By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural will make the familiar trek to Wichita next week for the Class 6A girls state basketball tournament.
Washburn Rural girls basketball celebrates its 47-34 win at Wichita South in Friday's Class 6A sub-state final. [Washburn Rural girls basketball]
Kevin Bordewick's Junior Blues will be making their straight state appearance after avenging a midseason loss to Wichita South with a 47-34 win in Friday's sub-state championship game on the Titans' home floor.
Washburn Rural has advanced to the state championship game the past two seasons, finishing second a year ago after winning the title in 2022, the Junior Blues' second championship since 2019.
Washburn Rural poses for a team picture after winning its third straight Class 6A girls sub-state title Friday night at Wichita South. [Washburn Rural girls basketball]
Rural, now 15-7, dropped a 44-38 overtime decision to South in the championship game of the Girls Capital City Classic on Jan. 27 but pulled away late Friday night for the double-digit victory over the Titans, who finished their season 14-8.
Freshman Maddie Vickery led the Junior Blues with 23 points and 12 rebounds while Zoe Canfield added 10 points and Ella Hirschi nine.
Silver Lake girls improve to 22-0
Undefeated and top-ranked Silver Lake ran its win streak to 22 games Friday night with a 63-34 Class 3A sub-state semifinal win over Minneapolis in the Riley County sub-state.
The 22-0 Eagles, the top seed in the sub-state, will play for the championship at 6:30 p.m. Saturday against No. 7 seed St. Marys, Silver Lake's Mid-East League rival.
After knocking off No. 2 seed Nemaha Central in the quarterfinals, St. Marys took a 48-45 overtime decision over No. 3 seed Rossville Friday night.
The Bulldawgs finished their season with an 18-4 record.
West boys finish 14-8 campaign
Topeka West gave defending Class 5A state champion Andover a battle on the Trojans' home court Friday night but the host held off the Chargers for a 69-61 win to make it back to next week's 5A state tournament at Emporia's White Auditorium.
Andover improved to 18-4 with Friday's win while Topeka West ended its season with a 14-8 record.
