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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn senior Yibari Nwidadah recorded a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds in Thursday's loss to Missouri Western, Nwidadah's second straight double-double. [File photo/TSN]Washburn, now 10-4 overall and 3-2 in the MIAA, had its four-game winning streak snapped in Wednesday's 75-67 road loss to Missouri Western, while Northwest Missouri, which has dropped three straight games, is 9-6 overall and 2-3 in the MIAA after a 66-61 loss to Central Missouri.
Senior Yibari Nwidadah, who had 23 points and 13 rebounds against the Griffons, averages a team-high 13.4 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Ichabods while shooting 58.5 percent from the floor, which also leads the team.
With 266 career offensive rebounds Nwidadah ranks third in program history and ranks eighth in overall rebounding with 718 career boards. Nwidadah's career field goal percentage of .581 is the second best in program history and she is 13th in school history with 1,166 career points and 11th in program history with 69 career blocked shots.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
FRIDAY'S GAMES
Connor Hanika, Hayden
HAYDEN (3-6, 0-1) at WASHBURN RURAL (6-2, 1-0)
Washburn Rural opened defense of its Centennial League championship Tuesday with a 50-45 road win over Junction City, imporoving to 6-2 on the season. Senior Kieffer O'Connor led the Junior Blues with 16 points while senior Simon Rowley added 11. Hayden will be looking to bounce back from a heartbreaking 59-56 home Centennial League loss to Emporia. Senior Connor Hanika scored a game-high 22 points for the Wildcats while junior Carter Compton added 12 points.
Bryson McComas, Topeka High
MANHATTAN (6-1, 0-0) at TOPEKA HIGH (4-3, 0-0)
Topeka High climbed above the .500 level with a 66-65 nailbiter on the road Tuesday night at Lawrence. Friday's game will be the Centennial League opener for both Topeka High and Manhattan. The Indians are coming off a 62-59 overtime win over Hays, stretching its winning streak to six games.
ATCHISON (8-0, 3-0) at HIGHLAND PARK (2-4, 2-0)
Atchison and Highland Park will square off in a game that could go a long ways to deciding the Meadowlark Conference championship. The Scots improved to 2-0 in league play with a 60-32 home win over Kansas City-Schlagle Tuesday night as junior JoJo Kingcannon scored 21 points, going 8 of 11 from the floor with three 3-pointers. Atchison is coming off an 87-32 Meadowlark win over KC-Wyandotte.
LEAVENWORTH (2-4, 1-3) at SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (3-4, 2-3)
Shawnee Heights will be looking to bounce back from a tough 51-50 United Kansas Conference home loss to De Soto Tuesday night. Junior Cam Ross led the T-Birds with 12 points. Leavenworth is coming off a 74-47 UKC home loss to Topeka West on Tuesday.
Dayne Johnson, Silver Lake
HOLTON (1-7, 1-5) at SILVER LAKE (6-2, 4-0)
Silver Lake posted a 73-61 Big East League victory at St. Marys on Tuesday while Holton picked up its first win of the season, a 57-53 league decision over Riley County. Holton is coached by former Topeka West assistant coach Marco Hunter. Silver Lake is ranked No. 6 in Class 3A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
FRIDAY'S GAMES
HAYDEN (7-2, 1-0 Centennial) at WASHBURN RURAL (5-2, 1-0 Centennial)
Both defending champion Hayden and perennial Class 6A contender Washburn Rural won their Centennial League openers on Tuesday. The Wildcats took a 53-37 home win over Emporia as sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein scored 14 points and sophomore Blakely Walter 10. The Junior Blues went on the road to beat Junction City, 68-32. Hayden is ranked No. 7 in Class 4A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association and Rural is No. 10 in 6A. Washburn Rural will be playing its third game of the week, dropping a 50-35 non-league decision to Olathe North on Monday.
Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton, Topeka High
MANHATTAN (5-2, 0-0 Centennial) at TOPEKA HIGH (3-4, 0-0 Centennial)
Topeka High picked up its third straight win on Tuesday, taking a 65-41 non-league road win at Lawrence as junior Ahysieyrhuajh Rayton scored 29 points, senior Keimara Marshall 15 and senior Trish Short 13. High sophomore Hailey Caryl contributed 8 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists against the Lions. Manhattan is coming off its second loss of the season, dropping a 58-45 non-league decision to Hays.
ATCHISON (3-6, 3-0 Meadowlark) at HIGHLAND PARK (2-4, 1-1 Meadowlark)
Highland Park picked up a Meadowlark Conference forfeit win over Kansas City-Schlagle on Tuesday while Atchison edged KC-Wyandotte in a conference contest, 42-41. Highland Park played Wyandotte earlier in the season, with the Bulldogs taking a 68-52 victory over the Scots.
Pearmella Carter, Shawnee Heights
LEAVENWORTH (4-2, 1-2 UKC) at SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (5-3, 4-1 UKC)
Shawnee Heights stretched its winning streak to four games on Tuesday, with the T-Birds taking a 64-46 home United Kansas Conference win over De Soto. Junior Pearmella Carter led Heights with 19 points while juniors Sami Baum and Imani McGlory scoring 15 and 13 points, respectively. Leavenworth is coming off a 49-35 home UKC win over Topeka West.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman senior star KaeVon Bonner reached the 1,000-point milestone for his career Wednesday night, leading the No. 5 ranked Vikings to a 60-57 non-league road win at St. James Academy.
Seaman senior KaeVon Bonner scored a game-high 27 points in Wednesday's 60-57 Viking win at St. James Academy, reaching the 1,000-point career scoring milestone. [File photo/TSN]
Bonner, a four-year starters and multi-time TopSports.news All-City and All-United Kansas Conference first-team pick, scored a game-high 27 points as Seaman improved to 5-1 on the season while making its 2026 debut.
The Vikings jumped out to a 17-10 first-quarter lead over the Thunder (5-2) and led 32-26 at the half.
Seaman used a 16-11 third quarter to boost its advantage to 48-37 and held on for the win despite St. James' 20-12 scoring edge over the final eight minutes.
Seniors Griffin Zuniga and Landon Wiltz added 12 and 11 points for the Vikings, who posted their third straight victory.
Grady Ogden scored 20 points and Emmitt Peters 16 for St. James.
Seaman will be back on the road Friday, traveling to Lansing for a United Kansas Conference matchup.
Thunder snaps Lady Vikes' winning streak
St. James Academy dominated the final three quarters of Wednesday's home non-league contest against No. 9-ranked Seaman, rolling to a 54-33 victory while snapping the Vikings' four-game win streak.
Seaman, now 4-2 on the season, led 15-11 at the end of the first quarter, but St. James used a 9-1 second quarter to take a 20-16 halftime advantage.
The Thunder then took control with a 20-9 third-quarter scoring edge and closed out the win with a 14-8 fourth quarter, improving to 5-3 on the season.
Seaman will return to UKC play on Friday, traveling to Lansing.
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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Sometimes talent isn’t as important as chemistry. Shawnee Heights girls basketball coach Bob Wells could see his team had talent. But he had to wonder about the chemistry when Heights added three newcomers this winter who were most likely to start and play big roles for the T-Birds.
Pearmella Carter, Shawnee Heights
Imani McGlory, Shawnee Heights
Sami Baum, Shawnee Heights
The T-Birds made a run at the Class 5A State Tournament last season that came up just short, a loss to Piper in the sub-state finals. Wells wanted to build on that success, which was spearheaded by then-sophomore guard KK Emmot.
Emmot returned, as did versatile forward Reianna Vega, but the T-Birds lost Kaydence Torrez to graduation and Tayler Hanshaw, a current senior who is out with an injury, in addition to a couple of other key graduates. Wells would need to find athleticism, size, scoring and leadership if the T-Birds were to continue their run of success.
Into the gym this November walked three new players who brought those qualities, plus experience. An added benefit was that the three were a known commodity. For the most part, they knew each other and the returning T-Birds knew them.
Joining the T-Birds were senior Imani McGlory, a sharpshooting transfer from Topeka West, junior Pearmela Carter, a skilled scorer from Highland Park, and junior Sami Baum, a long wing who played for the NEK homeschool team.
Wells liked what he saw, but couldn’t be sure how well the group would work together.
“Without a doubt I wondered, ‘How are they going to jell together?’” Wells said after Tuesday’s 64-46 T-Bird win over De Soto. “They all knew each other when they were young kids, but that was when they were playing ‘bitty ball.’ Now they’re playing high-speed ball.”
Wells said after the T-Birds’first home game that the new T-Birds faced a tough learning curve but were growing. He said the team’s returners were helping to smooth the transition.
One month later – in its eighth game of the season – the new crew was called upon to step up under adversity. Facing De Soto Tuesday, Emmot was sent to the bench with early fouls. Averaging 18 points per game for the season, the junior spent much of the night on the sideline and managed just two points in the game. Someone would have to take up the slack.
The pressure was on the trio of newcomers, and they rose to the occassion. Carter, a powerful forward with a soft touch around the goal, scored 19 to lead the T-Birds. Baum knocked down three 3-pointers and finished with 15 points. McGlory tossed in 14. The trio hit 16-29 shots from the field and 11-13 from the line.
The result was the T-Birds' fourth straight win as Heights improved to 5-3 on the season.
“We needed them to step up, and they did it within the execution of the team,” Wells said. “That’s what I was most impressed with. They were getting the shots we want them to get. It was really fun seeing them all step up and hit shots and rebound and play solid on defense.”
Was it the natural progression of players becoming more comfortable in the system that caused the trio to bloom Tuesday, or was it the absence of their scoring leader?
“It was probably a little bit of both,” Wells said. “They realized KK was not (in the game), I’ve got to step up a little bit here, and they did. And now they know they can do it.
“We’ve had so many games and so little practice time where they can get out there and really work together and start to feel like they know what’s going on. They’re starting to play without thinking instead of having to think about what they’re doing out there.”
Vega said familiarity with the new girls was key. Once they were in the program, it was a matter of embracing roles.
“We had seen them come from different places and we know what they are best at,” said Vega, who scored 13 points against De Soto. “So, we just fit them into the roster and let them do what they had to do. If they didn’t get it right, we explained to them how we do certain things. Eventually we were all on the same page and we are all learning together now at this point.”
Carter came to the T-Birds with the most familiarity. She knew both McGlory and Baum, who didn’t know each other. She also was friends with most of the returning T-Birds. Carter had shouldered a heavy load at Highland Park as a sophomore, serving as the Scots’ primary scoring option.
“I actually like (my role here) because the whole team is playing together and the whole team is scoring,” Carter said. “It’s like a group effort. Everybody’s cheering for each other, not getting jealous of each other. I went to Shawnee Heights Middle School, so it’s kind of like playing with old friends.”
