Welcome to Top Sports News

By VINCE LOVERGINE

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural's boys basketball team opened the 2025-2026 campaign at home Friday against Blue Valley Southwest with the student section decked out in their Christmas Spirit, coming out with a win, 64-45.

 

Senior Simon Rowley led Washburn Rural with 17 points in Friday's 64-45 win over Blue Valley Southwest. [File photo/TSN]

Both teams took a little bit to get some points on the board. The game was tied at 7-7 after the Wolves took a 10-7 lead off a triple. They would push their lead to four but Washburn Rural closed the gap to 13-12 after one quarter.

In that first quarter, Rural finished a couple of steals, but you could tell they were a little sped up at times. Something that lacked in that first half and really all game was Washburn Rural knocking down its free throws.

 

“I thought it looked like the first game,” Washburn Rural coach Alex Hutchins said. “Pretty sloppy at points. I thought we played with a lot of energy early. I would’ve loved to finish some plays in transition, some of the free throws, too.

 

"I thought we were a little frantic on defense early and then settled in as the first half went on. We’re going to have to make more shots early and I think it was good the defense was good in the second and third quarter to weather some of that.”

To open the second quarter, Brooks Ballard hit a shot from distance to make it 15-13 off an inbounds play. John Hoytal was making plays happen down low, grabbing rebounds and finishing at the rim and drawing fouls.

 

Rural would jump out to a 20-13 lead after Draden Chooncharoen nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner pocket and senior Simon Rowley put some distance between the teams with a couple of buckets in the winding ticks of the first half as the Junior Blues took the 27-19 lead into the break.

 

Washburn Rural only allowed six points in the second quarter.

The Junior Blues came out at halftime with good energy and pace and eventually pulled away from the Wolves.

 

Hoytal put Rural up 36-23 from distance and finished with 13 points on the night but Rowley scored seven points late in that third quarter, including banking in a three.

“Coach just says keep going, keep pounding and finding a way,” Rowley said. “I just tried to get the guys in a good positive mindset. I know I started off slow. I set the tone for the team so I had to have a better mindset when I was out there and encourage my teammates more and they all feeded off me and we were just eating.”

 

But after that Rural went up 19 after back-to-back buckets from Rowley, who finished with 17 points. Chooncharoen hit two more 3-pointers down the stretch to finish with nine and put the nail in the coffin.

 

“I thought our execution was decent, we just didn’t finish the opportunities. Hopefully that’s just the first game jitter stuff and we can shake that off. A good first night,  but more to build on,” Hutchins said.

 

WASHBURN RURAL BOYS 64, BLUE VALLEY SOUTHWEST 45

Blue Valley Southwest 13 6 10 16 -- 45

Washburn Rural           12 15 18 19 -- 64

 

Blue Valley Southwest (0-1) - Taylor 1-1 0-0 3, Bonczynski 1-3 1-2 4, William Abraham 1-2 0-0 2, Putzier 2-3 1-1 5, Steele 1-1 0-0 2, Geisler 1-1 0-0, 3, Ferguson 2-2 0-0 6, Wesley Abraham 4-8 3-4, 12, Carlisle 3-3 0-0 8.

 

Washburn Rural (1-0) -- Rowley 7-15 2-8 17, Nimz 0-2 0-2 0, Ballard 3-3 0-0 8, Wright 2-5 1-3 3, Hoytal 3-9 6-6 13, O’Conner 1-3 1-2 3, Chooncharoen 3-5 0-2 9, Bradley 2-2 0-0 4, Schmidt 2-4 1-2 5. Totals 23-48 11-25 64.

3-point field goals -- Washburn Rural 7 (Chooncharoen 3, Ballard 2, Rowley, Hoytal).  BVSW 8 (Ferguson 2, Carlisle 2, Bonczynski, Taylor, Giesler, Wesley Abraham). Total fouls -- Washburn Rural 14, Blue Valley Southwest 23. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none. 

 

 

 

 

 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

The Washburn University soccer team will be in St. Louis Saturday for a 1 p.m. Elite Eight matchup against Missouri-St. Louis.

Aubrey Tanksley, Washburn

"We are all looking forward to (Saturday) and another chance we get to continue to grow together as a group,'' Washburn coach Davy Phillips said. "Our ladies have been really good about leaning into our core values, and I'm expecting that to inspire another really positive performance for us.

"UMSL is well coached and a good team. (Saturday) should offer everything that an Elite 8 matchup should offer."

Washburn, 13-3-6, is coming off a 1-0 win over No. 4-seed St. Cloud State on Sunday to become Central Region champions for the second time in program history.

Washburn has 13 clean sheets this year, which is third most in program history.

Aubrey Tanksley scored the game-winning goal from a corner taken by Bricelyn Betts, which Tanksley headed home in the 75th minute.

Washburn goalkeeper Lili Everley has the second-most shutouts in a season in Washburn history, with 11.

The Tritons(15-4-2) are the No. 7 seed from the Midwest Region, beating crosstown rival and No. 4-seeded Maryville, 2-1 to advance to the Elite Eight.

UMSL leads the all-time series with Washburn, 3-1.

The two teams met earlier this season, with the Tritons taking a 3-0 decision in St. Louis.

By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

A collection of transfers and a freshman helped lead the Shawnee Heights girls past United Kansas Conference foe Basehor-Linwood 69-49 in the T-Birds’ home opener Friday.

Junior KK Emmot led Shawnee Heights with 18 points in Friday's 69-49 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Pearmella Carter, a junior transfer from Highland Park, and Imani McGlory, a senior transfer from Topeka West, combined for 29 points in their T-Bird home debuts.

Senior Imani McGlory scored 13 points in her home debut for Shawnee Heights Friday, a 69-49 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Sami Baum, a home school student, scored four points in her first home game at Shawnee Heights and freshman Bijou Schmidt came off the bench to provide 11 points.

Freshman Bijou Schmidt came off the bench to score 11 points in Shawnee Heights' 69-49 win over Basehor-Linwood Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells has worked this fall to mold the new additions into a cohesive unit. The group had its eyes opened in a first-game loss to Shawnee Mission South and they showed Friday the collaboration is coming together.

“It was hard at first, but they’re learning,” Wells said. “Any time you’re learning a new system and learning how we do things in practice, everything is completely different for them. They have had to buy into what we’re doing. So they’ve been doing great. And the girls who have been in our program have been doing great helping them with everything.”

Shawnee Heights blasted out of the gate with 24 points in the first period with 10 from Carter and seven from junior KK Emmot, who led the T-Birds with 18 points.

The game was halted at the 4:40 mark of the third period when T-Bird sophomore Lauryn Brees fell awkwardly and lay on her back when the officials stopped the action. She remained down for more than 25 minutes before she was placed on a backboard and taken from the gym by first responders. After allowing for a brief warmup period, the game resumed after nearly 35 minutes.

“I just came back to the huddle and told (the team) what I knew,” Wells said about Brees’ injury. “I said, ‘We can all say a little prayer for her, and then the best thing we can do is go and play. Just go out there and play hard for her.’ And they did. I felt like they came out really focused. I was concerned that their minds were going to be someplace else because my mind was for a long time.”

The T-Birds outscored Basehor-Linwood 16-3 the rest of the period to expand their lead to 56-31.

Read more …