Welcome to Top Sports News

By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

The Topeka High girls made the more than five-hour trip to Liberal to face the 3-seed Liberal Redskins Friday night with a trip to the Class 6A state tournament on the line.

Topeka High girls basketball is headed back to the Class 6A state tournament after a 65-58 sub-state win at Liberal Friday night. [Photo by Justin Burkhardt/TSN]

The Trojans entered the matchup riding a 10-game winning streak and continued their winning ways with a 65-58 win at No. 3 seed Liberal to earn a state berth.

Coming off a perfect February that saw them capture the Centennial League title for the first time since 2022 the Trojans advanced to the sub-state championship after defeating Maize in the first round, setting up the showdown with Liberal for a chance to return to the state tournament for the first time since 2022.

The Trojans reached this same stage a year ago when they traveled to Wichita Heights with a state berth on the line but came up short.

One year later, however, the story has a different ending.

In year two under legendary coach Ron Slaymaker, the Lady Trojans are going dancing.

Senior Keimara Marshall opened the scoring with the first basket of the game to give the Trojans an early lead, but Liberal quickly answered when Shamari Lewis scored to tie the game at 2–2.

Topeka High responded with a 5-0 run to take a 7–2 advantage before Liberal found the basket again.

Sophomore Hailey Caryl helped the Trojans create separation late in the first quarter, scoring six of her 16 points in the final minutes to help Topeka High take a 15-7 lead into the second quarter.

Caryl opened the second with another basket and completed the three-point play at the free-throw line to make it 18–9.

Topeka High junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton, who was held to just two points in the first quarter, knocked down a 3-pointer as she began to find her rhythm offensively, pushing the lead to 23-13.

However, the Trojans became sloppy with the ball, allowing Liberal to go on a 7–0 run to cut the deficit to three at 23–20.

High senior Sasha Gotru stopped the run after drawing a foul and hitting the first free throw. On the second attempt, senior Trish Short grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back in to extend the Trojan lead to 26-20.

Rayton then knocked down two free throws late in the half to give Topeka High a 29–24 lead at the break.

Rayton had nine of her team-high 30 points by halftime.

“Shy will always show up. She could have the worst three quarters of her life, but she will show up in the fourth. She's absolutely a workhorse,” said Marshall about her teammate.

“We went into the locker room at halftime and I told myself I need to wake up and get going to help my team,” Rayton said.

The Trojans started the third quarter slowly as the Redskins opened with a 6-2 run to tie the game for the first time since it was 2-2 early in the first quarter.

But Topeka High quickly regained control.

Marshall attacked the basket for a layup, followed by another bucket from Gotru. Rayton then began to heat up, scoring on back-to-back possessions and knocking down consecutive 3-pointers to stretch the Trojan lead to 47-36.

“She was so far below what she normally plays, and I kept wondering what was going on with her,” Slaymaker said. “But I’m glad she got it going for us after halftime.”

Marshall added another basket late in the quarter as the Trojans carried a 49-40 lead into the fourth. Despite the nine-point advantage, foul trouble loomed large for Topeka High entering the f inal period, with three of the five starters carrying three or more fouls.

“We just kept saying that we need each other and that we can't play without one person,” Marshall said. “We need every single piece. So if somebody fouls out, we're in trouble.”

Rayton delivered when it mattered most. With Caryl getting six of her seven assists in the fourth quarter, the junior Rayton exploded for 11 points in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory.

With the win, Marshall will be heading to her first-ever state tournament in basketball.

“My team has a lot of heart and we definitely play for each other,” Marshall said. “As much as we might want to give up in hard games or when someone is struggling, we pick each other up and remember the bigger picture. Our turnaround is definitely something we did for each other.”

Read more …

By VINCE LOVERGINE

TopSports.news

The Seaman Vikings are off to the Class 5A state tournament for the first time since they won it all back in 2021-2022, taking down Hays, 52-46.

 

Seaman senior KaeVon Bonner hoists the Class 5A sub-state trophy while celebrating with fans Friday night. [Photo by Vince Lovergine/TSN]

Seaman poses for a team picture after Friday's 52-46 win over Hays. [Photo by Vince Lovergine/TSN]

 The last time these two programs met was that same 2022 season in the sub-state championship and the Vikings would go on to beat De Soto in the state title game.

 Seaman snapped the Indians’ five game win streak and pushed their own win streak to five after Friday's victoryand ended the season with a 12-2 home record.

 “It’s been a group of seniors that I respect the fact of how much they care about each other,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "Every day in practice, they have a good time but they get their work done, they’ll challenge each other but it’s always in a fun way and it’s made it so enjoyable the entire season throughout every practice and these games.

 "To be where we’re at right now is just outstanding.”

 “Our seniors, we’ve played since seventh grade. We’ve had six years of chemistry now so I knew we were going to shock a lot of teams and nobody was going to be ready for our senior chemistry,” said senior KaeVon Bonner, who had a team-high 15 points.

 

The first quarter was slow moving for both teams. Hays jumped out to a 5-1 lead but Bonner converted an and-one opportunity with 4:30 left in the quarter. Senior Matthew McConnaughy scored four straight points to put Seaman back in front, 8-5.

Each team would trade the lead or tie quite often in the first half. Hays took a 13-10 lead heading into the second quarter.

 

The Vikings opened on a mini 4-0 run to regain the lead again (14-13), but then Hays went back up three (17-14).

 

Cox brought in junior Conner Scholes off the bench to hopefully provide a spark and he did just that, knocking down two 3-pointers to put Seaman back up three (20-17).

 

“He (Conner) hasn’t had a tremendous amount of opportunities, but he still has confidence. He’s not scared of the moment, he’s going to take the shot if it's there and he’s always going to give us 100 percent effort. I’m happy he knocked down a couple of shots and got us going,” Cox said.

 

“My teammates were telling me to shoot the ball and I hit that first one and they’re just encouraging me to keep shooting,'' Scholes said. "My teammates were doing great passing the ball around and then sharing the rock helped me knock down those threes and bring us back.

“In practice my team counts on me to put in that work because they know I’m off the bench. I should be out there and performing and coming out here on this big stage, it was definitely a nerve racking game for sure. But when I come off the bench, I have to go out there and perform my best and show out.''

Read more …

By CHARLES SPURLOCK

Special to TopSports.news

The Class 4A girls sub-state championship game on Friday night was a rematch from last season as the Hayden Wildcats hosted the Baldwin Bulldogs.

 

Hayden girls basketball rolled to a Class 4A state tournament berth with a 51-22 win over Baldwin. [Hayden girls basketball]

Following a competitive first half, the Lady Wildcats punched their ticket to the state quarterfinals with a 51-22 victory.

Hayden overwhelmed the visiting Lady Bulldogs with a 10-0 run over the first four minutes of the game. Following a timeout, Baldwin settled in and was able to cut the lead down to 12-9, but sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein scored to end the quarter with Hayden leading 14-9.

Baldwin took the lead (15-14) at the start of the second quarter, thanks to two 3-pointers by sophomore Logyn Scoby and junior Audrey Searl, respectively.

 

Hayden immediately responded with a 3-pointer of their own by sophomore Blakely Walter, to regain the lead at 17-15. The Lady Wildcats outscored the Lady Bulldogs 9-1 to end the first half and led 26-16.

 

The second half was total domination by Hayden as they outscored Baldwin 25-6, leading to a running clock halfway through the fourth quarter.

 

Coach Carvel Reynoldson was able to give the four seniors -- Ella Foster, Reese Huscher, Lauren Borjon and Kadence Watts a proper send-off as he substituted each one of them separately over the final two minutes of the contest.

 

Hayden was able to force Baldwin into 26 turnovers in the game 

 

Schmidtlein led the Lady Wildcats with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Walter was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 12 points. Watts pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

 

The Bulldogs were led in scoring by sophomore Cami Collum and junior Emerson Nigh, who both scored 5 points apiece.

 

The Hayden Wildcats will advance to play in the state quarterfinals this coming Tuesday, March 10. The pairings and location of their game will be released on Saturday.

HAYDEN 51, BALDWIN 22

Baldwin   9 7 3 3 -- 22

Hayden 14 12 14 11 -- 51

Baldwin (11-14) -- Scoby 1-6 0-0 3, Neufeld 1-6 1-2 3, Collum 0-3 5-8 5, Nigh 2-9 0-0 5, Searl 1-3 0-0 3, Griffith 0-1 0-0 0, Brunker 0-0 0-0 0, Chambers 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 6-29 7-12 22. 

 

Hayden (19-6) -- Walter 5-12 0-2 12, Schmidtlein 10-24 1-4 21, Foster 0-4 0-0 0, Huscher 1-1 0-0 3, Watts 2-3 1-2 3, Wichman 1-1 2-2 4, Mitchell 0-3 0-0 0, Borjon 1-5 0-1 3, Wrench 0-0 0-0 0, Connell 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 21-56 4-11 51.

 

3-point field goals -- Baldwin 3 (Scoby, Nigh, Searl), Hayden 5 (Walter 2, Huscher, Borjon, Connell). Total Fouls -- Baldwin 14, Hayden 18. Fouled out - Connell. Technical fouls -- none.