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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's boys basketball team still has goals ahead, but Tuesday night marked a noteworthy accomplishment in its own right for Alex Hutchins' Junior Blues.
Junior Amare Jones came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points in Washburn Rural's 61-48 win at Topeka High Tuesday night. {Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
Sophomore John Hoytal scored 16 points for Washburn Rural in Tuesday's 61-48 road win over Topeka High. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
After starting the season 0-6, Washburn Rural has reeled off wins in nine of its past 12 games, reaching the .500 mark on the season with Tuesday's 61-48 Centennial League win at Topeka High.
"We never felt like an 0-6 team,'' Hutchins said. "Our schedule was good, we were injured and we knew that. We were still learning about ourselves, too, but I don't think there was ever any waver of confidence or anything like that. We know who we are, we know what we're capable of and that never changed.
"We've been healthier and that's really all it is, I think. It's definitely not coaching. It's definitely not any decisions I'm making, it's just the fact that we've been able to put our best players out on the court.''
Rural, now 9-9 overall and 6-2 in the league, fell behind 6-0 after back-to-back 3-pointers from Topeka High senior Isaiah Lyons and trailed much of the first half before rallying for a 24-21 halftime advantage.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
After opening February with a disheartening 21-point loss to Emporia while scoring just 22 points, Washburn Rural's girls basketball team knew it needed to turn things around in a hurry if it was going to put together a strong late-season run.
Washburn Rural senior Destiny Ochs scored 18 points in the Junior Blues' 65-36 win at Topeka High Tuesday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
Washburn Rural freshman Maddie Vickery, who had 14 points and 14 rebounds, drives to the hoop against Topeka High's Keimara Marshall in Tuesday's 65-36 Junior Blue win over the Trojans. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
Kevin Bordewick's Junior Blues have done just that, reeling off four straight wins, including a 65-36 Centennial League romp at Topeka High Tuesday night.
"We have seen a lot of improvement since Emporia, and I think a lot of it is the mental aspect,'' Bordewick said. "We had to get some confidence back because that was a rough one and it kind of shook us a little bit. It shook me a little bit.
"I feel like we're getting it back but I know that we still have a high ceiling. I know that we've got to get so much better on defense. We have to get so much more fluid and continuity on offense. We've just got to get more solid.''
Rural opened Tuesday's game with a Tenly Bunck 3-pointer and went wire to wire for the win, improving to 12-5 overall and 6-2 in the league.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
In 16 games this season, the No. 3-ranked (Class 5A) Highland Park boys have shown the ability to score in a variety of ways.
But if the Scots shoot the ball from 3-point range like they did Monday night, they're going to be even harder to beat than they have been over a 15-1 start.
Senior Amari Taylor led all scorers with 24 points in Monday's 95-22 Highland Park win over KC-Harmon. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Four Highland Park players combined to can 15 3s on the night as the Scots rolled to a 95-22 Meadowlark Conference victory over Kansas City-Harmon at Topeka West.
"If we can do that we're going to be really hard to beat,'' Highland Park coach Mike Williams said. "And when you have so many guys that have the ability to take shots and make shots it opens up so many other things.''
Junior Mikey Williams scored 17 points with five 3-pointers in Monday's 95-22 Highland Park win over KC-Harmon. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Amari Taylor scored a game-high 24 points with four 3s while junior Mikey Williams hit five treys in a 17-point night, senior
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Highland Park's girls have a much tougher task in store Tuesday night, with the Scots facing Atchison at Topeka West in a game that is likely to decide the Meadowlark Conference championship.
But the Scots did exactly what they needed to do to get ready for that showdown, turning in a solid wire-to-wire performance in Monday's 59-8 conference romp past Kansas City-Harmon at West.
Freshman Pearmella Carter scored a game-high 16 points in Highland Park's 59-8 win over KC-Harmon Monday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Angelique Gowan-Britt (3) had 9 points, 10 rebounds, 9 steals and 8 assists in Highland Park's 59-8 win over KC-Harmon Monday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Highland Park improved to 10-5 overall and 5-1 in the Meadowlark and will face an Atchison team that is 9-6, 6-1. Atchison took a 56-48 win over the Scots on Feb. 5.
"This was a good tuneup game for us,'' Highland Park coach Rob Brown said. "We wanted to get a couple of girls moving the right way and working on a little bit of a zone offense because we'll see zone tomorrow from Atchison.
"This was about getting ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow's a big one for us. We'll have all our girls back for tomorrow, so we'll be prepared for Atchison.''
Highland Park scored the first 35 points of Monday's game, including a 19-0 first-quarter advantage, before the Hawks drained a 3-pointer to end the half.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Jaxon Cowdin
JAXON COWDIN, Topeka High
The Topeka High junior won his second straight Centennial League one-meter diving championship Thursday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium with a season-best score of 436.15, helping the Trojans finish third in the team standings. The three-time city diving champion also swam the 50-yard freestyle for Topeka High and was also part of the Trojans' 400-meter free relay.
Kendra Hurla
KENDRA HURLA, Rossville
A senior, Hurla captured the 120-pound championship on Saturday in the Class 4A-1A girls wrestling regional at Sabetha, posting a 4-0 record with four wins by pin. The three-time state champion posted pins in 38 seconds, 2 minutes, 42 seconds and 1:41 to reach the finals and then needed just 52 seconds to pin West Franklin's Kate Shepherd in the championship match.
Mason Jones
MASON JONES, Rossville
A 6-foot-4 junior, Jones scored 27 points to lead Rossville's boys basketball team to an 87-79 overtime Mid-East League win over rival Silver Lake Friday night at Rossville. Jones hit 12 of 15 shots from the field against the Eagles while also connecting on three of four free throws as the Bulldawgs avenged an earlier loss to Silver Lake while improving to 11-6 on the season.
