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By VINCE LOVERGINE

TopSports.news

The 2024-2025 campaign ended at 14-8 and a first-round appearance in the State Tournament for Topeka West boys basketball last year under then first-year head coach Christian Ulsaker.

That was the Chargers' first trip back to the big dance since 2022 after they were the runnerups in Class 5A in 2021.

Topeka West senior Malakyah Duncan was a second-team All-Shawnee County pick last season for the 14-8 Chargers. [File photo/TSN]

Senior Keimani Paul is a top returner for Topeka West, receiving Second 10 All-Shawnee County honors last season. [File photo/TSN]

Ulsaker is appreciative of what legendary coach Rick Bloomquist brought to the USD 501 community and the tradition of having all his players ready for any situation, and Ulsaker said it’s his job to uphold that.

“My saying this year is the standard is the standard, this is what we want it to be and where it’s going to stay and we got to continue to do that,” Ulsaker said.

The Chargers will have three starters back from last year's team but the goal is to develop the collective with what the Chargers have and Ulsaker is confident this group can do that.

“I’m ready to see some of those now upperclassmen fill those voids that might be missing from last year,” Ulsaker said.

“My goal this year is a player-led team. I want a group that’s going to stick together through thick and thin, deal with adversity really well and be able to do that together. They won’t need a rah rah speech from the coach at halftime, they’ll be able to do it themselves.”

Ulsaker said West wants to continue to be a top team in 5A like area schools Shawnee Heights, Highland Park, Seaman, etc. and the United Kansas Conference helps with that and there’s never any Tuesday or Friday nights off.

Some things you’ll see with the Chargers are athleticism, high basketball IQ and that the players are in the gym constantly.

Ulsaker said they’ve seen a lot of different scenarios which he said is hard to coach if they’ve never seen it but they have. 

“I genuinely think this team loves each other,'' Ulsaker said. "That’s a huge thing for a team to have success is to see their teammates have success. It doesn’t have to be about ‘me’, they want them to have success and be happy for their teammates because they’re almost like brothers,” Ulsaker said. 

Guys who can help with that are MalakyahDuncan, Keimani Paul and Jayveon Traylor to name a few.

“Our chemistry is through the roof and I’ve been playing with them for a while now and it’s been great,” Traylor said.

“Our quickness and our size (are plusses). Our size will be nice this year.”

Ulsaker will show his intensity and emotion in practices and games and that feeds into the team

“I’m able to coach them that way because they know I truly love them,” Ulsaker said. “They understand that they can come into my office and call me whenever they need and I’ll be there for them.

"You can’t have a relationship where you can constructively criticize a player if they don’t think you love them. These kids are allowing me to coach them hard because they know off the court I’ll do whatever I can for them.”

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

 Washburn Ichabod soccer will square off with tournament host and No. 1 Central Region seed Minnesota State at 1 p.m. Sunday in Mankato, Minn.

Leah Henke, Washburn University
Kate Hinck, Washburn University

The Ichabods are 12-3-5 while Minnesota State is 18-1-3.

No. 4 seed Washburn is coming off a 2-0 first-round win over No. 5-seed Missouri Western while Minnesota State advanced with a 2-0 win over No. 8 Harding.

Freshman Leah Henke had a goal, her 10th of the season, and an assist in Friday's win while freshman Kate Hinck had Washburn's first goal of the game, her sixth of the season.

Sophomore Sam Searcey had the assist on Henke's goal against the Griffons and has five goals and four assists on the season.

The Ichabod defense recorded its 12th clean sheet of the year while freshman goalkeeper Lili Everley made a career-high eight saves in the match.

Defenders Rilyn Snyder and Shaye Taylor played all 90 minutes against Missouri Western and are one-two in minutes played for the Ichabods this season.

Minnesota State enters Sunday's match on a five-match unbeaten strea.

The Mavericks won the NSIC regular-season and conference tournament titles. They have three players tied for the team lead in goals with five apiece.

Sunday will be the first meeting between Minnesota State and Washburn.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

The No. 2-rankded Washburn Ichabods rolled past William Jewell 90-54 Saturday in a dominant performance, improving to 6-0 on the season.

 

Freshman Amalachi Wilkins came off the bench to lead a balanced Washburn attack with 13 points in the Ichabods' 90-54 road win at William Jewell. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Washburn returns to action on Tuesday in Lee Arena, hosting Friends in a 7 p.m. contest.

 

Washburn's defense set the tone early Saturday, turning turnovers into transition points in an 11–2 start, highlighted by fast-break finishes from Bryson Smith and Dillon Claussen.

 

After Jewell briefly closed within eight, the Ichabods countered with a decisive 9-0 run midway through the first half, fueled by 3-pointers from Smith and Jack Bachelor and a tip-in from Amalachi Wilkins.

 

Washburn outscored Jewell 30-6 in the paint in the opening frame and carried a 40-25 lead into halftime.

 

The Ichabods blew the game wide open early in the second half, using an 18-0 surge to push the margin past 30.

 

Claussen threw down a dunk, Smith converted at the rim, and reserve guard Sam Ungashick added back-to-back transition buckets during the stretch.

 

Washburn's bench outscored Jewell's 38-25 overall, and the lead eventually swelled to 40 with just over a minute remaining.

 

Wilkins led the Ichabods off the bench with 13 points on 5 of 5 shooting with four boards and two steals in 16 minutes of play.

 

Wilkins led a balanced scoring attack with Claussen adding 12 points, five rebounds and three assists, Smith scoring 12 points with four assists and three steals and Bachelor contributing 12 points and a team-high five assists.

 

Brady Christiansen scoring 10 points with eight rebounds while shooting 5 of 7 from the field and Marcus Glock chipped in seven points and three assists off the bench.

 

Washburn dominated every major statistical category, winning points off turnovers, 35–6, points in the paint, 52–16, second-chance points, 15–3, and fastbreak points, 22–5.

 

The Ichabods also controlled the glass with a 44-19 rebounding advantage.