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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

Shawnee Heights girls basketball saw its 10-game winning streak snapped in Friday's Capital City Classic semifinal at the hands of Derby, but the T-Birds would answer the call against Garden City in Saturday's third-place game, posting an 80-68 victory at Topeka High.

Shawnee Heights junior KK Emmot, an all-tournament pick, scored a game-high 25 points in Saturday's 80-68 Capital City Classic win over Garden City. [File photo/TSN]

“Super, because after you lose a game like that, you kind of just need to adjust, take it away from your mind and stuff,” T-Bird junior all-tournament KK Emmot said on the importance of bouncing back.

“Yeah, it was very important for us, especially to not stay on the loss and drag that with us to a new day. Just forget about it and stay in our game, and keep a good record for the season,” Heights junior Pearmella Carter agreed.

Carter and her teammates had no problem answering the call as they would hit 12 3-pointers with six of those coming in the first quarter.

Emmot would hit three treys in the first quarter as she would score 11 of her game-high 25 over the first eight minutes to help her team take a commanding 28-16 lead.

Emmot and senior Imani McGlory would hit eight combined 3s in the game.

“KK and Imani have just done a great job of stepping up and helping lead the team,'' Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. "And, you know teams have a hard time sagging off or going and covering up one without leaving the other one open. And our girls are doing a good job of finding them and getting them the ball.”

“I feel like warming up, it just felt good. Everything was flowing,” McGlory said.

“I think they their main goal was to keep us on one side of the floor,'' Emmot said. "And so they completely shifted to one side, and we could just kick it to the other side, and we'll just have an open three and we're all shooters.”

Heights would continue to be hot in the second quarter and take a 44-35 lead into the locker room at the halftime break.

The third quarter would see Garden City try to make a run and get back into the game as they would get KK to pick up her 4th foul and escape the third trailing Heights, 58-50.

But the fourth quarter would be all Heights as they would hit four more 3-pointers, with senior Reianna Vega hitting her third 3 of the night, and Carter scoring eight of her 15 points down the stretch to secure the win.

“She is just so tough inside, and she's a special kind of player, because we can play her in the post, or we can put her out on the perimeter, and she causes some definite matchup problems,” Wells said about Carter.

“That was important for us, especially in the end, because they kept fouling, they were kind of coming back a little bit, so I just had to stay locked in and make the free throws,” Carter said.

SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 80, GARDEN CITY 68

Garden City         16 19 15 18 -- 68

Shawnee Heights 28 16 15 21 -- 80

Garden City (9-7) -- Korf 6-8 2-2 17, Snodgrass 6-11 5-8 17, Hannagan 5-17 0-0 14, Powers 4-9 0-0 12, Meng 1-2 2-2 4, Doll 2-4 0-0 4, Brown 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 9-12 68.

Shawnee Heights (12-4) -- Emmot 9-17 3-5 25, McGlory 7-13 2-2 20, Carter 3-6 9-10 15, Vega 4-8 0-0 11, Baum 2-5 0-0 4, Schmidt 1-1 0-0 3, Hamilton 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-51 14-17 80.

3-point goals -- Garden City 11 (Powers 4, Hannagan 4, Korf 3), Shawnee Heights 12 (Emmot 4, McGlory 4, Vega 3, Schmidt). Total fouls -- Garden City 20, Heights 13. Fouled Out -- Garden City.

Vikings run past Trojans for 75-60 win to capture fifth place

The Vikings would lead from start to finish in Saturday's fifth-place game on the way to a 75-60 win over host Topeka High.

Seaman’s Lydia Dreher would score the first six points before Cara Beaton would hit her first of five 3- pointers to make it 9-0 Vikings.

Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton would hit a 3 to stop the run but the Vikings would not stop there as they would hit 4 3s to go up 22-11. The Trojans would answer and go on an 8-0 run to end the first quarter trailing 22-16.

But the Vikings would force the Trojans to hit a wall as they would go on an 18-9 run in the second quarter to go into halftime up 40-25.

The Trojans got 10 points from Hailey Caryl in the first half and would come out the break with Caryl getting two baskets.  But the Vikings would answer and go on an 8-3 run to stretch the lead to 20 at 50-30.

Senior Maddie Gragg would score seven of her 20 points in the final minutes of the third stanza to help her team take a 59-39 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Trojans just could not find the stops they needed on defense to make a late-game comeback as Gragg would continue to light it up with six more points in the fourth.

The Trojans' Keimara Marshall would get five of her 12 points in the fourth, but it just wouldn’t be enough as the Vikings would get the 15-point win.

“Before the game, we just talked about belief,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "I told the girls, 'Do the things that are hard to do and the power will come.' And I told them, 'You contribute in your way to help us be successful.' And I'm just really proud of their belief and the fight that they showed and the confidence that they played with.

"We had girls step up, they were sharing the ball. And it helps shoot the ball like we did, too. Man, we were on fire there at the start, but just going back to my message, you can do hard things, and you can do them together. And this was a great team win today. We had everybody step up.”

“We really wanted to push the pace, start off strong,'' Beaton said. "We've been struggling to start off strong in the first half, so our goal today was to start strong, push some points, push the pace. And yeah. It was really big for everyone, and I was proud of everybody.”

“I knew that we had to come out strong in the third quarter, because sometimes we struggle with that like the first quarter,'' Gragg said. "But I just knew that we had to keep putting points on the board because Topeka High wasn't going to give up.”

The Trojans would be led in scoring by Caryl, who would lead all scorers with 22.

Topeka High's Rayton was named the Capital City Classic Most Valuable Player.

SEAMAN 75, TOPEKA HIGH 60

Topeka High 16 9 14 21 -- 60

Seaman         22 18 19 16 -- 75

Topeka High (6-8) -- Caryl 6-11 9-11 22, Rayton 5-13 2-6 15, Marshall 5-12 0-0 12, Gotru 0-7 2-2 2, Short 0-0 0-0 0, Whayne 2-3 5, Brown 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 20-48 13-19 60.

Seaman (7-5) -- Beaton 6-8 4-5 21, Gragg 8-16 4-6 20, Dreher 5-8 3-3 13, Puvogel 4-5 2-6 11, Spencer 2-6 0-0 5, Ketron 1-2 0-0 3, Ayres 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 27-47 13-20 75.

3-point goals -- Topeka High 7 (Dayton 3, Marshall 2, Caryl, Whayne), Seaman 8 (Beaton 5, Ketron, Puvogel, Spencer). Total Fouls -- Topeka High 16, Seaman 14. Fouled out --Short.

Read more …

By CHARLES SPURLOCK

Special to TopSports.news

EMPORIA -- The Washburn Rural Junior Blues faced the Wichita Southeast Buffaloes in the championship game of the Glaciers Edge Tournament on Saturday at Emporia High School, with the Junior Blues winning the title with a hard fought 48-42 victory.

 

Washburn Rural poses for a picture Saturday after winning the championship in the Glaciers Edge Tournament at Emporia. [Washburn Rural girls basketball] 

Washburn Rural jumped out to an 8-2 lead behind seniors Josie Carlgren and Ella Hirschi, who scored five and three points, respectively. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the first quarter with the Buffs trimming two points off the lead and trailing 15-11.

 

Carlgren led the Junior Blues with seven points, followed by Hirschi’s six points. Senior Ka’Mya Gant led Wichita Southeast with 7 points in the opening eight minutes.

Washburn Rural extended their lead to seven points, 18-11, on the first play of the second quarter on a 3-pointer from freshman Brynn Anderson. Wichita Southeast was able to cut the lead back down to five points at 22-17 halfway through the quarter.

Both teams were only able to score two points apiece for the remainder of the half, giving the Junior Blues a 24-19 lead heading to the locker room.

The Lady Buffaloes had a great start to the third quarter, scoring the first five points, to tie the contest at 24. Rural's Anderson answered the Southeast run with a traditional three-point play that impacted both teams.

 

Her excellent scoop shot gave the Blues the lead at 27-24 and drew the fourth foul on Buffaloes senior post player, Deena Holmes, who had to sit out the majority of the remaining six minutes of the third quarter.

The Junior Blues extended the lead to 35-28 with a little over one minute left in the third quarter. However, Southeast senior Vivianna Wall hit a corner 3-pointer, cutting the lead to four, 35-31. Rural responded with a buzzer beater by Carlgren, giving Washburn Rural a 37-31 lead going into the final quarter.

Foul trouble became an issue late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter for the Junior Blues and coach Kevin Bordewick discussed the play of his team while battling the fouls.

“We battled foul trouble that we hadn’t seen before, but we had girls come in off the bench (freshmen Kamryn Smith and Aly Hinck) and do a fantastic job,” Bordewick said.

Wichita Southeast came out and scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take their first lead of the game, 38-37, with five minutes remaining.

The Junior Blues regained the lead, 40-38, with four minutes left on a huge 3-pointer by Hirschi. On its next possession, Rural junior Brooklyn Rutherford was fouled on a 3-pointer and she made two of three from the line, extending the lead to 42-38.

With 1:45 left in the game and clinging to a 42-40 lead, Rutherford made a reverse layup on a beautiful backdoor pass from Anderson, giving the Junior Blues a 44-40 lead.

“It was something out of our offense and it’s great to be able to have teammates where I can give the ball up and they will do something great with it,” Anderson said.

After the teams traded empty possessions, another big play for the Junior Blues occurred on a missed 3-point attempt from Hirschi with 24 seconds remaining in the game. Carlgren was able to force a tie-up, giving the ball back to Rural.

“That’s what Jo does so well. She is a hustle maniac, goes after everything and is our anchor on defense,” Bordewick said.

Southeast had to foul and Anderson made two free throws, giving Rural a 46-40 lead. After a Lady Buffaloes basket, Anderson scored the final two points of the contest from the line, giving the Blues the championship victory by a six-point margin.

 

Washburn Rural was led by Anderson’s 20 points, with Anderson named the most valuable player for the tournament. Carlgren had 11 points and senior Hirschi tallied 9, all on 3-pointers. Fellow senior Hallie Walker had a team-leading nine rebounds.

Read more …

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural senior wrestling star Madi Blanco admitted that she was fighting some butterflies before Saturday's 140-pound championship match in the sixth annual Washburn Women's Invitational.

Washburn Rural senior Madi Blanco reacts after winning the 140-pound title in Saturday's Washburn Women's Invitational with a 37-second pin in the finals. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

But it certainly didn't show as Blanco, No. 3-ranked in Class 6A and No. 5 in the All-Class rankings by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association, needed just 37 seconds to clench her tournament championship with a win by pin over Gardner-Edgerton sophomore Camila Vasquez, No. 5-ranked in 6A and No. 8 in the All-Class rankings.

"Me and my coach had a conversation about energy and to be grateful for where I am, how much I've gone through to get here and that really helped me and put me in the right mindset to get into that final round,'' Blanco said. "I felt really good.''

Blanco, who placed fourth in 6A at 135 pounds and is a two-time state placer, posted three straight pins on Saturday, with her win in the finals following pins in 1:31 and 2:14.

And Blanco said she continues to gain confidence as the Junior Blues get ready for the biggest three tournaments of the season -- Centennial League, regionals and state.

"The steps I took to get here are what really helped me grow,'' Blanco said. "My coaches, my teammates, they're encouragers and I think that really helps. It's just a process.

"I thank the Lord that I have my parents (Evie and Anthony), that raised me so well. They taught character, mental strength, all of it, so I think that my confidence came from them and my coaches.''

Parker said Blanco has earned all the success she's had for the Junior Blues.

"She is as intentional about everything she does as any kid that I've ever coached, and the fact that she wrestles with gratitude,'' Parker said. "She's just happy for the opportunity to be here and do this and I think that goes a long way in this sport.''

Blanco helped lead perennial state contender Washburn Rural to a runnerup finish to Gardner-Edgerton (273-194) in Saturday's 20-school tournament, with Shawnee Mission South (159.5) third and Clay Center (156.5) fourth.

Washburn Rural was ranked No. 4 in 6A in last week's KWCA rankings, with Gardner-Edgerton No. 2 behind top-ranked Garden City.

Freshman 105-pounder Aliyah Tangpricha (top) posted a runnerup finish for Washburn Rural in Saturday's Washburn Women's Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Washburn Rural 125-pound senior Lacey Middleton (right) finished second Saturday as the host Junior Blues posted a runnerup team finish. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

In addition to Blanco's title, the Junior Blues got runnerup finishes from 105-pound freshman Aliyah Tangpricha (17-3), 125-pound senior Lacey Middleton (29-4) and 170-pound senior Elia Smith (23-3) while 145-pound senior Emme Blanco (29-3), 190-pound junior Lily Davis (26-7) and 235-pound sophomore Emma Mehl (18-9) all posted third-place finishes.

Seaman finished in the upper half of the field with a ninth-place finish (74 points), with four Vikings finishing in the top six, led by junior fourth-place 170-pound placer Isabel McClintock (19-12).

Washburn Rural will be back at home next Saturday to host the Centennial League girls and boys tournament (9 a.m start).