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No. 7-ranked Cair Paravel boys rally past Panthers, 50-42
By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Late in the second period Tuesday, the Cair Paravel boys looked up at a 21-7 deficit on the scoreboard. But as a ranked team for the first time in the program’s history, the Lions believe they are capable of overcoming adversity.
Chase Hastert, Cair Paravel [Photo by Barry Benteman/Special to TSN]
Cair Paravel entered the contest with Centralia ranked seventh in Class 2A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association. They didn’t play like it for the first 14 minutes Tuesday, but the Lions found their footing in the second half and turned that 14-point deficit into the team’s ninth win in a row, 50-42.
Cair Paravel outscored the visiting Panthers 18-12 in the third period, then ran away with a 19-6 advantage in the fourth period.
“First half we were selfish and soft. Second half looked night and day different,” said Cair Paravel coach Chip Kueffer. “(The Panthers) were hitting some tough shots, too. Not all of them were easy looks. But they got hot and then it can be tough to battle back when you’re down double digits.”
Sophomore Chase Hastert, who led the Lions with 14 points, echoed and added to his coach’s criticism of the first half.
“We were not going after loose balls, letting them go after it, not attacking the boards and playing selfish. We were taking first-side shots, not getting it inside. We had like four paint touches in the first half,” Hastert said. “In the second half, coach was like, ‘We can’t shoot any bad shots.’ We went on a run and we were just playing a lot harder, not just moping around.”
Kueffer credited his seniors for leading the turnaround.
“Our leaders do a great job,” Kueffer said. “We have three senior captains -- Drew Fay, Caleb Cleverdon and Lucas Marichal. They’re kind of our quarterbacks out on the court. Those floor generals can kind of rally each other and huddle everyone up to get it going.
“But the way (you stage a comeback) is one stop at a time. You can’t get 10 in a row. You can’t look at it that way. It’s just one good possession at a time, one good guard, one good rebound at a time. When you don’t get stops it’s hard to run in transition. Once we did get stops, we finished possessions. We were able to pitch ahead and score in transition.”
Fay scored 13 points for Cair Paravel and Marichal added 11. After going scoreless in the first half, sophomore Blaine Durbin turned in nine second-half points. The Lions outscored the visitors 13-3 over the final 4:41.
Rayton's 33 points power Topeka High girls to 71-33 non-league win over Atchison
By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Before the Capital City Classic tips off later this week, Topeka High hosted the Atchison Phoenix in the Dungeon Monday night and rolled to a 71-33 win.
Topeka High junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton scored 33 points in Monday's 71-33 win over Atchison. [File photo/TSN]
Atchison kept themselves in the hunt in the first quarter, trailing by just five at 19-14.
Junior Ahsieryrhuajh Rayton, who scored a game-high 33 points, scored the first five points for the Trojans followed by a couple of 3-pointers from senior Keimara Marshall while sophomore Hailey Caryl added one, too. Caryl finished with 16 and Marshall ended with 10.
“I wasn’t very happy after that first quarter,” Trojan coach Ron Slaymaker said. “I said in the timeout I called, I didn’t think that they would get that many points in the whole game and they had that in the first quarter… but after that we played pretty good.”
Atchison only had six players and Slaymaker told his team sometimes those games are hard to play, but credits the Phoenix for having the season they’re having despite the low number of players.
Alondra Herrera scored five straight for Atchison putting them up 9-8, forcing Slaymaker into a timeout, but then Topeka High turned it up a notch. Herrera led Atichson with 12 points.
In the second quarter, the Trojans began the quarter on a 14-0 run, leading 33-14 and finished on a 26-5 run, taking a commanding 45-19 lead at the break.
The Trojans were all over the glass, creating second-chance opportunities and creating turnovers on the defensive side leading to points. That’s something Slaymaker stressed before the season began on how important that would be for their success.
Rayton was scoring at will all game, helping the Trojans to a 11-0 run to begin the second half and after a Caryl two-point bucket that would start the running clock with five minutes left in the third quarter and lead 67-26 heading into the fourth.
A1 Lock & Key Performers Jan. 26, 2026
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Dillon Claussen
DILLON CLAUSSEN, Washburn University
A 6-foot-8 sophomore basketball standout, Claussen scored 36 points on the week as No. 1-ranked Washburn improved to 20-0 with a pair of home double-digit MIAA victories. Claussen scored 18 points in Wednesday's 94-44 win over Northwest Missouri State, going 4 of 5 from the field and 10 of 10 from the free throw line. The Omaha, Neb. native also scored 18 points in Friday's 90-78 win over Missouri Western, hitting 7 of 10 shots from the floor and grabbing six rebounds.
Rylee Dick
RYLEE DICK, Rossville
Dick, a senior guard, scored a total of 58 points in three Rossville wins on the week as the Bulldawgs won the Jefferson County North Invitational girls basketball tournament. The Rockhurst signee had 27 points in a 60-22 first-round victory over JCN, scored 16 points in a 54-44 semifinal win over Perry-Lecompton and had 15 points in Friday's 59-51 championship game decision over Oskaloosa, moving into the No. 2 spot on Rossville's career scoring list with 1,310 points.
Jack Donovan
JACK DONOVAN, Rossville
A senior guard, Donovan scored 47 points in two Bulldawg victories on the week as Rossville basketball advanced to the championship game of the Valley Falls Invitational before the title game was postponed due to inclement weather. Donovan scored 13 points with three 3-pointers in a 63-54 win over Jefferson West and scored 34 points with six 3-pointers in a 64-29 semifinal victory over Christ Prep.
