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Vikes ride Bonner's 37-point night to 83-75 season-opening win over No. 2 Piper
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman boys basketball had no problem getting fired up for Tuesday's 2025-2026 season-opener against Piper.
Seaman senior KaeVon Bonner (33), who scored 37 points, celebrates Tuesday's 83-75 season-opening win over No. 2 Piper with his Viking teammates. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
First of all, the Vikings got the chance to play in front of their home fans, with a big, spirited crowd showing up for the United Kansas Conference matchup.
Secondly, Seaman dropped both of its games against the Pirates last season, giving the Vikings some added incentive.
And finally, Piper entered the season with a lofty No. 2 state ranking after finishing third in Class 5A a year ago and second in 2024.
No. 9-ranked Seaman used all of those factors and a huge 37-point performance from senior star KaeVon Bonner to its advantage, rallying from an early deficit to take an 83-75 UKC decision over the Pirates.
"We were definitely fired up,'' Bonner said. "We went 0-2 against them last year and knew they were a good team and they only lost one player, so it was a good warmup game against a very good team, top in the league.
"We heard that they're ranked (second), so we wanted to take that spot and make them respect us. This a good start. We know that we can beat any team now.''
Seaman senior KaeVon Bonner puts up a shot in Tuesday's 83-75 season-opening win over No. 2 Piper. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Bonner, who had scored 32 points in his last time out against Piper, was even better Tuesday, hitting 10 of 18 shot from the field with three 3-pointers and going 14 of 17 at free throw line.
And Bonner also got plenty of help from his teammates, with senior Griffin Zuniga adding 19 points and seniors Landon Wiltz and Cameron Brian 10 points each.
Piper jumped out to 6-0, 12-3 and 15-6 leads in the early going, but the Vikings didn't lose contact, rallying to within 17-15 by the end of the opening quarter and taking a 41-40 lead at the half on a buzzer-beating bucket from Bonner.
The game remained tight through most of the third stanza before Seaman closed the quarter with an 8-2 run to take a 63-56 lead into the final period.
Seaman opened the final eight minutes with a Zuniga 3-pointer and a Bonner hoop to open up a 12-point cushion at 68-56 and the Pirates got no closer than four the rest of the way.
Re-built Viking girls see positives in season-opening loss to Piper
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman girls basketball coach Matt Tinsley knew his team was likely to have to deal with considerable growing pains early in the 2025-2026 season.
Junior Cara Beaton (15) led Seaman with 13 points in Tuesday's 64-41 season-opening UKC loss to Piper while Faith McCallop (20) led all scorers with 24 points. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
After all, the Vikings graduated four very talented senior starters off a team that advanced to the Class 5A championship game in back-to-back seasons, including a state title in 2024.
And those youthful struggles showed up in a hurry in No. 6-ranked Seaman's season-opener at Seaman against No. 5 Piper.
Seaman girls basketball coach Matt Tinsley talks to his team during Tuesday's 64-41 UKC loss to Piper. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But after spotting the Pirates a 30-5 advantage midway through the second quarter, Seaman outscored the visitors 36-34 the rest of the night while displaying a lot of positives that Tinsley believes will pay off as the season goes along.
"Take out the first quarter and I think we finally started to breathe after that,'' Tinsley said. "Then we were finally able to relax a little bit. I was just trying to get the girls to relax and calm down. The game looked like it was 100 miles per hour for them, and we expected that.
"A lot of these girls, out of the 12 that played, nine of them that was kind of their first taste of varsity action against a good team.''
The Vikings cut their deficit to from 25 to 17 points by halftime (33-16) and the Vikings got as close as 13 (51-38) early in the fourth stanza before Piper pulled away again down the stretch.
"I told the girls that there's a lot than we can learn from this game,'' Tinsley said. "We've just got to make sure we're taking steps forward and we can't afford to take steps back. This loss is going to be a win for us down the road and I'll be patient with them, but we've got to compete and they're finding out that in varsity basketball you've got to compete for 32 minutes.''
Seaman reeled off 24 straight wins a year ago before losing to St. Thomas Aquinas in the state final while Piper went 18-5 last season with three losses to the Vikings, including the state quarterfinal.
Piper senior Faith McCallop led all scorers with 24 points while junior Cara Beaton paced Seaman with 13 points.
Four Silver Lake, Rossville players earn All-Big East first-team football recognition
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake sophomore Kendrick VandeVelde, senior Dayne Johnson and junior Owen Rottinghaus and Rossville senior Conner Bush received All-Big East League first-team football recognition for the 2025 season.
Conner Bush, Rossville
Dayne Johnson, Silver Lake
VandeVelde was named to the first-team offensive line, while Johnson was a first-team pick at wide receiver and Rottinghaus the all-league returner after helping lead Silver Lake to a 7-3 record.
Bush was named to the All-Big East first-team defense at defensive back after helping the 11-2 Bulldawgs advance to the Class 1A state championship game.
Silver Lake's Johnson (defensive back) and senior Jayden Waterer (linebacker) were named to the all-league second team as were Rossville junior Charlie Chance (offensive lineman), senior Jack Donovan (defensive back) and senior Andre Johnson (linebacker).
Rossville and Silver Lake combined for 12 honorable mention picks.
2025 ALL-BIG EAST LEAGUE FOOTBALL
First team offense
Line -- Caleb McCrory, sr., Holton; Hendryx Wahl, sr., Nemaha Central; Holden Edelman, jr., Sabetha; Camden Wittwer, jr., Sabetha; Kendrick VandeVelde, so., Silver Lake.
Quarterback -- Carter Hajek, sr., Nemaha Central.
Running back -- Will Voos, sr., Sabetha; Korleone Holz, sr., St. Marys.
Tight end -- Reid Mitchell, sr., Sabetha.
Wide receiver -- Brody Schwinn, jr., Jefferson West; Dayne Johnson, sr., Silver Lake.
First team defense
Line -- Osiris Unruh, sr., Jefferson West; Danny Childress, jr., Nemaha Central; Kyler Ganstrom, sr., Nemaha Central; Holden Edelman, jr., Sabetha; Roger Browning, sr., St. Marys.
Linebacker -- Cael Frazier, sr., Holton; Jack Macke, sr., Nemaha Central; Amos Brakenhoff, sr., Perry-Lecompton.
Defensive back -- Caleb Strathman, sr., Nemaha Central; Conner Bush, sr., Rossville; Griffin Cumpton, sr., Royal Valley; Curtis Fitzgerald, jr., Sabetha.
All-purpose -- Cole Menold, sr., Sabetha.
Kicker -- Jayton Meyer, jr., Sabetha.
Punter -- Jayton Meyer, jr., Sabetha.
Returner -- Owen Rottinghaus, jr., Silver Lake.
