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Tuesday prep BB roundup: Highland Park boys roll to 90-33 season-opening win at Bonner Springs
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Editor's note: @TopSports.news plans to run high school basketball roundups throughout the 2023-2024 season for the 10 Shawnee County high schools. Coaches are encouraged to submit game reports to
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Coming off a 24-1 season and a third-place finish in the Class 5A state tournament, Highland Park's boys basketball team is off and running again, opening its season Tuesday night with a 90-33 non-league road win at Bonner Springs.
Tamir Anderson
Ja'Corey Robinson
Highland Park, ranked No. 3 in 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, had four players crack double figures, led by senior Tamir Anderson, who scored a game-high 21 points on seven 3-pointers.
Junior Ja'Corey Robinson scored 19 points for the Scots, followed by senior Amari Taylor with 16 points (two 3-pointers) and junior Mikey Williams with 15 points.
Highland Park was in command after opening up a 28-12 first-quarter lead and the Scots took a 46-23 advantage to the locker room at halftime.
The Scots finished off the rout with a 44-10 scoring advantage in the second half, holding Bonner Springs scoreless in the fourth quarter. A running clock was used throughout the fourth.
Highland Park will return to action next Tuesday, traveling to Kansas City-Southeast, Mo.
HIGHLAND PARK GIRLS 52, BONNER SPRINGS 41
Highland Park, which advanced to the 5A state tournament a season ago, opened its season with a 52-41 non-league road win at Bonner Springs Tuesday night, getting a monster game from junior star Amelia Ramsey.
Amelia Ramsey
Ramsey, an All-Shawnee County pick last season, scored 21 points and grabbed 23 rebounds to key Highland Park's season-opening win.
Tahtionna Broils joined Ramsey in double figures for the Scots, finishing with 16 points.
Highland Park, ranked No. 10 in 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, will travel to Kansas City-Southeast, Mo. on Thursday.
ROSSVILLE BOYS 56, KC-WARD 48
Rossville evened its record at 1-1 with a 56-48 home win over Kansas City-Bishop Ward Tuesday night in the opening round of the Irish Classic.
Phillips' Ichabods looking to cap history-making season with NCAA Division II national championship
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The majority of college coaches and athletes go through their entire career without making it to a final four.
But it's always a goal, and it's something Davy Phillips has made a habit of and that his Washburn University women's soccer team will get an opportunity to experience this week in Matthews, N.C.
Washburn soccer coach Davy Phillips and his team walk through a long line of supporters during Tuesday's send-off for the final four in North Carolina. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn soccer players are all smiles during Tuesday's send-off for the final four at WU. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
After punching their ticket to the final four for the first time in program history with Sunday's 1-0 win over Grand Valley State, the 20-3-1 Ichabods will face Adelphi University (15-3-5) at 1 p.m. on Thursday in a national semifinal. With a win WU will play for the national title at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
"At the beginning of the year you kind of look at some really lofty goals and some really attainable goals and I think that final four and national championship is one of the loftier goals no doubt, but it's a possibility,'' Phillips said.
"Six years ago in the interview process I told them my goal was to win the national championship. I've been really close. At my previous school (Baker University) I was in the final four three times, so it's not expected but it's something we've worked for and it's certainly a career goal of mine, definitely.''
Facing a brutal wind in Sunday's national quarterfinal, Washburn kept the game scoreless until freshman Grace Peterson scored the game-winning goal, the first goal of her collegiate career, in the 81st minute and WU star senior goalkeeper Raegan Wells and the Ichabod defense did the rest, preserving the 1-0 win.
"The wind was pretty intense and we were against the wind the first half, so it was, 'Can we defend, defend, defend and get to halftime?' '' Phillips said. "Then at halftime we just talked, 'OK, now it's our turn to really go at them,' and I thought we were the better team in the second half.''
Sunday's win was another nail-biter in the Ichabods' four-game postseason run to the national final four, with all four games being decided by a single goal, including two overtime wins.
"There's a tremendous amount of belief in this group right now and that's really hard to deal with for the opposition, when you truly believe in something,'' Phillips said. "The girls' work rate I think reflects that. Without question, those wins, when they start accumulating, you find belief in what works and you gain confidence from that.''
Topeka West boys ride balanced attack to 69-49 United Kansas Conference win over Seaman
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West's boys basketball team may not have that one go-to guy that it can count on when it really needs a bucket.
Junior Kamoni Ford came off the bench to score a game-high 17 points in Topeka West's 69-49 UKC win over Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The flip side is that after back-to-back impressive performances to open the 2023-2024 season it looks like veteran West coach Rick Bloomquist may have several guys that can fill that role.
Topeka West improved to 2-0 overall and in the United Kansas Conference Tuesday night, taking a 69-49 home win over Seaman as three Chargers scored at least 15 points and a fourth player added nine.
"We've got things we've got to shore up, no question, and we're not perfect by any means,'' Bloomquist said. "We just have to learn to play the game the way it's supposed to be played, but I'm very pleased.
"To come back on a team that shoots as well as Seaman does and is as well-coached as they are, it's a good win for us.''
Topeka West junior Jalen Foy (22), who scored 16 points, puts up a shot as Seaman's Bryer Finley defends. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Kamoni Ford, a 6-foot-5 junior, came off the bench to lead West with a game-high 17 points, including three 3-pointers, while junior Jalen Foy added 16 points and junior Ja'Vian Chambers 15 points.
