Welcome to Top Sports News

By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

WICHITA -- The Topeka High Lady Trojans were experiencing the state tournament for the first time since 2022 Tuesday, but they certainly didn’t look like a team new to the stage.

Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton led Topeka High with 17 points in Tuesday's 61-58 state tournament loss to Derby. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]

Topeka High gave No. 2 Derby a battle to the very end in the Class 6A quarterfinal at Koch Arena, dropping a 61-58 heartbreaker to finish its season 17-8.

The Trojans lost to Derby (22-3) for the second time on the season after dropping a 65-57 decision to the Panthers in the Capital City Classic back in January.

Both teams came out of the gate Tuesday struggling to find the basket.

Derby opened the scoring with a free throw to make it 1-0, but that would be the only point scored for nearly two minutes.

Topeka High coach Ron Slaymaker called a 30-second timeout and the Trojans responded immediately.

Sophomore Hailey Caryl scored 15 points in Tuesday's 61-58 Topeka High state tournament loss to Derby. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]

Hailey Caryl scored inside, drew the foul, and completed the three-point play to give High an early 3-1 lead.

The teams traded baskets through the rest of the quarter. Derby tied the game at 10-10 with a shot at the rim before Caryl answered with another basket.

Topeka High’s leading scorer, Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton, had been held scoreless for most of the opening period, but with 43 seconds left she knocked down a shot to give the Trojans a 16-12 lead.

At the end of the first quarter, Topeka High held a narrow 16-15 advantage.

Derby opened the second quarter with three quick points to take the lead, but Rayton responded with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 19-19.

Late in the quarter, with the Trojans trailing 30-26, Topeka High went on a run.

Sasha Gotru scored inside, Rayton added a basket and Caryl knocked down two free throws. Gotru then scored again with just 0.3 seconds left before halftime, capping an 8-0 run that gave the Trojans a 34-30 lead at the break.

Derby came out of the locker room on fire, opening the third quarter with a 6-0 run to reclaim the lead at 36-34.

Senior Keimara Marshall had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's 61-58 Topeka High state tournament loss to Derby. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]

High's Keimara Marshall answered with a basket in the paint to tie the game. The Trojans then responded with a 7-0 run to push their lead to 41-36.

Derby star Macayla Askew went to work, scoring five quick points to cut into the deficit.

Topeka High held on to a slim 48-46 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Derby opened the final period with five straight points to take a 51-48 lead.

The Trojans tied the game at 51-51 before Askew hit a 3-pointer to give the Panthers another advantage.

With 43.5 seconds remaining, Caryl attacked the rim and was fouled. She calmly sank both free throws to cut the deficit to 59-58.

Topeka High was forced to foul, and Derby knocked down both free throws to extend the lead to three, 61-58.

The Trojans still had one last chance. Marshall brought the ball up the floor but didn’t have a clean look and passed to Trisha Short.

Short swung the ball to Rayton, who appeared ready to launch a potential game-tying three.

However, the buzzer sounded just before she could get the shot off, ending the Trojans’ season as Derby advanced to Thursday's semifinals.

Topeka High relied heavily on its starters throughout the game. Marshall and Caryl each played all 32 minutes, while Rayton and Short played 30 minutes apiece. Despite the heavy workload, they still had energy in the final moments.

“We have asked a lot of those five all year,” Slaymaker said. “They’ve had to play major minutes in every game because we are not deep.

"I'm very, very proud of their effort. I’ve been proud of them for 11 games in a row. We damn near got this one.”

Slaymaker reflected on the team’s journey throughout the season.

“We dug a hole early. We were 0-4 to begin the season, and Caryl had a pretty bad ankle sprain,” Slaymaker said. “A lot of teams start 0-4 and end up 0-8, thinking their season is over. But we didn’t think that way.

"After our tournament in January we had a meeting -- not a chewing type meeting -- just telling them we could still do this. And then we went on that 11-game run against some pretty good competition.''

Read more …

By VINCE LOVERGINE

TopSports.news

SALINA -- Silver Lake boys basketball coach Shannnn Kruger said a couple of times after Tuesday's game that the Eagles' performance was not a pretty one by any stretch and described it as a grind it out type of game.

 

And the Eagles did just that, knocking off Holcomb 47-37 at the Tony's Pizza Event Center to advance to the Class 3A semifinal.

Silver Lake senior Dayne Johnson scored a game-high 16 points in Tuesday's 47-37 win over Holcomb. [File photo/TSN]

“I prefer the ball to go into the basket,” Kruger said with a smile. “What we can control is our defensive effort and attention to detail and we talk about let’s not hope they miss, let's try to make a miss.

 

"Obviously I'd love to see great defense for us and us play a little more fluid offensively, but a game like that it was sure it was ugly, but we're okay with that.''

“I don’t think we played our best offensive game by far, but we always make our main focus defense and I thought we worked our butts off on defense, on the boards,'' said Silver Lake senior standout Dayne Johnson, who led all scorers with 16 points. "That means when you have a bad offensive game you still stay in the game and win.”

The Longhorns began the game on a quick 5-0 run but Silver Lake went on its own 10-2 run thanks to senior Drew Womack converted two and-one opportunities as the Eagles led by three (10-7).

After Silver Lake went up five (12-7), Holcomb called a timeout with 1:27 left in the quarter. The Longhorns then scored five straight and ended the quarter tied, 12-12.

The second quarter featured both teams struggling to get baskets, combining for just 10 points.

Johnson was quiet in the first half, scoring six points, four in the second quarter and Womack had eight and ended with that total.

Silver Lake took the lead at the half in the low scoring affair, 18-16.

The third quarter was much the same as the first half.

Johnson, who sank 8-10 free throws, helped the Eagles to a 20-19 lead and then Johnson ended an eight-minute field goal drought for Silver Lake with 3:42 left in the third quarter, putting the Eagles up, 22-19.

The Eagles took a seven point lead (29-22) heading into the fourth quarter, thanks to a Camden Kruger buzzer beating jumper in the paint.

Silver Lake scored seven straight to go up 12 (36-24) looking to be in the driver seat until the Longhorns went on a 7-2 run, and Silver Lake called a timeout with 4:02 left in the game.

After that, the Eagles went on another field goal drought but their clutch free throws kept them ahead and took home the victory. Silver Lake went 20-26 from the charity stripe in the game. 

“(Free throws) and rebounding were huge for sure,” Shannon Kruger said.

 

“We always attack the bucket,'' Johnson said. "We’re not afraid of contact and when they call the calls we get to the line and knock them down.''

Read more …

By VINCE LOVERGINE

TopSports.news

SALINA -- Rossville's girls had No. 1 Ellinwood on the ropes down the stretch, almost erasing a 15-point deficit in the second half, but the Eagles held off the Bulldawgs for a 55-48 victory.

 

Rossville senior Rylee Dick scored 31 points in Tuesday's 55-48 loss to Ellinwood in a Class 2A state quarterfinal. [File photo/TSN]

 “I knew me being a leader on the court, I had to step up and show my girls that I believed in us and I was going to put in my full effort,'' said Rossville senior standout Rylee Dick. "I try to lead by example every game for all the other girls and I hope that throughout my four years they can take that away from me.”

Rossville jumped out to an early 7-2 lead thanks to a couple of 3-pointers from Dick and freshman Bristol Miller. 

The Eagles brought it to within one as sophomore Brynn Widener converted a four-point play, banking in a three off the left wing to make it 7-6.

 

Ellinwood went on an 8-0 run to lead 10-7 but then Rossville scored four straight to lead 11-10. It was knotted at 13 after Miller kissed one off the glass before the first-quarter buzzer.

“Honestly, that was one of my fears coming in was nerves and being tight, even at sub-state too,'' Rossville coach Derek Dick said. "It was nice to see the ball go through the net early after not scoring much as of late. I was really happy to see that kind of got us going to calm our nerves a little bit. We knew they were going to make a run and we had to make adjustments defensively to negate what they were good at but they were going to make shots.

 

“I’m proud of the girls because when we struggled this season, every game we showed flashes of being really good and teams would make a run like they did and we wouldn’t respond and we did that tonight and we got it down to what two or three? They answered the bell. We had great seniors that all of them played their roles and that’s what I’m proud of.''

 

The back and forth continued for both teams. Junior Nora Burdiek finished off an and-one opportunity to tie it at 16. She ended with nine points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. It would be a 20-20 deadlock after Rossville called a timeout with 2:18 left in the half.

 

After that, the Eagles ripped off a quick 8-0 run, forcing the Bulldawgs to call another timeout. Widener knocked down two quick threes to help spark the run.

 

Ellinwood took an 11-point lead (32-21) at halftime as Widener had 16 points in the first 16 minutes.

 

In that first half however, Derek Dick was pleased to see Miller (who finished with seven points) step up into that third scorer for the program with Rylee Dick and Burdiek and pick things up quickly.

 

“Her doing that really helped us because with both Rylee and Nora, we saw some exotic defenses this year and they weren’t able to handle that third option (Miller) and that was big,'' Derek Dick said. "The younger girls, I tell them my quote is, ‘Hard work always wins,’ and I hope they see her (Rylee’s) hard work and how that paid off. I know they showed that a lot and they know what it takes to get back here.''

 

To begin the second half, RHS dug itself a 15-point deficit (36-21), but Rylee Dick came to the rescue to get the Bulldawgs back in the hunt.

 

“Ironically, enough for us to get back in the game, it was forcing it to her and got us back in the game,” Derek Dick said.

 

Rylee Dick knocked down two more threes, trimming the game to a nine-point deficit (38-29). She nailed five 3s in the game and made all eight of her free throws.

After the Eagles extend the lead back to double digits, Dick scored four straight to make it a 41-34 game. The Bulldawgs kept hanging around, trailing be seven heading into the fourth (46-39).

 

The fourth quarter was Rylee’s show, helping Rossville get within three (46-43) off a fastbreak steal and then two after another triple (50-48). She finished with a game-high 31 points.

Read more …