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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

WICHITA -- In what marked the final game of his tenure as Seaman boys basketball coach, Craig Cox saw his team deliver a strong performance Friday, defeating city rival Topeka West 66-50 in the Class 5A third-place game at Koch Arena.

The matchup marked the third meeting of the season between the city and United Kansas Conference foes, but this time Seaman controlled the game early and never fully relinquished its advantage.

Seaman senior KaeVon Bonner (33) had 9 points and 10 assists in the Vikings' 66-50 win over Topeka West in Friday's Class 5A third-place game. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]

Seaman jumped out to a quick start behind senior KaeVon Bonner, who scored four of the Vikings’ first six points to give his team a 6-0 lead.

Topeka West eventually got on the board when junior Prince Lassiter converted a basket, but Seaman quickly responded with a 7-0 run to stretch the lead to 13-4.

Chargers guard Keimani Paul knocked down a 3-pointer late in the quarter, but the Vikings answered with four more points to take a 17-8 lead into the second period.

Topeka West found momentum early in the second quarter, opening the period on a 10-1 run to pull within two points. However, Viking senior Landon Wiltz halted the Chargers’ surge with a timely 3-pointer.

Seaman regained control from there, closing the half with a flurry of outside shooting.

The Vikings connected on three 3-pointers down the stretch, including one at the buzzer, to push their lead to 11 heading into halftime.

Seaman senior Landon Wiltz (5), defending Topeka West's Keimani Paul, led all scorers with 23 points in Friday's 66-50 win in the Class 5A third-place game. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]

Wiltz led all scorers with 11 first-half points and was 3 for 4 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Both teams struggled to find offensive rhythm to start the third quarter, but Topeka West closed the period strong with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to seven.

Cox emphasized patience and ball movement during the break between quarters.

“We had moved the ball again and were just kind of settling for some shots and missing them,” Cox said. “It’s like, make the extra pass and it’ll be fine. I thought we moved the ball a lot better, got it to the middle and played a little bit from the inside out.

"With these guys having confidence, it makes it easy to not panic when a good team like Topeka West makes a run.”

“(Cox0 just told us to finish the game out,” Bonner said. "We just kept letting them back in. It’s the last game of the season, just have fun.”

Seaman responded with its strongest stretch of the game to open the fourth quarter.

After the Chargers scored five quick points to pull within four, the Vikings erupted on a 9-0 run to extend the lead to 52-39.

Paul briefly halted the surge with a 3-pointer for Topeka West, but Seaman answered with three consecutive 3-pointers of its own to effectively put the game out of reach.

The Vikings were particularly efficient from long range, shooting 13 of 26 from 3-point range, while Topeka West struggled from deep, converting just 3 of 19 attempts.

Wiltz finished with a game-high 23 points, while Bonner impacted the game in other ways. Though held to nine points, the standout guard recorded 10 assists.

“I know scoring is one of my main things, but if my shot’s not falling, I’ll go out and get my teammates involved,” Bonner said. “Landon was hitting his shots, so I just drove and found him. He did his job of shooting for me.”

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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

WICHITA -- The Shawnee Heights Lady T-Birds faced off against the Hays Indians in a Class 5A girls semifinal matchup Friday at Koch Arena, but playing without junior starter Pearmella Carter proved to be a major challenge.

Junior Sami Baum led Shawnee Heights with 21 points in Friday's 66-41 Class 5A semifinal loss to Hays. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]

The T-Birds struggled to get anything going offensively or defensively and were out-rebounded 40-22 in a 66-41 loss.

Carter’s absence was felt throughout the night, particularly in the post.

“Her being out was definitely a factor,” said Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells. “She’s been one of our post defenders all year, and we had girls playing post that hadn’t played much post defense throughout the season. They had a couple really good post players, and we knew that coming in.

"We tried to give them some help and do some things for them, but obviously it wasn’t enough with the way they were scoring inside and outside. It was a tall task for us tonight.”

The T-Birds also could not find their rhythm from beyond the arc, finishing just 1 for-17 from 3-point range. Their lone three came in the third quarter from Sami Baum.

“It was just one of those nights where we had a couple misses early and it kind of got in our heads,” Wells said. “Then we just kept missing and couldn’t get it going from the perimeter.

"Even some of our layups and point-blank shots were missing. It was just a struggle for us all the way around.”

Shawnee Heights dug itself into an early hole when Hays opened the game on a 9 0 run. The T-Birds didn’t record their first points until the four-minute mark of the first quarter when Imani McGlory made a free throw.

Heights was outscored 9-6 the rest of the quarter and trailed 18-7 after one. The second quarter followed a similar script. Hays began the period with another 8-0 run before Baum finally scored for the T-Birds.

The struggles continued as Hays’ Jenna Schmeidler scored nine straight points, helping the Indians take a commanding 35-13 lead into halftime.

Hays never let up in the second half.

Baum tried to spark Shawnee Heights with 11 of her team-high 21 points in the third quarter, but the T-Birds couldn’t string together the defensive stops needed to close the gap.

Hays led 49-24 after three quarters and remained firmly in control.

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