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Topeka West girls basketball working to become consistent program again
By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Since at least 2006, the Topeka West girls basketball program has not had a winning season. However, looking back at the last two seasons under head coach Angie Ketterman, the win total is adding up.
Senior Addaline Hall (13) is a top returner for Topeka West girls basketball. [File photo/TSN]
Teairra Gonzales (22) will be counted on for senior leadership this winter for the Topeka West girls. [File photo/TSN]
In 2023-2024 the Chargers won eight games and in 2024-2025, they had six wins. That’s 14 wins in a two-year span. Before that, it took West five years to notch at least 14 wins total. Not to mention, the last season where they had at least five wins before 2023 was 2016.
“Every school has seasons where they’re really good,'' Ketterman said. "Eventually, you’re going to fade back out and then you start coming back up. I really feel like we have kids coming in now and we’re on our way up.
"They’re starting to see it, they’re starting to believe it and that they can win, so it’s going to be a fun year.''
Ketterman played for the Chargers and also coached at one point before coming back. She said with this being the third year and the same coaching staff, the girls are starting to figure it out.
“They know what we expect. This year feels different because I feel we’re all on the same page. They come in and know exactly what we’re wanting,” Ketterman said. “We didn’t have any seniors last year and now we have four. It’s a good group.”
Ketterman is excited about what the seniors are bringing in terms of a leadership standpoint because the younger girls, especially the bigger freshmen class, are buying into that. That’s the route Ketterman wants this team to take.
“It’s a good mixture. I can honestly tell you, we don’t know who we’re starting, it’s a good problem to have, it’s kind of exciting,'' Ketterman said.
Seniors Teairra Gonzales and Addaline Hall have been in the program for four years and in the UKC with tough competition and Gonzales said it's their time to shine and grow.
“I like how everybody on our team is interchangeable. We’ve all played together for so long, play each part of the game and we can switch it up sometimes,” Gonzales said.
Friday's Hayden and Rossville state semifinal football matchups at a glance
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
FRIDAY NIGHT'S GAMES
CLASS 3A
SANTE FE TRAIL (11-0) at HAYDEN (11-0)
Connor Hanika, Hayden
Mason Becker, Hayden
Sante Fe Trail, the No. 2 Class 3A East seed, will face No. 1 East seed Hayden Friday night, with the winner moving on to the Class 3A state championship game. Hayden, which is shooting for its third straight trip to the 3A state final, is coming off a 43-29 state quarterfinal win over Jefferson West while Sante Fe Trail advanced with a 28-26 win over Holton. Hayden senior quarterback Connor Hanika has completed 97 of 158 passes for 1,614 yards and 22 touchdowns with just one interception while senior Kade Mitchell has rushed for 941 yards, caught 21 passes for 463 yards and has scored 21 total TDs. Mitchell did not play in the second half last week after a first-half injury. Wildcat senior Jackson McGivern has carried the ball 63 times for 420 yards while recording 72 tackles (45 solo) on defense with seven tackles for loss. Senior Jude Krentz leads Hayden with 102 tackles (53 solo) and six tackles for loss while rushing for 354 yards on 57 attempts. Senior Xander Blasing has 74 stops and seven tackles for loss and has caught 22 passes for 280 yards while senior Makhi Kidd has caught 27 passes for 286 yards. Junior Mason Becker has carried the ball 18 times for 234 yards, caught nine passes for 292 yards and is perfect on extra-point kicks on the year. Logan Power leads the Wildcats with five pass interceptions. The winner of Friday's game will move on to the state championship game at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 28, at Hutchinson Community College to face the winner of Friday's game between No. 1 West seed and defending state champion Andale (11-0) and No. 2 West seed Rock Creek (11-0). Andale advanced with a 57-7 quarterfinal win over Pratt while Rock Creek took a 14-7 win over Cheney. Game time: 7 p.m.
Xander Blasing, Hayden
Jackson McGivern, Hayden
Jude Krentz, Hayden
Ichabods to host Washburn Classic Friday and Saturday in newly renovated Lee Arena
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior star Yibari Nwidadah and the 1-1 Washburn women will host the Washburn Classic Friday and Saturday in the new Lee Arena. [File photo/TSN] The Ichabods are 1-1 on the season after splitting games in the Central Region Challenge in Edmond, Okla. last weekend.
After falling 73-61 to St. Cloud on Friday, Washburn picked up its first win of the season on Saturday afternoon with a late comeback to knock off No. 18-ranked Southwest Minnesota State, 63-59.
Junior Britany Kogbara led the way with 15 points for WU while senior Nwidadah scored 14 points with a block and a steal and senior Payton Sterk also had 14 points along with four steals and junior Madelyn Amekporfor had nine points with a team-high seven boards.
"Obviously we bounced back. which was very very productive of us,'' Nwidadah said. "I think we know the team we can be and I think we showed that on Saturday, especially coming off that loss on Friday. Overall, I'm just really excited.''
"I think our first game we did a lot of really nice things, we just didn't pay attention to the details when we needed to,'' Washburn coach Lora Westling said. "We just couldn't stack together enough quality possessions. Your biggest fear is you see stuff on film that you can't fix but everything we saw on tape we can fix and get better at and I was really proud of my team's response the second day.
"We got better from Day 1 to Day 2 and put a solid performance together with enough to work on that we're really excited moving forward.''
Southwest Baptist enters Friday's game with a 1-1 record while MSU Denver begins the weekend with an 0-2 record.
The Washburn Classic will be comprised of the Ichabods' two opponents, Southwest Baptist and Metropolitan State of Denver along with Northeastern State, also from the MIAA.
The 2025-26 season marks the 42nd season of play inside Lee Arena since the facility opened for the 1983-84 season. Washburn is 465-130 all-time inside Lee Arena.
Nwidadah leads the Ichabods with a 14.5 scoring average in just 22.5 minutes per game on the short season and also leads the team grabbing with 6.0 rebounds per game while also shooting 60.0 percent from the floor and swatting away 1.0 blocks per game.
With 233 career offensive rebounds Nwidadah is fourth in program history and she is 13th with 635 career boards.
Nwidadah's career field goal percentage of .581 is the second best in program history. In scoring she ranks 22nd with 1,021 career points.
Kogbara has provided a spark off the bench in both games, averaging 12.5 points in just 16.5 minutes per game. She is shooting 61.1 percent from the floor, second best on the team, while grabbing 4.5 rebounds per game and coming up with 1.5 steals a game. The junior has scored in double figures in both games.
Sterk is averaging 12.5 points while starting both games and playing 30.5 minutes, second most on the team. Sterk averages a team-high 2.5 steals and has connected from deep three times, also tops on the team. The senior ranks fifth in the MIAA in steals per game.
Amekporfor is averaging 8.5 points and logging a team-high 31.5 mpg. She is shooting 61.5 percent from the floor, tops on the team, while averaging 4.0 points. The junior is averaging a team-high 2.5 blocks, while also making 1.5 steals per game.
