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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

No. 3 ranked Washburn University men's basketball closed out the regular season with a hard-earned 84-74 Senior Day win over Missouri Southern on Saturday, improving to 28-1 overall and 18-1 in the MIAA.

Junior Jack Bachelor led Washburn with a career-high 26 points, with nine assists and three steals, in Saturday's 84-74 win over Missouri Southern. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Washburn rode a flurry of 3-pointers and a second-half surge to win its school-record 29th game in a row in Lee Arena.

"Our defense was not great tonight,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "They had us on our heels and they're a really good offensive team. We got enough stops there in the second half, but we need to tighten that up.''

And Ballard said it was probably good for the Ichabods to get a test entering postseason, which will begin with the MIAA Tournament Friday in Kansas City, Mo. at the storied Municipal Auditorium.

"You don't love it as a coach, but that was really good for us to play a game with meaningful possessions, where there's a little bit of pressure,'' Ballard said. "And we had to execute and we had to get stops and had to dig in.

"Fortunately, we haven't had a ton of those this year and you're going to have those in the postseason, so I thought that was really good for us and it was good to see us respond.''

With the Lions holding a 10-7 lead, the Ichabods ripped off a 20-4 run over a 4:27 stretch to take a 27-14 lead with 11:31 to play in the opening half.

However, the Lions responded with a 16-6 run of their own to tie the score at 41 with 2:37 to play before the break.

Washburn outscored the Lions 7-2 down the stretch, capped by a 3-pointer from junior Jack Bachelor, to take a 48-43 lead to the locker room at halftome.

The second half began with a 3-pointer from junior Jeremiah Jones and two more treys from Bachelor as the Ichabods stretched their lead to 57-43.

Missouri Southern responded with an 8-0 run to trim the margin to 59–58, but Washburn delivered the knockout blow with a 25-9 run, including an 18-0 streak, over an 11:30 span of the second half that put the Ichabods up 84-67 with 2:53 remaining.

Bachelor led Washburn with a career-high 26 points and nine assists with no turnovers, shooting 5 of 9 from 3-point range.

Senior Brady Christiansen scored 18 points with four 3-pointers in Saturday's 84-74 win over Missouri Southern. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Senior Brady Christiansen added 18 points and 5 rebounds, including a pair of critical 3-pointers during Washburn decisive second-half run.

"We found a way to get it done,'' Christiansen said. "I think everyone stepped up and made big shots, especially Jack.

"As a senior, though, I was not letting us lose and I know everyone else was not letting us lose. It just feels incredible to win on Senior Night but also we're 28-1 and now the best time of the year is around so I couldn't be more proud of the guys and I'm just excited for what's next.''

Although he has another season left, Bachelor said it was also very important to him to make sure his senior teammates -- Christiansen, Sam Ungashick, Bryson Smith and Isaiah Saams-Hoy -- had a win to celebrate on Saturday.

"Those are my guys,'' Bachelor said. "Those are my brothers for life. I'll be in their weddings, they'll be in mine. I wasn't going to let those dudes go out bad, so I was giving it my all out there for them.''

Jones finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and three steals, while Smith contributed 13 points, three assists, and three rebounds.

By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

The postseason is officially under way, and while Topeka High has been one of the hottest girls basketball teams in the state, the playoffs bring a new level of intensity where anything can happen.

Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton scored 26 points to lead Topeka High to a 69-45 Class 6A sub-state win over Maize Tuesday. [File photo/TSN]

Sophomore Hailey Caryl scored 19 points for Topeka High in a Class 6A 69-45 sub-state win over Maize Tuesday. [File photo/TSN]

Ron Slaymaker's Trojans hosted Maize Tuesday in a Class 6A sub-state semifinal, and after a slow start, Topeka High took care of business, taking a 69-45 win.

Topeka High got off to a promising start when junior Ahsieryrhuajh Rayton knocked down a 3-pointer to open the scoring.

But the Eagles quickly responded with an 11-0 run to take an 11-3 lead, holding High scoreless for four minutes as the Trojans’ offense stalled.

Rayton helped spark life back into her squad by attacking the rim, drawing contact, and converting both free throws. She then forced a turnover and finished at the basket to cut the deficit to 11-7.

Despite the push, Maize held a 16-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Trojan senior Keimara Marshall made sure the momentum didn’t stay with the Eagles for long. She opened the second quarter with back-to-back steals, igniting an 11-0 High run.

Her first steal led to a breakaway layup, and the second turned into an assist to sophomore Hailey Caryl.

“Coach knew that we could play better than we were playing,” Caryl said. “But at the end of the the quarter, he just talked to us about how we just need to get our stuff together. Like, there's no reason we should be playing like this when this game is make it or break it. He just wanted to motivate us to get going.”

Marshall’s defensive energy fueled the comeback, giving the Trojans a 17-16 lead.

They kept building from there, finding Caryl for a layup before Rayton closed the half with five more points -- part of her game-high 26 -- to give High a 28-21 advantage at halftime.

“We changed our defense to be a little more aggressive and then things just started to roll,” Slaymaker said. “We got some loose balls and it was from the runouts and shots that go in -- and bingo. That’s why basketball is a really interesting game.”

The Trojans carried that momentum into the third quarter.

Senior Sasha Gotru got involved offensively, and Rayton went on a personal 7-0 run to stretch the lead to 37-21. Sophomore Sophia Brown made a big impact inside, scoring four straight points to push the lead to 47-31.

High maintained control throughout the third quarter, taking a 53-38 lead into the fourth quarter.

By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

No. 2 East girls seed Shawnee Heights opened postseason play in dominant fashion Wednesday night at home, defeating No. 15 seed Kansas City-Sumner 89-15 in the first round of the Class 5A sub-state playoffs.

Shawnee Heights senior Imani McGlory scored 35 points in Wednesday's 89-15 sub-state win over KC_Sumner. [File photo/TSN]

Shawnee Heights set the tone early with suffocating defense, forcing 18 turnovers in the first half and holding Sumner to just one point in the opening quarter.

The T-Birds came out firing offensively, jumping out to a 19-1 lead in the first quarter. Sumner’s first basket came with 1:28 left in the quarter on a free throw from Mila Sims.

Heights kept the momentum rolling in the second quarter as junior Pearmella Carter and junior KK Emmot continued the offensive push. Emmot was perfect from the field in the first half, shooting 5 for 5.

Senior Reianna Vega and Carter combined for a quick 10-0 run, with Vega scoring four points and Carter adding six. Senior Imani McGlory then knocked down a 3-pointer -- part of her game-high 35 points -- to stretch the lead to 36-1. Sumner managed back-to-back baskets before Vega answered with a 3-pointer to make it 39-5.

McGlory then connected on back-to-back threes to give her 15 points before halftime as Shawnee Heights entered the break leading 45–5.

“That was something we really wanted to emphasize -- playing solid defense, not giving up drives, moving our feet, and playing without our hands,” said Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells. “I thought they did a good job of it for the most part.”

McGlory caught fire in the third quarter. After scoring on a layup to start the half, she followed with three consecutive 3-pointers and scored 18 straight points to extend the T-Birds’ lead to 63-5.

“When she starts shooting the ball and it goes in, it barely even touches the net,” Wells said. “There was a lot of that tonight. She was shooting the ball great and feeling great. Her teammates wanted to get her the ball, and that was a lot of fun to see.”

McGlory, who entered the night needing 42 points to reach 1,000 for her career, said her teammates encouraged her to stay aggressive.

“I try to get locked in in the locker room before the game,” McGlory said. “My teammates kept telling me to shoot, especially coming out of halftime. My goal was to try to get at least 30 points tonight so hopefully it’ll be easier next game.

"I feel like the feeling will be way better if I get my 1,000 and we win sub-state on the same night.”

Shawnee Heights led 77-9 after the third quarter, triggering a running clock in the fourth.

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Welcome to Top Sports News

No. 3-ranked Washburn men survive tough test from Lions, cap 28-1 regular season with 84-74 win

Topeka High girls advance to 6A sub-state final with 69-45 win over Maize

McGlory explodes for 35 points in T-Birds' 89-15 5A sub-state rout over Sumner