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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.
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
The semifinal round of the Class 5A sub-state playoffs began Tuesday night as the Seaman Vikings hosted the Valley Center Hornets.
Senior Griffin Zuniga tied for game-high scoring honors with 19 points in Seaman's 73-51 sub-state win over Valley Center. [File photo/TSN]
Senior KaeVon Bonner tied for game-high scoring honors with 19 points in Seaman's 73-51 sub-state win over Valley Center. [File photo/TSN]
Tuesday's game was a rematch from the semifinals of sub-state last season when the Hornets upset the Vikings 68-61 in overtime. Tuesday's first half may have been a reminder of last year’s contest, but Seaman dominated the second half and won the game, 73-51.
The game began with a personal 5-0 run by Seaman senior Matthew McConnaughey over the first two minutes before Valley Center finally scored with a 3-pointer by junior Evan Chavez. Seaman had a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 12-3.
The teams played even for the remainder of the quarter and senior KaeVon Bonner hit a buzzer beating layup to give the Vikings a 23-15 at the end of one quarter.
As the second quarter began, the Hornets responded with a 9-2 run of their own with three 3-pointers, cutting the Vikings' lead to 25-24. Seaman seniors Bonner and Griffin Zuniga scored baskets to extend the Viking lead to 29-24, but Valley Center battled back to trail by only two at the half, 35-33.
The Hornets stayed close in the first half by hitting 7-14 from the 3-point line.
“When a guy hits a three, you have to adjust. When he hits two threes, you have to make a big adjustment and we weren’t doing that,'' Cox said. "We were sitting back, daring them to shoot and they kept making them.”
Another aspect of the close game at the half was the outcome of last year’s game creeping into the minds of the Vikings.
“We came in with a chip on our shoulder and had to come out with a good mindset and energy,” Zuniga said.
Bonner also referenced last year’s outcome.
“We lost to them in the same exact spot and I had been zero for three in sub-state, but it was nice to get this first win,” Bonner said.
“We came into that game last year with a false sense of security after beating them in the mid-season tournament,'' Cox said. "They played a really good game and beat us, so I reminded our guys about their team this year, how pesky they were and how close they’ve played against tough 6A schools like Wichita Heights and Maize.”
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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
For three quarters Tuesday night, Shawnee Heights' boys flirted with a semifinal collapse until a freshman put the T-Birds on his back and ensured they would survive their home sub-state match with De Soto, 49-37.
When his team needed someone to step up, freshman Quincy Dixon ripped off 13-straight points to make sure that Shawnee Heights, and retiring coach Ken Darting, would play again Friday.
Shawnee Heights freshman Quincy Dixon scored a game-high 19 points in Tuesday's 49-37 sub-state win over De Soto. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
With Shawnee Heights clinging to a 33-31 lead, Dixon converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 5.4 seconds left in the third period. The freshman continued that theme, scoring two more three-point plays in the fourth quarter. Then Dixon hit four consecutive free throws to seal the win. Dixon hit 7-7 free throws on the night while the rest of the team hit just 6-14.
“From Day 1, Quincy’s been a senior-plus,” Darting said. “He’s the guy that takes over when nobody’s scoring. If he doesn’t have to score, he’ll distribute. He’s a mature basketball player.”
“Whatever my team needs me to be, I’ll be,” Dixon said. “If I need to be the leader, if I need to pick guys up, or if I need to follow the seniors, or if I need to lead the seniors, I’ll do whatever for my team to win.”
The fourth-seeded T-Birds got all they wanted from the 13 seed. Shawnee Heights came out sluggish, shot poorly and turned the ball over often in the first half. The home team trailed 14-10 after one period and 25-21 at the half. In the first half, Shawnee Heights hit just 8-23 attempts while allowing the Wildcats to shoot 10-17 from the field.
“In practice and in every other game, we always talk about adversity and how we’re going to bounce back, don’t let it get in our heads,” Dixon said. “Tonight, we had adversity, we bounced back. We just played together, we all stepped up and I think we all did our part.”
The T-Birds locked in at the defensive end, holding De Soto to just six points in the third period, and just six more in the fourth. That allowed Dixon’s 13-point spree to turn the tables.
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By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural girls basketball is off to a Class 6A sub-state final after taking down Wichita South, 60-32, at home Tuesday night.
Junior Maddie Vickery scored a game-high 18 points in Tuesday's 60-32 Washburn Rural sub-state win over Wichita South. [File photo/TSN]
The Titans only had seven players suited up for Tuesday's game and Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick wasn’t shy in giving them praise.
“We were hoping we could wear them down, but I was impressed with the energy and stamina those girls had, I thought they played hard all the way through,” Bordewick said. “I thought our defense wasn’t as intense as it needed to be, I don't think at the start. We weren’t in a good offensive flow, but then once we got a couple of boards we ran some fastbreak, and I thought our offense looked a lot smoother.
"We talked about that at halftime that we’re more seamless in transition. We had a lot of good interior touches and that definitely opens up our outside shooting.''
Wichita South jumped out to a 5-1 lead to begin but Rural climbed back to tie it at five as senior Hallie Walker scored the first five for Rural.
Wichita South kept pace, leading 8-7, but that would be the last lead the Titans would have.
Rural freshman Brynn Anderson nailed two 3-pointers and Kansas State commit Maddie Vickery put home a jumper as the Junior Blues' advantage grew to five (14-9). The Junior Blues led 18-13 after one quarter.
In the second quarter senior Josie Carlgren scored the first five points to push the Rural lead to 10 (23-13), and then Vickery went on a scoring run of her own, helping Washburn Rural to its biggest lead of the game (33-16) after two free throws. The Junior Blues took a 35-18 lead into the break.
It was a slow moving third quarter to begin with, but the Junior Blues kept building its lead, as Rural freshman Kamryn Smith scored four of the first six points in the quarter. Vickery had an and-one opportunity, missed the free throw but Walker cleaned up the miss and kissed it off the glass for two, making it 45-22. Walker ended the night with 15 points.
Anderson continued her solid performance, converting an and-one and then capped off the quarter with a trey in the corner before the buzzer, pushing the Rural lead to 56-28. She finished with 13.
Eight different players scored in the game.
“We’ve been really aware of getting paint touches and Hallie has really come along a lot, especially the second half of the season about finishing plays on the inside,'' Bordewick said. "Just getting Maddie back is another dimension that adds an inside-out, Brynn is an inside-out and we left quite a few points on the floor by not finishing free throws, layups or two foot shots.
"Ella (Hirschi) and Josie are good shooters and they didn’t get enough to get going but when they do, we can be a pretty potent offense.''
Washburn Rural only needed two more points for the running clock in the fourth quarter and got it with two free throws (58-28) at the 6:33 mark from Vickery, who finished with a game-high 18 points as the Junior Blues went on to improve to 16-8.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
MIAA regular-season champion Washburn University earned seven awards from the conference coaches Tuesday, including the Defensive Player of the Year, the MIAA Coach of the Year, two first-team All-MIAA selections, a third-team All-MIAA pick, an MIAA honorable mention selection and an MIAA All-Defensive team pick.
Junior guard Jack Bachelor was named first-team All-MIAA along with sophomore forward Dillon Claussen. Junior guard Jeremiah Jones was honored three times, being named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year, a member of the MIAA All-Defensive Team and a third-team All-MIAA selection.
Earning honorable mention All-MIAA honors was senior guard Bryson Smith and Ichabod coach Brett Ballard was named the MIAA Coach of the Year for the second straight season in a row.
Jack Bachelor, WashJburn University
Bachelor is a repeat first-team selection, averaging 15.1 points with 127 assists (4.4 per game). He is 19th in the nation in assist to turnover ratio and 31st in the nation in 3-pointers made with 79.
Dillon Claussen, Washburn University
Claussen leads the Ichabods in scoring at 15.4 points per game and averages a team-high 6.2 rebounds with 43 total blocks. He is 12th in the nation in field goal percentage at 61.5 percent.
Jeremiah Jones, Washburn University
The Ichabods recorded their second straight MIAA Defensive Player of the Year as Jones joins Jacob Hanna from last season.
Jones leads the nation in steals with 87 and his 3.00 steals per game is third overall. Jones also averages 9.6 points with 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
Bryson Smith, Washburn University
Smith has averaged 11.3 points with 2.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists this season through 29 games. In his lone season as an Ichabod, Smith scored a career-high 26 points against Rogers State on Feb. 21 earlier this season.
Brett Ballard, Washburn University
Ballard repeated as the MIAA Coach of the Year after leading the Ichabods to a second consecutive MIAA regular season title after going 18-1 in MIAA play and 28-1 overall.
For the second season in a row the Ichabods won their first 22 games of the season and were ranked No. 1 in the nation for six weeks and currently ranked No. 3.
Last season, Ballard led the Ichabods to a 30-4 overall record with the 2025 NCAA Central Regional title and an appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time since 2001.
Former Seaman star Ty Henry, a junior at Missouri Western, was named to the All-MIAA third team.
The Ichabods will open the MIAA Championship Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. on Thursday night at 6 p.m.
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