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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
By his own admission, Shawnee Heights boys basketball coach Ken Darting has never been overly quick to pass out compliments.
Senior Brennon Dodge scored a game-high 17 points in Shawnee Heights' 59-41 UKC romp past Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But given his high standards, the Hall of Fame coach was almost effusive in his praise of his No. 9-ranked (Class 5A) T-Birds after Tuesday's 59-41 United Kansas Conference home romp past Basehor-Linwood, Heights' 10th win over its past 11 games.
"You don't hear me say this very often, but I'm really, truly pleased,'' Darting said. "We've got a ways to go, but we're playing in the best 5A league in the state. We're going to have three or four or our teams in the state tournament and we've beat all of them except Piper so we're playing good and you can't beat that.''
Now 10-3 overall and 7-2 in the UKC, Shawnee Heights trailed Basehor-Linwood (6-7, 4-6) 16-14 at the end of the first quarter and the Bobcats led by a slight margin much of the second quarter before the T-Birds used a 15-3 run at the end of the second quarer and start of the third to take control and never looked back.
Shawnee Heights went on to lead by 20 points in the third stanza and 21 in the fourth.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Sophomore Cody Spangler's perfect 300 game was the highlight of a dominating performance by Washburn Rural's boys and girls bowling teams in Monday's Topeka High triangular at Gage Bowl.
Spanger recorded his 300 game in his second game Monday on the way to a 679 three-game series and a second-place individual finish behind teammate Loran Glinka, who took individual honors with a 729 series as the Junior Blues won the team title by a 2,752-2,470 margin over Shawnee Heights.
Junior Logan Glinka earned top individual honors in Monday's Topeka High triangular with a 729 series. [File photo/TSN]
Glinka, a returning Class 6A state medalist (seventh place), rolled games of 259, 247 and 223 while Spangler sandwiched games of 186 and 185 around his perfect game.
Rural, the defending 6A team champ, also got a third-place finish from Tyler Faurot (657) and a fifth-place showing from Brennan Inloes (641) while Jackson Keller added a 588 series, including a final-game 225.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
The No. 3-ranked (Class 5A) Highland Park boys basketball team took a big step forward in the Meadowlark Conference title race Monday night, posting a 65-48 road win over No. 2 (4A) Atchison.
Junior Ja'Corey Robinson (23) scored 22 points Monday night as Highland Park improved to 10-1 with a 65-48 road win at Atchison. [File photo/TSN]
Senior Amari Taylor scored a career-high 20 points in Monday's 65-48 Highland Park win at Atchison. [File photo/TSN]
The Scots improved to 10-1 on the season overall and 4-0 in the Meadowlark with Monday's win while Atchison suffered its first loss after 10 straight wins. Atchison is 2-1 in the conference.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Jaxon Cowdin
JAXON COWDIN, Topeka High
A junior, Cowdin won his third straight city one-meter diving title in last Thursday's city championships at the Capitol Federal Natatorium, dominating the event with a winning score of 207.85 while helping the Trojans finish third as a team. Cowdin is also the reigning Centennial League diving champion and placed 10th in Class 6A as a sophomore.
Brylee Meier
BRYLEE MEIER, Hayden
A 6-foot junior, Meier help No. 2-ranked (Class 3A) Hayden post three straight double-figure victories en route to the tournament championship in the Hiawatha Invitational. An All-Tournament selection, Meier led the 11-1 Wildcats in scoring in two of the three tournament games, including 17 points in Saturday's 55-45 win over Lafayette, Mo. in the tournament championship game. Meier also led Hayden with 14 points in a 58-25 first-round win over Jackson Heights.
Emma Mitchell
EMMA MITCHELL, Rossville
A 5-foot-11 senior. Mitchell reached the 1,000-point milestone for her career in Saturday's Jefferson North Invitational championship game, scoring 16 points as the third-ranked (Class 3A) Bulldawgs improved to 11-1 with an 87-39 over North. An Emporia State recruit, Mitchell was named to the all-tournament team after scoring 49 points in the Bulldawgs' three tournament games, with 17, 16 and 16-point outings.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In a tournament that drew more than 300 competitors representing 32 schools, it was the host Washburn Rural girls wrestling team that stole the show in Saturday's fourth annual Washburn Women's Invitational.
Washburn Rural junior 105-pounder Molly Spader puts herself in position for a pin in Saturday's championship match against Great Bend's Camdyn Post. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Led by individual champions Molly Spader and Emily Funk, Damon Parker's ninth-ranked (Class 6A-5A) Junior Blues rolled to the team championship by a 426.5-294 margin over Olathe North, with Spring Hill (280), Fort Scott (277.5) and Manhattan (263) rounding out the top five.
And with the Centennial League, regional and state meets coming up, Parker feels like the three-time and defending state-champion Junior Blues are putting themselves in position to challenge for another title next month.
"We've told them since five years ago that the way you win a team championship is to stop worrying about winning the team state championship, just get better every day and they have absolutely done that and they showed it today,'' Parker said.
"Olathe North is ranked higher than us, Great Bend is ranked higher than us, Manhattan's ranked higher than us and we beat them all by more than 100 points so we're not going anywhere.''
Spader, a junior, capped a 5-0 day in the 105-pound division with a win by fall at the 4 minute, 31-second mark of the championship match over Camdyn Post of Great Bend, Spader's third pin of the day as she improved to 23-2 on the season.
"I feel like I've gotten better since the beginning (of the season),'' Spader said. "I'm more confident.''
