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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural freshman girls basketball standout Brynn Anderson and Highland Park junior boys basketball standout JoJo Kingcannon have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2025-2026 school year.
Here's a brief look at the recent accomplishments of Anderson and Kingcannon.
Brynn Anderson, Washburn Rural [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
BRYNN ANDERSON, Washburn Rural
Anderson was named the Most Valuable Player in last week's Glaciers Edge Tournament at Emporia after helping lead Washburn Rural to the tournament title. Anderson scored a game-high 20 points in the championship game as Rural captured the tournament championship with a 48-42 win over Wichita Southeast. Anderson hit 5 of 10 shots from the field and went 9 of 10 at the free throw line against the Buffs. Anderson followed up her tournament performance with 25 points in Wednesday's 55-42 win over Blue Valley, hitting five 3-pointers and going six of six at the free throw line.
JoJo Kingcannon, Highland Park [File photo/TSN]
JOJO KINGCANNON, Highland Park
Kingcannon, who ranks second in the city of Topeka in scoring, continued his outstanding season with 49 points in a pair of Highland Park games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Kingcannon scored 26 points in Tuesday's 62-51 Meadowlark Conference loss to Kansas City-Washington, hitting 8 of 18 shots from the field and going 9 of 10 at the free throw line. The Scot standout scored a game-high 23 points in Wednesday's 84-60 loss to city rival Topeka West, hitting 8 of 15 shots from the floor and all five of his free throw attempts with a pair of 3-pointers.
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NOTE: Statistics for city girls basketball teams were compiled by Seaman girls coach Matt Tinsley. The following stats are the second of three statistical reports which will be released during the 2025-2026 season, capped by the season-ending stats. Topeka West statistics were not available.
Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton, Topeka High
SCORING
Name, school Gms. Pts. Avg
Rayton, Topeka High 13 307 23.6
Schmidtlein, Hayden 13 230 17.7
Emmot, Shawnee Heights 16 275 17.2
Caryl, Topeka High 10 152 15.2
Anderson, Washburn Rural 13 190 14.6
McGlory, Shawnee Heights 15 194 12.9
Gragg, Seaman 13 163 12.5
Marshall, Topeka High 14 158 11.3
Carter, Shawnee Heights 15 163 10.9
Kincade, Highland Park 13 137 10.5
Beaton, Seaman 11 114 10.4
Jones, Highland Park 13 134 10.3
Carlgren, Washburn Rural 14 143 10.2
Hirschi, Washburn Rural 14 130 9.3
Backman, CPLS 13 115 8.8
REBOUNDING
Name, school Gms. Total Avg.
Caryl, Topeka High 10 116 11.6
Walker, Washburn Rural 14 124 8.9
Gragg, Seaman 13 105 8.1
Schmidtlein, Hayden 13 92 7.1
Carter, Shawnee Heights 12 84 7.0
Jones, Highland Park 13 88 6.8
Dreher, Seaman 13 83 6.4
Vega, Shawnee Heights 13 74 5.7
Gotru, Topeka High 13 72 5.5
Anderson, Washburn Rural 13 71 5.5
Marshall, Topeka High 14 76 5.4
Watts, Hayden 13 70 5.4
Carlgren, Washburn Rural 14 74 5.3
Barnett, Highland Park 12 60 5.0
Walter, Hayden 13 60 4.6
Baum, Shawnee Heights 13 60 4.6
Hailey Caryl, Topeka High
ASSISTS
Name, school Gms. Total Avg.
Caryl, Topeka High 10 69 6.9
Jones, Highland Park 13 42 3.2
Beaton, Seaman 11 35 3.2
Gragg, Seaman 13 41 3.2
Marshall, Topeka High 14 42 4.0
Emmot, Shawnee Heights 13 35 2.7
Baum, Shawnee Heights 13 34 2.6
Foster, Hayden 13 30 2.3
Cosey, Highland Park 13 30 2.3
Anderson, Washburn Rural 13 29 2.2
Schmidtlein, Hayden 13 28 2.2
Vega, Shawnee Heights 13 28 2.2
Rayton, Topeka High 13 28 2.2
Rutherford, Washburn Rural 13 28 2.2
Watts, Hayden 13 26 2.0
Kincade, Highland Park 13 26 2.0
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior Jackson Mervosh is a top returner for Washburn, which opens its season this weekend in Florida. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn is coming off a fourth straight winning season in 2025, going 28-25 overall and 18-18 inside the MIAA. They finished seventh in the regular season and won two games in the MIAA Tournament before falling in the semifinal round.
They were picked to finish fifth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll for a second straight year.
Washburn will return 19 players from the 2025 roster with eight of them as seniors, four juniors and seven freshmen.
Washburn had nine players earn All-MIAA honors a season ago and will return a pair of them in 2026.
Jackson Mervosh returns to the Ichabod infield after earning All-MIAA second-team and All-Region honors last season.
As a junior he started in 52 games and played in all 53 hitting .356 with 77 total hits and 10 home runs. He set a program record with 24 doubles. He had eight games with three or more hits.
Jackson Mervosh has the 18th highest batting average in program history at .356. He is tied for 47th among all Ichabods with 24 doubles.
Mervosh led the MIAA and ranked fifth nationally last season with 24 doubles.
Caleb Lunnon returns for his senior season after earning All-MIAA third-team recognition last season.
In his first season with Washburn he appeared in 14 games making 12 starts and tossing 65.0 innings, second most on the team. He finished with a 5-1 record, a team-high in victories, with 51 strikeouts. Lunnon tossed five or more strikeouts in seven outings last season.
Washburn is adding 28 newcomers to the 2026 roster with nine freshmen and 19 transfers joining the team.
The group of transfers features a pair of seniors, 15 juniors, one sophomore and a redshirt freshman.
The transfer group includes Topeka natives Zach Sharshel, Maclane Finley and Scout Jellison, who are all pitchers.
Washburn's 47-man roster consists of players from eight different states. There are 21 players on the roster who are from Kansas.
In the 2026 MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll, the Ichabods were picked fifth, the same place they were picked to finish in the 2025 preseason poll as well.
Central Missouri was picked to repeat as the regular season champion, earning 12 of 13 first-place votes with 144 total points. Pittsburg State and Central Oklahoma are picked to finish second and third respectively.
Harley Douglas enters his 12th season at the helm of the Washburn baseball program.
In eleven full seasons, Douglas carries an all-time record of 284-242 with seven appearances in the MIAA Tournament and led the program to its first-ever NCAA Tournament in 2022.
Griffin Huiatt is tied for fifth in program history with seven career saves and is tied for seventh in Washburn history with 53 career appearances.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Kate Ediger is hitting a team-high .625 for 4-1 Washburn softball with six runs and five RBI. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]William Jewell will be opening its 2026 season this weekend.
Southeastern Oklahoma was 2-3 last weekend at the D2 First Pitch Invitational.
Brenda Holaday is 283-169 in her 10th season as the Ichabod softball coach and is the all-time winningest coach in program history.
Holaday coached 19 seasons at Washburn Rural, compiling a 351-93 (.791) record.
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By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Seaman girls basketball had a chance to beat Spring Hill or at least force overtime in the final seconds Wednesday night at home, but the Broncos held off the Vikings in a low scoring affair, 34-32.
The Vikings started off slow and couldn’t get the ball to roll in their favor and Spring Hill doubled senior Maddie Gragg any time they could. And, the Vikings had a hard time taking care of the ball early in the game.
Missed free throws were a key factor, too, but Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said basketball is a game that always has different swings.
“I told the girls against Topeka High that 95 percent of the game you don’t have the ball in your hand so what can you do during that time to make an impact, doing those little things and for this game, one possession here and there changes that game,” Tinsley said.
Audrey Meder for Spring Hill scored the first six points after knocking down two from distance. Gragg got her team its first points off a free throw, making one of two but then would score the Vikings first bucket with three minutes left in the first quarter.
Gragg scored five of the seven points in the quarter and Seaman trailed Spring Hill, 13-7.
Seaman had a hard time stopping the three from the Broncos as they made them at will. They went up 16-7, forcing Tinsley into a timeout at the 6:11 mark. The lead grew to 21-9 for Spring Hill but Seaman scored four straight which then made the Broncos call a timeout after a Brynn Spencer bucket in transition.
Meder kept up her hot shooting night with another three, making it 24-13 and that’s where the score held at halftime.
The Vikes started hot in the third quarter on a 9-0 run after Gragg and Cara Beaton both hit triples as Spring Hill would call a timeout in a 24-21 game. It got down to a one point game after a basket from freshman Baylee Ayres.
That’s something Tinsley said, they’ve been a third quarter team but can’t figure it out quite yet.
“That’s been our story this year. We don’t get a rebound here, we have a turnover here, we go on a run that puts us back a couple of points and we’re there at the end,'' Tinsley said. "Our third quarters have been great … we competed tonight more than we did on Tuesday.
"If we see a couple of more shots go in, it’s a different ball game. If we hit a couple of more free throws, it’s a different ball game. I’m just proud of their effort however.''
The Broncos would hit a three right after that to stop the bleeding a little bit and go up four. Spring Hill would head into the fourth quarter up 27-25.
It was a slow moving fourth quarter as both teams missed shots and turned the ball over.
Towards the end, Gragg hit another from downtown, making it 31-30 Spring Hill with 2:35 left in the game but Isla Herman knocked down a three to put the Broncos back up four.
Dreher would get fouled down low, made the bucket but failed to convert the and-one, leaving the Broncos still down two, 34-32.
Seaman had an opportunity to take the lead before the horn sounded but Gragg missed a triple, Beaton saved it from going out of bounds, landed in the hands of Spencer but came up just short to force overtime on a jumper from the second hash mark.
“Everyone is stepping up in their own way,'' Tinsley said. "We’re getting down to crunch time and we’re going to need everyone to be locked in. We’re in a good spot right now and we have to get back on Friday.''
SPRING HILL GIRLS 34, SEAMAN
Spring Hill 13 11 3 7 – 34
Seaman 7 6 12 7 – 32
Spring Hill (10-5) -- Meder 4 0-0 11, McConnell 1 0-0 3, Herrman 2 0-0 6, Herman 5 0-0 12, Harris 1 0-0 2.
Seaman (8-7) – Dreher 1 0-1 2, Spencer 1 0-0 2, Beaton 4 2-2 11, Ayres 2 0-0 4, Gragg 5 1-6 13.
3-point goals -- Spring Hill 8 (Meder 3, Herman 2, Herrman 2, McConnell), Seaman 3 (Gragg 2, Beaton). Total fouls -- Spring Hill 9, Seaman 9 . Fouled out -- none.
