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T-Bird boys improve to 15-7 with fourth straight victory, 80-33 over Pittsburg
By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights boys basketball extended their winning streak to four games Saturday afternoon with a dominant 80-33 victory over Pittsburg in coach Ken Darting’s final regular-season home game.
Junior Cam Ross led Shawnee Heights with a game-high 21 points in Saturday's 80-33 win over Pittsburg. [File photo/TSN]
The T-Birds came out firing, opening the contest on a 9-0 run.
Senior Ja’Veon Alston scored four of those early points, setting the tone on both ends of the floor.
Pittsburg finally got on the board with a 3-pointer two minutes into the first quarter, but Cam Ross and Alston answered immediately to push the Heights lead to 13-3.
Alston’s defensive intensity created multiple turnovers, leading to easy scoring opportunities. He added his eighth point of the quarter as the T-Birds stretched the advantage to 15.
The Thunderbirds closed the first quarter on a 10-4 run, with Ross scoring five of those points, to take a commanding 30-9 lead.
Ross finished with a game-high 21 points, 15 of which came in the first half.
“I have to credit our defense mainly that allowed me to get to the basket and score,” Ross said. “My point guard, Javion, plays really good defense. He was able to force turnovers and find me slashing to the basket, and just having each other’s back on defense and offense.”
Darting emphasized the team’s defensive identity.
“We're defensive oriented, and we don't have a lot of offensive talent, but if we play the game right and we take the shots we can make, then we're good, because the defense is consistent,” Darting said. “We knew nothing about Pittsburg, so we came in with a mindset of going to get them and figure things out. I thought we did exactly what we needed to do going into playoffs.”
Senior Jaimarion Cook sparked a huge second-quarter surge.
The T Birds went on a 17-0 run midway through the period that carried to halftime, with Cook scoring 10 of his 18 points during the stretch.
Heights entered the locker room with a 51-18 advantage. The second half brought more of the same.
The T-Birds outscored the Dragons 23-7 in the third quarter, highlighted by a 21-0 run.
Sophomore Malachi Lee scored all eight of his points during that burst, including six straight, as the lead ballooned to 74-25, triggering a running clock in the fourth quarter.
State swimming: Rural's Daniel Allen captures 6A state title, four medals
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural junior star Daniel Allen captured the Class 6A individual state championship in the 100-yard butterfly and earned four state medals to pace the city contingent in Saturday's state swimming championships Saturday at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatics Center.
Washburn Rural junior Daniel Allen won the 6A title in the 100 butterfly by more than a second and a half and earned four state medals. [File photo/TSN]
Allen, a multiple Class 6A medalist as a freshman in 2024 before sitting out the '25 high school season, entered the state meet as the No. 1 seed for the 100 fly and delivered a personal-record time of 50.85 seconds in the state final, out-distancing Blue Valley Northwest junior Cameron Hagen, who placed second in 52.37.
Allen posted a third-place state finish in the 100 backstroke in 53.38 and swam on Washburn Rural's fourth-place 200 medley relay (1:40.31) and the Junior Blues' seventh-place 200 free relay (1:30.97).
Washburn Rural sophomore Thomas Appuhn earned four state medals in the 6A state swimming meet, including a pair of fourth-place individual finishes. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn Rural sophomore Thomas Appuhn also earned four state medals for the Junior Blues, who finished sixth as a team with 143.5 points.
Appuhn finished fourth in the 200 individual medley (1:58.89), fourth in the 100 backstroke (54.71) and swam on Rural's 200 medley and 200 free relay teams.
Junior Andres Morao-Jaspe and sophomore Castle Wallace swam on Rural's 200 medley relay while Wallace and sophomore Quinten Jessop swam on the Junior Blues' 200 free relay.
Morao-Jaspe tied for 10th in the 'B' final of 100 backstroke (56.93) and Wallace placed 12th in the 100 breaststroke 'B' final (1:04.05) while freshman Braeden Montgomery finished 15th in the 500 free 'B' final (5:08.50) and he teamed with senior Joseph Jensen, senior Alexander Jeffries and Morao-Jaspe to finish 12th in the 'B' final of the 400 free relay (3:30.00).
Shawnee Mission East won the 6A team championship with 290.5 points while Blue Valley West was second (270) and Blue Valley North third (218.5).
Seaman junior Kinser Barbosa finished seventh in the Class 5A-1A 100 freestyle Saturday. [File photo/TSN]
Barbosa earns Class 5A-1A state medal
Seaman junior Kinser Barbosa posted a seventh-place finish Saturday in the 100-yard freestyle (49.56) to lead the city contingent in the Class 5A-1A state meet at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatics Center.
Barbosa also tied for 11th in the 50 free 'B' final (22.71) and swam on the Vikings' 15th-place 200 free relay and 16th-place 200 medley relay.
Barbosa swam with seniors Theron Carlson, Josh Hochard and Ryan Sloyer on the 200 free relay and with junior Wyatt Glotzbach, Carlson and Hochard on the 200 medley relay.
Andover won the 5A-1A state team championship with 379.5 points while Seaman placed 25th with 23.5 points.
Ichabod softball improves to 16-3 with pair of run-rule wins
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University softball improved to 16-3 on the season Saturday with run-rule victories over Minnesota State-Mankato and Drury on the second day of the Washburn Invitational at Gahnstrom Field.
Former Manhattan standout Kierra Goos delivers a three-run home run in Saturday's 15-2 Washburn win over Minnesota State-Mankato. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn junior Kierra Goos receives congratulations from Ichabod third-base coach Taylor Zordel on her three-run home run in Saturday's 15-2 win over Minnesota State-Mankato. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn wraps up the final day of the event on Sunday, facing Minnesota State-Crookston at 1 p.m. as games at all three sites have been pushed back one hour to allow for warmer temperatures.
Washburn opened Saturday with a 15-2 five-inning victory over Minnesota State-Mankato before taking a 12-4 six-inning win over Drury in its second game of the day.
The Ichabods erupted for nine runs against Minnesota State-Mankato in the second inning and finished with 15 runs on 10 hits, drawing six walks, scoring in four of the five innings and blasting three home.
Minnesota State was limited to just three hits and struck out seven times against Washburn pitching.
Washburn sophomore Makenzie Sais steals a base in the Ichabods' 15-2 win over Minnesota State Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn struck first in the first inning as sophomore second baseman Dalaney Anderson singled to center field to score sophomore center-fielder Makenzie Sais, who drew a walk and stole second.
After the Mavericks tied the game on a solo home run in the second, the Ichabods answered with a nine-spot in the bottom of the inning, turned the game into a rout.
Sais delivered a two-run double down the left-field line before freshman right-fielder Taylor Brees followed with a two-run single to center.
Senior first baseman Kate Ediger added a two-run single and junior designated player Kierra Goos capped the outburst with a three-run homer to left-center field, pushing the Ichabod lead to 10-1.
Washburn added two more in the third when sophomore catcher Madi Moore hit a two-run home run to left field, scoring Anderson, who had doubled.
In the fourth inning sophomore pinch-hitter Kate Dolan delivered a three-run homer to left to make it a 15-1 game.
Anderson went 3 for 3 with two runs scored and a run batted in while Goos drove in three runs with her home run and Dolan also had three RBI on her round-tripper.
Sais finished with two RBI and two runs scored and Brees, Ediger and Moore tallied two RBI as Washburn's lineup produced 15 RBI on 10 hits.
Senior pitcher Sadie Walker allowed one run on two hits over two innings with three strikeouts before senior Jenna Sprague came on and earned the win in relief, tossing three innings and giving up just one run on one hit while striking out four.
The Ichabods erupted for six runs in the third inning on the way to a 12-4 six-inning victory over Drury in its second game of the day.
Senior Kate Ediger hit a three-run homer in Saturday's 12-4 Washburn win over Drury. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn's offense came alive in the bottom of the third when Anderson tied the game with a run-scoring single before Ediger blew the game open with a three-run homer to center.
Moments later, sophomore shortstop Maddie McGee added a two-run blast, capping a six-run, six-hit inning that put Washburn in control, 7-2.
