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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Washburn Rural girls held off a late rally by Centennial League foe Manhattan to win at home 55-50 Friday night.
Washburn Rural jumped on the visitors out of the gate. While the Junior Blues knocked down their first four shots at one end, they held the visitors scoreless for more than five minutes at the other end, grabbing a 12-0 lead.
Freshman Maddie Vickery led the way with 20 points in Washburn Rural's 55-50 Centennial League win over Manhattan Friday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
Senior Zoe Canfield scored 16 points in Washburn Rural's 55-50 Centennial League win over Manhattan Friday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
“We talked about coming out strong and aggressive and being in attack mode,” Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said. “I thought we really did that and did a good job of playing within our offensive structure. We attacked inside and they tried closing that up. We attacked from the outside and that worked and we were really in a good rhythm and a good flow.”
The Indians didn’t fold. They rallied with six straight points to close the first period. A similarly rough start to the second period put the Indians into a 22-7 hole, but they fought back. A 10-0 run brought the Indians to within a possession just before half.
In the third period, Washburn Rural dialed up several long 3-point attempts, connecting on four of them, to extend its lead to double digits once again.
“We have some people who can shoot the ball and when they’re consistent we can be deadly,” Bordewick said. “We want to try to get a paint touch and then kick it out, or start hitting from the outside and things open up on the inside.”
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Ken Darting has seen Ontarius Emmot light up the nets from 3-point range in practice day after day.
And now the 6-foot-2 sophomore is showing that form in games, including seven 3s in a 23-point performance off the bench Friday night as the No. 6-ranked (Class 5A) T-Birds rolled to an 82-45 home United Kansas Conference victory over Kansas City-Turner.
Shawnee Heights sophomore Ontarius Emmot canned seven 3-pointers and scored 23 points in the T-Birds' 82-45 UKC win over KC-Turner Friday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Emmot's seven treys on Friday followed four 3-pointers in Tuesday's win over Lansing.
"I watch it every day,'' Darting said. "Ja'Marion (Cook) is the same way, Alex (Delgado) is the same way, they shoot the heck out of it in practice and 'O' is now there. He believes he belongs now and is shooting it with confidence.''
Emmot led the way as Shawnee Heights (15-3 overall, 12-2 UKC) hit 15 3-pointers as a team Friday after connecting on 14 in the Lansing win.
Junior Jaret Sanchez backed Emmot with 19 points and four 3s after hitting six shots from outside the arc against Lansing, while junior Deacon Pomeroy also cracked double figures with 11 points, including a 7 of 8 performance at the free throw line.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
With two big United Kansas Conference games looming next week, Bob Wells wanted to make sure his Shawnee Heights girls basketball team took care of business Friday night in what shaped up as a mis-match.
The T-Birds accomplished that goal, riding a strong defensive performance to a 59-16 UKC romp at Shawnee Heights.
Sophomore Reianna Vega (42) tied for game-high scoring honors with 12 points in Shawnee Heights' 59-16 UKC win over KC-Turner Friday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior Kaydence Torrez goes up for two of her 12 points in Shawnee Heights' 59-16 UKC win over KC-Turner Friday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"What we talked about was coming out and executing and passng the ball sharp and playing hard on defense and doing it with defense and then just let the offense happen and let the offense come to you,'' Wells said.
"We were trying to work on a few different things tonight that we needed to spend some time with and I thought the girls did a good job overall.''
With Friday's win Shawnee Heights improved to 13-5 overall and 11-3 in the conference heading into a home matchup Tuesday night against No. 2-ranked (Class 5A) Seaman and a home game next Friday against Piper in the T-Birds' regular-season finale.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake sophomore basketball standout Kailyn Hanni and Rossville junior standout Mason Jones 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 2023-2024 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Hanni and Jones over the past week:
Silver Lake sophomore Kailyn Hanni is the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency girls Rising Star of the Week after helping the Eagles improve to 17-0 on the season with a 68-39 win over Rossville. [File photo/TSN]
KAILYN HANNI, Silver Lake
A 5-foot-6 point guard, Hanni scored 14 points in last Friday's 68-39 Mid-East League road victory at Rossville.
Hanni has been a spark plug on both ends of the floor for the Eagles, who are top-ranked in Class 3A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
Hanni helped Silver Lake improve to 17-0 overall and 8-0 in the Mid-East League with its second win of the season over the state-ranked Bulldawgs.
Rossville junior Mason Jones is the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency boys Rising Star of the Week after scoring 27 points in an 87-79 overtime win over rival Silver Lake. [File photo/TSN]
MASON JONES, Rossville
Jones, a 6-foot-4 frontliner, scored 27 points last Friday as Rossville avenged an earlier loss to rival Silver Lake with a home 87-79 Mid-East League overtime victory over the Eagles.
Jones hit 12 of 15 shots from the field and went 3 of 4 from the free throw line in the Bulldawg victory.
Jones added nine points on Tuesday in Rossville's 72-38 league romp over Wabaunsee, with the Bulldawgs improving to 12-6 overall and 6-2 in the Mid-East.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
After an impressive run of success, Topeka High's football program has struggled in recent seasons, posting a 6-27 record over the past four years, including back-to-back 1-8 campaigns.
New Topeka High head football coach Jason Filbeck talks to his new team Friday morning at High. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But that didn't dissuade former Augusta coach Jason Filbeck from going after the Trojans' head coaching job.
In fact, the challenge of turning the Topeka High program back around excited the 43-year-old Filbeck, who was approved by the USD 501 school board Thursday night as High's new coach and met with the Trojan players Friday morning.
"You're never more alive than when you're challenged, right?'' Filbeck said. "If it were easy everybody would do it. I'm sure it would be really cool to come into a place that was ready-made and already winning, but there's potential here and this could become one of those places that everybody looks at as, 'Man, that's a great job.'
"I think it's already a great job, it's just about whether you've got the ability and the energy to do it. I think Topeka High can become a great place football-wise.''
Filbeck said the opportunity to guide his own program at the Class 6A level was a big selling point for him.
"I've always been a big-school guy and when you work in a small town sometimes your numbers just dry up,'' Filbeck said. "Sometimes you just don't have the number of kids you need. I know they don't have a million kids out for football here at Topeka but we're going to get them out of the hallways. We're going to get them to play.
"I view football as an avenue to reach kids and I believe in what we're selling, I believe in what we're teaching kids to become better people through the process. At a school like Topeka High I have a chance to reach 120 kids instead of 40 and obviously there's tradition here and there's potential for good stuff here. That's what excites me about the job.''
