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By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

Few people know what it feels like to win a state basketball championship. The rush, the exhilaration, the exhaustion and relief, the bond with teammates and the bittersweet end of the journey … few have actually had that experience.

When Jenny Schmidtlein watched from the crowd Saturday as her daughter Hailey received a gold medal on the Hutchinson Sports Arena floor, she had a pretty good idea what her daughter was feeling.

Hailey Schmidtlein scored 24 points in Saturday's 57-52 Hayden win over Bishop Miege in the Class 4A state championship game, joining her mom as a state basketball champion. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN] 

Jenny (Hubbell) Schmidtlein (No. 11) was a member of Hayden's 2004 Class 4A state championship team and is the mother of current Wildcat sophomore standout Hailey Schmidtlein. [KSHSAA Gallery of Champions]

The 2003-2004 Wildcats defeated Wichita Collegiate 45-37 at the Bicentennial Center in Salina to claim the Class 4A title after beating Labette County and Colby in the first and second rounds of the tournament. Wearing No. 11, Jenny Hubbell (now Schmidtlein) was a member of that team.

Having won three Class 4A titles in the 1990s, the 2004 Wildcats probably had no idea it would take 22 years to bring home another crown. The long wait finally ended Saturday when the Wildcats knocked off perennial power Bishop Miege.

Did Hailey know that her mom was on the last team to win a title for Hayden?

“Oh yeah,” the sophomore said with a laugh. “I’ve been getting a lot of texts about it already.”

As if they were clairvoyant, the first thing both mother and daughter said in separate interviews was they look forward to seeing the 2026 team memorialized in the Hayden gymnasium.

“I told Hailey the minute she was a freshman, I said, ‘You’re gonna be the next person on that sign at Hayden,' ” Jenny said after Saturday’s game. “I’m very excited that she will be the next person underneath mine.”

“It’s really cool knowing that my state title is going to go right next to my mom’s,” Hailey said.

Winning is a tradition at Hayden, and it’s a family tradition for the Schmidtleins. Hailey’s father, Scott, was member of the 2004 Hayden football team that won the 4A title.

“With both my parents being part of (the tradition) at Hayden, I’ve been raised with it,” Hailey said. “I’ve been taught to always play with heart no matter how the game is going, and I think that’s been a big part of it is that’s how her team played.”

The younger Schmidtlein led the most recent version of the Wildcats to a 19-6 regular season record, averaging 17.5 points, 7.5 points and four steals per game. Her stats took a dip in the playoffs, but she was at her best in the championship game on Saturday. She scored 24 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and recorded three assists and four blocked shots.

Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson saw it coming.

“I’m going to take credit for it because I told her before the semifinal game, I said, ‘You’re going to go off today.’ And when that game was over, I said, ‘I was off by one game. It’s happening.’ ” Reynoldson said.

Reynoldson said Schmidtlein impacted the championship game as much with her defense as she did with her offense.

She was one of several Wildcats – including senior Ella Foster and junior Alana Mitchell – who guarded Murray State commit Mary Grant, a dynamic Bishop Miege guard who lit the Wildcats up for 27 points a year ago.

Hailey was also sent into the lane to try to contain the Stags’ powerful post, Jayla McClinton, who is headed to play at Southern Illinois University.

“When you’ve got a girl like Hailey, she can guard their best player and not just guard her but make her really uncomfortable,” Reynoldson said of Schmidtlein’s work against Grant. “It doesn’t surprise me. She’s awesome. It’s not just her talent. It’s not her athleticism. It’s just the person she is. She’s so humble and does all the right things all the time. She’s a great example.”

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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn University women's basketball makes its return to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 5 seed in the Central Region, where the Ichabods will square off with the No. 4 seed Central Missouri for a fourth time this season and the second straight game at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Mankato, Minn.

Washburn is back in the NCAA Tournament field for the 18th time in program history and the first time since the 2012-2013 season.

Washburn women's basketball celebrates its MIAA Tournament championship with a team dogpile after Sunday's 53-44 win over top seed Central Missouri. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]

Friday's Washburn-Central Missouri game is a rematch of Sunday's MIAA Tournament championship game, won by the Ichabods, 53-44.

And while playing the Jennies again in just five days is not a ideal situation, Washburn junior Madelyn Amekporfor said the Ichabods will be trying to duplicate the performance they put together on Sunday.

"I think when we played them on Sunday in the championship, that was one of the best defensive games we've had all year and it was fun honestly, playing together, playing for each other,'' Amekporfor said. "It was so fun, so I know that it's not ideal but we're excited for that challenge and excited to go out and do it again and hopefully execute our game plan even better than we did on Sunday because I know we're ready for it.''

Washburn, now 24-7, won its 10th MIAA Tournament championship in program history.

Central Missouri heads to the NCAA Tournament with a 25-6 record overall after going 17-2 inside the MIAA. The Jennies' loss to Washburn snapped a 13-game UCM winning streak.

Sunday's win came after the Jennies had topped Washburn twice in the regular season and Amekporfor knows Friday will be another battle.

"We definitely know what's at stake and we're wanting to succeed so much for our seniors because they've done so much for this program,'' Amekporfor said. "They just give it their all every day, so I know making it to the national tournament was big for them, big for us and big for our program.

"I think UCM is going to be a great first game for us just because we have our heads up from this weekend and we know what we have to do to beat them. We know we have to execute and give it our all, so I think we're very confident now.'' 

Washburn coach Lora Westling said the Ichabods' goals this weekend would be the same no matter who they drew in the regional.

"We've told our players it doesn't matter who you play, it's about you and how well you execute and perform, how ready you can be for the day at hand,'' Westling said. "That's no different if its Central Missouri or whoever else we would have gotten lined up with. The approach is no different.

"I think that's what we've been focusing on is just it's business as usual for how we're preparing.''  

The Ichabods are 26-16 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 23-12 in the Central Region Tournament. Washburn is 9-3 in the opening round game of the regional. 

The NCAA Central Region Tournament will be held between Friday and Sunday in the Taylor Center. The championship game is set for 7 p.m. on Monday, March 16.

With a win on Friday, the Ichabods would face the winner of the quarterfinal game between No. 1 seed Minnesota State and No. 8 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday.

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By NATHAN SWAFFAR

Topsports.news

WICHITA – For the second straight season, Rossville once again found itself with an opportunity to advance within only two victories of a state title. 

Senior Jakoby McDonnell led Rossville with 14 points in Wednesday's Class 2A quarterfinal loss to Berean Academy. [File photo/TSN]

Unfortunately for the Bulldawgs, the 2026 season ended in the same place it did in 2025.

Rossville’s 17-8 season concluded in the Class 2A boys state quarterfinals once again on Wednesday as Berean Academy took home a 55-38 victory at Friends University. 

As a team, the Bulldawgs shot 40 percent from the field, but their offense struggled to reach the levels it had during the regular season.

Berean (23-2) zeroed in on Rossville senior standout Jack Donovan, allowing him little space and even fewer scoring opportunities. All in all, the Warriors held Donovan scoreless on only eight shot attempts throughout the quarterfinal contest.   

“It’s hard to beat a good team that talk and they did both, kudos to them,” Rossville coach Brandon McDonnell said. “We didn’t make an adjustment on our side and we kind of got flustered. Once you get flustered, it’s human nature; it’s kind of hard to dig yourself out of a hole.” 

The defensive slugfest got going immediately, as the Bulldawgs and Warriors refused to give up an inch of space. However, thanks to a last-second shot at the buzzer from Wyatt Friesen, the Warriors took a 9-7 lead into the second quarter. 

Turnovers became a nagging problem for Rossville over the next eight-minute period. Carelessness and the Warriors’ relentless defense culminated in seven giveaways by the Bulldawgs, directly leading to seven points from those turnovers. They finished the half with nine giveaways and ended the game with 11 total. 

McDonnell said the turnover issues were as much a credit to the Warriors’ defense as they were to careless ball security from the Bulldawgs.  

“This is state, the butterflies are different, the thought process is different, the environment is different,” McDonnell said. “When you mix all that together, you're going to have some slippage. And our problem is that we had too much of the slippage, and then they converted off of it.”   

And Rossville’s struggles on the offensive side were no better, ending the second quarter with only five points with a 22.2 shooting percentage. However, Berean couldn’t take full advantage as it dealt with its own offensive struggles, but still took a 20-12 advantage into the locker room.

Even though both teams shot under 30 percent in the first half, the Warriors had far more offensive opportunities, outshooting the Bulldawgs by 10 attempts.  

Out of halftime, both teams found a better offensive rhythm. Rossville finished the third quarter with a much improved 67.7% mark from the floor, but Berean wasn’t far behind, shooting over 50%.

In addition, the Warriors inflicted greater damage thanks to multiple made 3s and seven made free throws. That extended their lead to double-digits with a 35-24 advantage with one quarter to go. 

Over the final eight minutes, the Bulldawgs struggled to find a way back into the affair. The Warriors kept them at a distance and closed things out to advance to Friday night’s semifinals. 

Jakoby McDonnell led the Bulldawgs with 14 points to go along with three rebounds and assists. Cameron Miller also finished in double figures with 10 points.

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