- Details
By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Topeka West started fast and finished even faster on the way to a home 65-45 win over Seaman in Tuesday's Class 5A sub-state semifinal.
Topeka West junior Jalen Foy (22), who scored 20 points, drives to the hoop in Tuesday's 65-45 sub-state win over Seaman, while KaeVon Bonner defends for the Vikings. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Keimani Paul scored 18 points in Topeka West's 65-45 Class 5A sub-state win over Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
With Tuesday's win the 14-7 Chargers advanced to Friday's West Sub-State I championship game at Andover, the defending 5A state champion, while Seaman finished its season 9-12.
Topeka West, which beat United Kansas Conference rival Seaman for the third time, jumped out to a 14-point lead late in the first half and led by 11 (33-22) at the break, but the Vikings battled back to make it a one-possession game at 45-42 early in the fourth quarter before the Chargers dominated things the rest of the way, ending the game with a 20-3 run.
"That's the best thing about this basketball game, the fact that things were going our way and then the roller-coaster ride started going down again and they responded,'' Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist said of his team. "They responded very well and the big thing was rebounding.
"We had to get more active on the boards and they adjusted to that. They acted like they were coached, and that was fun, the fact that they responded finally.''
- Details
By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Rossville boys clamped down on visiting Riley County Monday night, advancing to the semifinals in the Class 3A Riley County sub-state with a defensive effort, 50-37.
Sophomore Cameron Miller led Rossville with 16 points in Monday's 50-37 Class 3A sub-state win over Riley County. [File photo/TSN]
Rossville, which hadn’t won more than nine games in nearly a decade, improved to 15-6 and moved on to a matchup with Nemaha Central at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night at Riley County.
“The boys are pumped up about it. And why not? We’re doing things in the program that haven’t been done in God knows how long,” said Rossville coach Brandon McDonnell. “As muddy and dirty and unsure as the game was, generally not the way we play, we didn’t quit playing. We still played together.”
Rossville jumped on the visiting Falcons early to establish a 15-6 lead in the opening period. They continued to add on with sophomore Cameron Miller scoring 11 first-half points. The Bulldawgs led 28-17 at the intermission.
The Falcons didn’t quit. They clawed their way back to a five-point deficit with 3:28 remaining. But the Bulldawg defense locked in at that point, not allowing Riley County another point.
"At this point in the season, records don’t count. They only matter for seeding,” McDonnell said. “I told the boys ‘We can’t sleep on Riley County. They’re going to fight back.’ So, we regrouped and used our brains and finished the game.”
- Details
By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
When Hayden's boys faced Kansas City-Bishop Ward back on Dec. 15th, the Wildcats needed overtime before escaping with a one-point victory over the Cyclones.
Senior Cooper Colboch paced Hayden with 21 points in Monday's 65-47 sub-state quarterfinal win over KC-Bishop Ward. [File photo/TSN]
Senior Dom Ridley scored 15 points, with four 3-pointers, in Hayden's 65-47 Class 3A sub-state win over KC-Bishop Ward Monday night. [File photo/TSN]
Monday's rematch, which came in a Class 3A sub-state quarterfinal, was a different story with Hayden, the No. 6 seed in the Royal Valley sub-state, rolling to a 65-47 win over No. 3 seed Ward in a game that was played at Kansas City-Turner.
With Monday's victory the 6-15 Wildcats advanced to a 7:30 p.m. Thursday night sub-state semifinal at Royal Valley to face No. 2 seed Perry-Lecompton, which took a 57-51 overtime win over Royal Valley.
- Details
By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
The city of Topeka will be well-represented in this week's state bowling championships at Wichita, with six city teams and seven individuals punching their tickets to state.
All seven city schools will have representatives in state competition.
Hayden's boys and girls teams will compete in Wednesday's first-ever Class 4A-1A state tourney at Bowlero-Wichita after sweeping regional team championships while Washburn Rural's girls regional champs will compete in Thursday's 6A meet at Bowlero-Northrock and Seaman's boys and girls and Shawnee Heights' boys will all take part in Friday's 5A state tournament at Northrock.
Topeka High's Thomas Patterson and Washburn Rural's Cody Spangler will compete as individuals in the 6A boys state meet while Highland Park's Cristian Reyes and Topeka West's Dason Tidwell will compete as individuals in the 5A boys tourney and West's Brenna Rutschmann and Megan Wood and Shawnee Heights' Reese Bell all qualified for the 5A girls event.
Class 6A
The Class 6A regional team champion Washburn Rural girls will compete in Thursday's Class 6A state tournament Bowlero-Northrock in Wichita.
Washburn Rural's girls react to the announcement that they finished first in last Wednesday's Class 6A regional bowling tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Claire Ireland paced the Junior Blues at regionals with a 595 three-game series to finish fifth individually while three other Rural bowlers posted top-15 finishes.
Washburn Rural finished its regional performance with a strong performance in the four Baker format games, taking a 3,040-2,988 victory over Olathe Northwest and Mill Valley, who tied for second in the team standings.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Shawnee Heights state champion Alexis Dial, now a senior at Emporia State, has been named the MIAA Hitter of the Week for the second consecutive week while Washburn University sophomore pitcher Sadie Walker has been selected as the conference pitcher of the week.
Alexis Dial
Sadie Walker
Dial, the Hornets' center fielder, hit .500 with nine total runs batted in, seven runs scored and four stolen bases as Emporia State ran its winning streak to 14 games and was the only undefeated team in the Washburn Invitational.
Dial started the week going 2 for 2 with a double, two RBI, and two runs in ESU’s 9-1 run-rule win over UMary. She then went 1 for 3 with a double in the Hornets' 3-2 win over Sioux Falls in the ESU Classic last Monday.
Dial was 2 for 4 with a run scored and two stolen bases in a 12-7 win over Minot State to start the WU Invitational. She also went 2 for 3 in a 3-2 win over Minnesota State that same day. Dial was 2 for 4 with a home run in ESU’s 3-2 win in eight innings over Augustana and 1 for 3 with an RBI in the Hornets' 9-1 win over Minn.-Crookston.
On the final day of the WU Invitational, Dial was 1 for 3 with a triple, two RBI and a run scored in a 15-0 win over Maryville before ending the tournament going 2 for 4 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored in the Hornets' 9-6 win over Sioux Falls.
Dial is on an 11-game hitting streak and the Hornets have won 14 straight games.
Walker, a former Holton star, was 3-0 in four appearances with an 0.00 ERA last week.
