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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.
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Class 5A No. 2-ranked Topeka West hosted crosstown rival Highland Park on Wednesday night, seeking a regular-season sweep after dropping two games to the Scots last season.
Senior Malakyah Duncan led Topeka West with 19 points Wednesday as all five Charger starters cracked double figures in West's 84-60 win over Highland Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
And the Chargers delivered in convincing fashion, taking an 84-60 win to improve to 14-2 on the season.
After West trailed 5-2 early, senior Keimani Paul would score five straight points to put his team up 7-5 and the Chargers would go on a 12-0 run to stretch the lead to 19-5 before ending the first quarter with a commanding 26-11 lead.
Paul scored 10 of his 14 points in the first quarter while West senior Gad Munganga would score the first basket of the second quarter and the eighth point of his 16 total on the night.
“Gad is never afraid of the big moment,'' Topek West coach Christian Ulsaker said. "I think he's kind of developed that over the past year with just tons of reps and shots in the gym in the summer. And that's what it takes to become a great shooter, just repetition after repetition.”
Highland Park junior JoJo Kingcannon would get to the basket for the Scots, but they would keep chasing the Chargers, who would turn to their size with 6-foot-4 senior Malakyah Duncan and 6-6 junior Prince Lassiter.
West would start to feed Lassiter but the Scots would crash on Lassiter and force him to pass it out to others.
“I told them just keep on attacking in terms of slashing to the rim,'' Ulsaker said. "When Prince gets it, if they do double, he'll be able to find you either when you relocate for 3 or when you slash backside, cut back door to get an easy bucket from Prince.”
The Scots would hold Lassiter to only seven points at halftime, but West would take a commanding 52-29 lead into the locker room.
Paul would drive to the basket at the start of the third and pick up the and-one for an old fashioned three-point play. Kingcannon would try to get the Scots back in it as he would hit back to back 3-pointers and go on a 10-1 run by himself to make it 56-38.
But that would be the Scots' last gasp of air as the Chargers would just start to pound it inside and force contact with the Scots to get fouls and get to the free throw line.
Lassiter would score six in the third quarter, helping Topeka West push the lead to 70-47 going into the fourth quarter.
Ulsaker would pull his starters and let his backups get some minutes in the fourth as they would pull out the 24-point rivalry win.
“It was good to get the monkey off our back,'' Ulsaker said. "I don't think our boys had ever beat Park yet, so it was just another milestone for them. The first one was they beat Shawnee Heights at Shawnee Heights for the first time in their career and the same thing now as beating Highland Park for the first time in their career.
"Whenever you beat a storied program like Highland Park, It's always a monumental thing.”
Duncan led Topeka West with 19 points as all five Charger starters cracked double figures.
Highland Park junior JoJo Kingcannon led all scorers with 23 points in Wednesday's 84-60 loss to Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Scots got another huge night from Kingcannon, who would lead all scorers with 23.
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
City and USD 501 girls basketball rivals Topeka West and Highland Park faced off again Wednesday night in a rematch from Dec. 3rd when Topeka West took a 23-point win at Highland Park.
The Chargers finished off the regular-season sweep over the Scots with a 65-33 romp on West's home court.
Senior Addaline Hall scored a game-high 15 points in Topeka West's 65-33 win over Highland Park Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Chargers were coming off a seventh-place Glaciers Edge finish in Emporia over the past weekend by defeating Shawnee Mission West 57-54 in overtime and the Lady Scots were coming off a 50-31 win over Kansas City-Washington on Tuesday.
With both teams entering the game off wins 6-foot junior Sydney VanDyke stole the show for the Lady Chargers as she would use her length to turn the game into a block party down low all night long.
VanDyke would get the first basket of the night before the Scots' Zayah Kincade would hit two shots at the free throw line to tie it up at 2-2 before VanDyke would score again to give her team the early 4-2 lead.
Kincade tied things back up at 4 before Charger Patience Allen hit the first of her two 3s to make it 7-4.
Highland Park would go on a 9-0 run with Kincade scoring five more points during the run as the Scots would end the first quarter with a13-9 advantage.
The Scots would start the second quarter with nine quick points to stretch the lead to 22-15, but the Chargers would tighten up and go on a 9-2 run to force a tie at halftime, 26-26.
“We kind of challenged them to come out the second half and put it together and they did, they worked hard and earned it,” Topeka West coach Angie Ketterman said.
The Lady Scots would come out of the locker room ice cold as West, led by VanDyke, would out-score the Scots 25-2 with VanDyke scoring nine more points in the third quarter.
“We have been like that all season where we play better in the second half of games then we do in the first half,” VanDyke said.
Topeka West would end the third quarter with a commanding lead of 51-28. The fourth quarter would see Highland Park try to come up with an answer, but the Lady Chargers would lock the Scots down and out-score them 14-5 in the fourth to finish the season sweep with the 32-point victory.
Senior Addaline Hall led Topeka West with a game-high 15 points while Allen had 14 points and VanDyke 13.
The Scots would be led in scoring by Kincade with 12.
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By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
No. 7 ranked (Class 5A) Seaman boys basketball has now won five of its last six games, moving to 13-3 on the year Wednesday night with a 62-51 home victory over Spring Hill.
Senior KaeVon Bonner led a balanced Seaman attack with 16 points in Wednesday's 62-51 home win over Spring Hill. [File photo/TSN]
“I thought defensively we were really good because they have some quality players that are capable of scoring points and we did a really good job on making everything (difficult) for them,” Seaman coach Craig Cox said. “Then in the second half I thought offensively we had a nice rhythm and flow to help us build that lead in the fourth quarter.”
“I thought it was good from everyone,” said senior Cameron Brian, who had 13 points. “Griffin (Zuniga) was really good on the boards, Landon (Wiltz) does what he always does and gets those corner 3s for us which we use on momentum, KaVeon did a great job facilitating the offense and helping find the open guys and that helped with our success.”
The Vikings built a 6-3 lead in the early going which was pushed to 8-3 after a put-back bucket from senior Matthew McConnaughey. Spring Hill hit a triple to bring it to 8-6 but senior Wiltz followed it up with one of his own, making it 11-6 and Seaman took the 13-7 lead into the second quarter.
Brian would help halt a mini-5-0 run from the Broncos with a three as the Vikings led 16-11 and eventually got their biggest lead of the game, 23-15. Spring Hill and Seaman went cold for a little bit and turned the ball over but Seaman took an eight-point lead into the break, 25-17.
The Vikes would build a 12 point lead in the third quarter after a couple of quick buckets, but Spring Hill went on a 12-4 run, cutting its deficit to just four.
But after that Seaman regained control for good. After Bonner and Wiltz scored five points combined, they led by 10, 42-32 heading into the fourth.
“I thought Matthew McConnaughey contributed on the boards, especially in the first half, and Cameron (Brian) picked up in the second half, which was big for us. He’s a linebacker. He’s got a linebacker mentality. He plays strong and we need that. We need him to be strong going to the boards… that definitely helped limit their second-chance opportunities,” Cox said.
In the fourth stanza, Seaman kept extending its lead. Brian and Wiltz hit one three apiece to put the Vikings up 49-34 and then Wiltz would convert an and-one making it 52-36 with 5:35 remaining in the game.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Playing without injured senior starters John Hoytal and Simon Rowley, Washburn Rural boys basketball came within 4.2 seconds of pulling off an upset victory over No. 6-ranked Blue Valley Wednesday night, with the Tigers escaping with a 55-54 road win over the Junior Blues on Brendan Walsh's game-winning 3-pointer.
Sophomore Brooks Ballard scored a game-high 22 points with five 3-pointers in Washburn Rural's 55-54 loss to Blue Valley. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
"I'm proud of our guys,'' Washburn Rural coach Alex Hutchins said. "I'm proud of the way we fought and proud of the way we played. It just comes down to a couple of possessions here and there at the end, just a little bit of execution.
"I thought we played really, really smart and really sound to the scout until about the last two minutes of the game.''
The short-handed Junior Blues led for much of the night in a game that was close throughout as sophomore Brooks Ballard powered 9-6 Rural with a game-high 22 points and five 3-pointers, but Walsh, a junior, scored the Tigers' final seven points as Blue Valley improved to 11-5.
"When the other team's got the best player in the gym, you try to make other people make plays and we let their best player score their last seven points,'' Hutchins said. "We've got to be smarter than that. We've got to make someone else do it.''
Blue Valley led 13-11 at the end of the opening quarter, but Ballard scored the final five points of the first half to give the Junior Blues a 27-21 at the break.
Rural went up by eight points (29-21) on a bucket by junior Cooper Schmidt to open the second half, but Blue Valley battled back to tie the game at 38-38 entering the fourth quarter.
There were two ties and three lead changes the rest of the way, including four straight points by Ballard to give Rural a 54-52 advantage with 11.6 seconds left before Walsh struck the final blow for the Tigers.
Washburn Rural junior Cooper Scmidt scored eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 55-54 loss to Blue Valley. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Ballard was the lone Junior Blue in double figures while 6-foot-10 Schmidt scored eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
