub-state championship after Saturday's 69-31 win over Jefferson West. [Photo by Kyle Grunert/Special to TSN]
But that would be all the Tigers would have for the Wildcats, as Hayden would outscore the Tigers 19-8 in the second quarter to take a 36-20 halftime lead and cruite the rest of the way in a 69-31 rout.
Senior Lauren Sandstrom scored 15 of her game-high 27 points before halftime and the Wildcats would come out of halftime on fire and play stifling defense as they would outscore the Tigers 26-9 in the third and take a 62-29 lead into the fourth stanza, forcing a running clock.
“It means a lot,'' Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said. "We have seniors that have bought in for four years and a great junior class that have bought in and tonight you saw we have a great sophomore class as well.
"It means a lot that we made state last year (in 4A) and we got our feet wet at state and the girls know what to expect now.”
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
HOYT -- The Hayden Wildcat boys have been through it all this season. They won four of their first five games and then the new year hit and the Wildcats couldn’t win as injuries would hit them left and right and they would lose their next 12 games. Now the Wildcats are hot as they have won four of their last six games at the most crucial time of the season.
Hayden's boys basketball team celebrates Saturday's 71-67 double-overtime victory in the Class 3A sub-state championship game at Royal Valley. [Photo by Kyle Grunert/Special to TSN]
Hayden's boys basketball team poses for a picture after winning the Class 3A sub-state championship at Royal Valley. [Photo by Kyle Grunert/Special to TSN]
And on Saturday night the Wildcats would show top-seeded Sabetha how far they have progressed, punching their ticket to the Class 3A state tournament with a thrilling 71-67 double-overtime victory over the Bluejays.
The Wildcats would get out to a hot start, going up 17-9 in the first quarter and taking a 30-18 halftime lead.
But Sabetha came storming back to get behind 42-34 at the end of the third quarter and outscoring Hayden 13-5 in the fourth quarter to take a 3-point lead with seconds to go before Hayden senior guard Dom Ridley would hit a 3-pointer to tie things up at 47 and force overtime.
In the first overtime the Bluejays looked like they were going to pull off the victory but the Wildcats would not give up.
Sabetha had a two-point lead with seconds to go and Hayden needing a miracle to stay alive. The Wildcats got just that as another senior, Carter Charvat, would step up and make a huge play with a layup as time expired to force a second overtime.
The second overtime would be all Hayden as junior Jacob Diester would put his teammates on his back, scoring seven of his 13 points in the second OT and help the Wildcats close out the 71-67 win.
“Big players come up at big times,'' Ridley said. "Charvat hits the layup to force the second overtime and it was history after that.”
“Gosh it feels awesome,'' Hayden coach Trey Brown said. "These guys could have quit a long time ago, but we stayed on them and it's a credit to all these guys. They worked hard, never gave up, believed in each other and battled injuries and stuff and their hard work is paying off. I am extremely proud of them.”
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
TopSports.news
The Seaman Lady Vikings hosted the Basehor-Linwood Bobcats in their third matchup of the season in Saturday's Class 5A sub-state championship game.
Seaman's girls basketball team poses for a picture after Saturday's 68-33 win over Basehor-Linwood in a Class 5A sub-state final. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Both regular season contests were won handily by the Lady Vikes, 64-42 in early January and 61-30 in mid-February and the outcome of Saturday's contest was very similar to the previous two games, with Seaman winning the game, 68-33, to punch their ticket to the 5A state tournament beginning Thursday at White Auditorium in Emporia.
The Lady Vikes began the game very focused and jumped out to a 14-6 lead in the first four minutes, causing the Bobcats to spend a timeout. The Vikings extended their lead to 25-10 by the end of the first quarter. Seaman was a blistering 5-7 from behind the 3-point line in the quarter.
During the first couple of minutes of the second quarter, the Bobcats found an offensive rhythm and the Lady Vikes were only able to add one point to their lead going into halftime, 38-22.
“This was our best offensive showing of the year as far as running our half court offense,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "The girls moved the ball and found a rhythm offensively.”
During the third quarter Seaman shot 7-11 from the field and extended its lead to 57-31 heading into the final quarter. In the first 80 seconds of the fourth quarter the lead grew to above 30 points, causing a running clock for the remainder of the game, which ended with Seaman winning by 35 points.
“There is a lot of talk this time of year about March Madness and ‘survive and advance,’ '' Tinsley said. "I challenged the girls to have a different mindset of ‘thrive and advance’ instead. If you are not aggressive and back on your heels, you are playing not to lose. I want them to play to win and be confident in our goal. This is a special group of kids and there is nothing that compares to the excitement of the state basketball tournament. The girls have earned it and I want them to be loose and enjoy the moment. I’m so happy for them!”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Silver Lake girls punched their ticket to the Class 3A state tournament Saturday by rolling past St. Marys 62-32 at Riley County.
Senior Makenzie McDaniel scored 22 points, 20 in the second half, as Silver Lake earned its fourth straight Class 3A state berth with a 62-32 sub-state win over St. Marys. [File photo/TSN]
Silver Lake senior McKinley Kruger scored 19 points with four 3-pointers in the Eagles' 62-32 sub-state win over St. Marys on Saturday. [File photo/TSN]
The Eagles will be making their fourth consecutive trip to the state tournament, an accomplishment proudly proclaimed by coach Kyle Porter. Silver Lake finished third at the state tournament in 2022 and fourth in 2023, due in large part to the current group of seniors.
“The special thing about this team is the balance and the fact that you can’t take everybody away,” Porter said. “We’ve had a number of players step up. I think when everybody plays to their role it’s a special thing. That’s what we saw tonight.”
St. Marys’ post Hayden Heim made things difficult for Silver Lake in the first period. The 6-foot-3 junior scored eight points in the opening period while holding Eagles’ post MaKenzie McDaniel to 1-4 shooting at the other end of the floor.
With the Eagles clinging to a 19-14 lead early in the second period, the game changed when Heim picked up her third foul.
When Heim went to the bench with 6:29 still remaining before halftime, the Eagles adjusted their strategy. They began sending guards into the middle of the paint to receive passes from the perimeter. Once there, the ball was kicked out to shooters. The plan ignited a run of eight points on three consecutive possessions.
“All game, one of our goals was to attack the scoring area,” Porter said. “We knew that they don’t play a ton of players, have a limited bench. So, we really wanted to get to the rim and use our inside game. We hit a number of shots outside early, and then with Heim not in there we were able to take advantage inside.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women rallied from 13 points down in the second half to deliver a 59-58 overtime victory over Emporia State on Senior Day Saturday in Lee Arena.
WU shot just 25 percent from the field in the first half and 34.9 percent on the day, hit just two of 16 attempts from 3-point range and missed some big free throws down the stretch, but the Ichabods found a way to pull out the rivalry win in their regular-season finale.
The Washburn women's basketball team celebrates at the end of Saturday's 59-58 overtime win over Emporia State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"We found a way,'' Washburn coach Lora Westling said. "We've been talking a lot about confidence and that's the thing, I think you've got to find ways first and then the confidence comes. That was big for us.
"It was a great team win and everybody contributed.''
The Ichabods finished the regular season as the No. 10 seed in the MIAA and will take on No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney in the opening round of the MIAA Tournament on Wednesday, March 6, at 2:15 p.m. in Kansas City, Mo.
"Any time we beat Emporia it's awesome,'' Washburn standout senior point guard Aubree Dewey said. "It's the last game of the (regular) season and we knew we wanted great momentum going into the tournament. No matter who this game was we wanted it no matter what.''
Washburn (13-15 overall, 8-14 MIAA) jumped out to a 5-0 lead but the Hornets (13-15, 10-12) rallied for a 15-11 first-quarter advantage and held a slim 22-19 advantage at halftime.
The Hornets pushed their lead into double-digits in the third quarter but the Ichabods ended the quarter on a 4-0 run to make it a nine-point game heading into the fourth.
Washburn started the fourth stanza with a 7-0 run, including a 3-point play from Dewey with 8:15 left in regulation.
Emporia State pushed the lead back to six but the Ichabods battled back to tie the game on a Yibari Nwidadah free throw with 42 seconds left. After the Hornets regained the lead Washburn was able to force overtime with Dewey hitting a shot with 19 seconds left.
WU senior Lakyn Schieferecke drew a charge on Emporia State's final offensive possession to set up the overtime.
