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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Just a year ago the Wildcats were in Class 3A and entered the postseason 5-13.
What a difference a year makes and the Wildcats, led by first-year coach Dwayne Anthony entered the postseason in Class 4A with a 13-8 record and ranked No. 7 in the last Kansas Basketball Coaches Association poll.
Senior Jacob Deister (4) led Hayden with 15 points in Tuesday's 93-59 Class 4A sub-state win over Independence. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden would end up drawing the Bulldogs of Independence, who would enter the game with a 9-11 record and led by 5-foot-10 sophomore Javen Colbert. Javen's mom is from Topeka so he was able to play in front of a lot of friends and family and would score 14 points on the night.
"It was very special to be able to play in Topeka tonight because all my family is from here, and I am glad I was able to represent for them just wish the game would of gone a different way,'' Colbert said.
The Wildcats would get off to a 6-0 run to start the game and take off from there as they would stretch that into a 22-10 lead midway thru the first quarter and take a commanding 32-19 lead to end the first quarter.
The Wildcats would start the second quarter with a 12-0 run that would put them up 47-19 as the Wildcats would use their length and speed to go into halftime up 54-29.
The Wildcats would be led by senior Jacob Deister, who would have 13 of his game-high 15 points at halftime.
The Wildcats would roll from there and out-score the Dawgs 39-29 the rest of the game to take a 93-59 semifinal win.
Hayden would get double-digit nights from four athletes as Deister would lead the way with 15 points, followed by Mason Becker’s 14, Connor Hanika’s 13 and Cooper Zweisler with 11 points.
The Wildcats were hot from 3-point range all night as they would shoot 9-17 from outside the arc.
"We came out really hot and our press really got the momentum going for us,'' Hanika said. "We still have a few adjustments to make to get ready for Rock Creek, including watching lots of film before Friday.”
"I really applaud the boys' passion and attention to detail and our energy and effort,'' Anthony said. "We are really, really a strong team when they bring those things. Now we just need to get back to it and watch film on Rock Creek and get ready for Friday.
"I am blessed, I have a team full of leaders, not just Mason, Connor and Jacob, but the senior class alone, each and every one of them is solid individuals and it is the reason that these guys have experienced success so far.''
The Wildcats now turn their attention to the No. 2 team on the East side of sub-state in Rock Creek, which advanced with a 59-39 win over Tonganoxie.
The game will be Friday night at Rock Creek with a game time of 7p.m. The winner will punch their ticket to the Class 4A state tournament next week in Salina.
HAYDEN BOYS 93, INDEPENDENCE 59
Independence 19 10 7 23 — 59
Hayden 32 22 22 17 — 93
Independence (9-12) — Smith 5-12 2-4 15, Colbert 4-11 4-6 14, Lanning 2-7 2-2 7, Veile 1-2 3-6 5, Bunyard 2-3 0-0 4, Sprague 3-3 1-2 7, Small 2-2 0-0 6, Sanders 0-0 1-1 1. Totals 19-40 13-21 59.
Hayden (13-8) — Deister 7-12 0-0 15, Becker 5-8 1-2 14, Hanika 6-9 1-2 13, Mitchell 2-4 0-0 4, Kuta 2-3 0-2 4, Zweisler 4-7 1-1 11, Compton 3-6 2-2 10, Tourtillot 4-6 0-2 9, Banks 3-5 0-0 6, Heinen 2-4 1-1 5, Wolff 1-2 0-0 2, Power 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 39-67 6-12 93.
3-point goals — Indy 8 (Smith 3, Colbert 2, Small 2, Lanning) Hayden 9 (Becker 3, Zweisler 2, Compton 2, Tourtillot, Deister). Total Fouls — Indy 10, Hayden 18.
Highland Park girls roll to 59-11 5A sub-state win
No. 3 Class 5A East girls seed Highland Park opened its sub-state bid with a 59-11 home semifinal win over Meadowlark Conference rival Kansas City-Washington Tuesday night.
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BY RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- Seaman's girls bowling team was shooting a lot higher in Wednesday's Class 5A state tournament at Bowlero Northrock, but the Vikings still took home a team trophy, finishing third to lead the city 5A state contingent.
Seaman's girls bowling team poses for a picture with the Class 5A third-place team trophy Wednesday in Wichita. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Led by state medalist Claire LaDuke, the Vikings finished with a team score of 2,844, finishing behind team champion Bishop Carroll (2,987) and runnerup Maize South (2,958).
"We had great high hopes,'' Seaman coach Bob Benoit said. "They just bowled so good all year and won by so much, winning the regionals by 514 pins. We have two juniors, two sophomores and two freshman and this was so nerve-wracking. The first game we had one girl crying, the second game we had four crying.''
Benoit said the Vikings' inability to pick up spares was the difference between a possible run at a state title and Wednesday's third-place finish.
"Our spare-shooting today killed us,'' Benoit said. "If we make our spares like we have all year, we probably have a chance of being first or second. So it was just execution. I know the nerves were there and things started to fall apart. They were trying to make things happen, but tried in the wrong way.
"The girls were really disappointed and I told them, 'I hope this is enough of a punch in the gut for you to understand what I've told all of you. Spare are more important than strikes.' We gave away over 200 pins today in spares. ''
Benoit said the young Vikings will use the offseason to get ready for the 2026 season.
"We'll regroup this summer and we'll get back here next year,'' Benoit said. "It's a good learning experience and we'll figure it out and be back next year.''
Claire LaDuke (right) finished eighth individually with a 582 series, helping lead Seaman to a third-place team finish in Class 5A. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
LaDuke rolled a 582 series with a 214 high game to finish eighth individually while the Vikings also got a 22nd-place finish from Leah Crawford (532), a 29th from Kayla Duncan (514), a 37th from Paige Snyder (492), a 45th from Ava Carlson (467) and a 48th from Laci Cole (459).
Shawnee Heights finished sixth as a team with a 2,753 score while the T-Birds had a pair of state medalists.
Shawnee Heights' Addison Van Metre earned a Class 5A state medal with a 15th-place individual finish Wednesday in Wichita. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Shawnee Heights' Jasmine Villalobos earned a Class 5A state medal with a 16th-place individual finish. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Heights' Addison Van Metre finished 15th individually with a 559 series while teammate Jasmine Villalobos was a pin behind with a 558 series to finish 16th.
Shawnee Heights' boys came up short in their bid to win a second straight team championship, finishing fifth with a 3,340 team score.
Shawnee Heights' Kaden Evans placed ninth in the Class 5A boys state tournament with a 676 series, including a 279 game. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Kaden Evans led the T-Birds with a ninth-place individual finish, bowling a 676 series, including a final-game 279.
Donovan Davis finished 14th in Class 5A for Shawnee Heights with a 653 series Wednesday in Wichita. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Heights also got a 14th-place finish from Donovan Davis, who rolled a 653 series.
CLASS 5A STATE BOWLING
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
In the locker room following their victory this past Friday night at Shawnee Heights, Seaman girls coach Matt Tinsley wrote 20-0 on the dry erase board. He then quickly erased it and wrote 0-0.
Senior Anna Becker scored 27 points in Tuesday's 59-42 Seaman sub-state win over Topeka West. [File photo/TSN]
That was the mindset the Vikings had as they began this ‘new’ season against cross-town opponent Topeka West Tuesday night in the semifinal round of the Class 5A sub-state playoffs.
The Seaman Lady Vikings continued their undefeated season with a 59-42 victory over the Topeka West Chargers. There were moments where Seaman’s offense was sluggish, but other moments where they had excellent execution.
"We are better when the ball moves to the side, back to the top and to the opposite side. The best thing to do against any defense is to always move and be hard to guard,” Tinsley commented after the game.
For the first five-plus minutes of the contest, the teams traded baskets and the Lady Vikings and Chargers were tied at 11 with 2:20 left in the quarter. Topeka West took their first and only lead of the game,13-11, following two free throws by junior Imani McGlory with 1:37 remaining in the quarter.
Seaman outscored Topeka West 6-0 to end the first quarter, taking a 17-13 lead to the second stanza.
The Lady Vikes extended their run to 15-0 over the first four minutes of the second quarter to double-up the Chargers, 26-13. With a little over four minutes left in the first half, hit a 3-pointer to finally stop the run. The defensive pressure applied by Seaman was the difference as the Vikings held Topeka West to only two field goals in the quarter and led 30-18 at halftime.
“Their zone had us standing and we need to get better ball movement and player movement. We were just settling, one pass and a shot, and when you’re not hitting, it doesn’t look very good,” Tinsley said about the first half.
The Lady Vikes came out of the locker room and executed better on offense. They hit four 3-pointers -- one by junior Maddie Gragg, one by senior Kinley Wilhelm and two by senior Anna Becker plus a free throw from senior Ava Esser -- outscoring the Chargers 13-4 over the first four minutes of the third quarter. The Vikings took a commanding 53-30 lead into the final quarter.
Tinsley commented about their aggressiveness coming out of the locker room after the halftime break, “Our third quarter offense was good against their man and zone defenses. But credit Topeka West, they played hard and hit some shots.”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Shawnee Heights girls took care of business on their home floor Tuesday, defeating Basehor-Linwood 39-32 in a Class 5A sub-state semifinal, setting up a big challenge Friday.
Shawnee Heights sophomore KK Emmot led the way with 16 points in Tuesday's 39-32 Class 5A sub-state win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The T-Birds built a double-digit lead early in the second half and maintained it until late. With three minutes remaining, Basehor-Linwood collapsed the deficit to five points. Holding the T-Birds scoreless for more than four minutes, the Bobcats then pulled to within three, 31-28, with 1:35 remaining.
Shawnee Heights, led by sophomore KK Emmot, connected on enough free throws in the final minute to hold off the threat.
“We played sharp in the first quarter and continued that through the second quarter,” Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. “We changed some things up on defense that we thought we might try, and it worked out well for us holding them down.
“We knew (Basehor-Linwood) would make it close because we’ve played them enough to know they are never going to give up and they’re going to play hard until the very end. We knew we were going to have to deal with that. I’m really proud of the girls who stepped up and made free throws.”
Shawnee Heights, which improved to 14-7 on the season, attempted 27 free throws in the game, knocking down 16. The T-Birds were led by Emmot’s 16 points. Kaydence Torrez scored eight and Tayler Hanshaw had seven.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It was before Washburn Rural boys basketball coach Alex Hutchins arrived in Topeka, but he has been told the story about how a few seasons ago Wichita West came in to Rural for a Class 6A sub-state semifinal and knocked off the heavily-favored Junior Blues to end their season.
Washburn Rural junior Simon Rowley dunks the ball for two of his 23 points in Tuesday's 78-50 sub-state win over Wichita West. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Hutchins' No. 3-seeded Rural team made sure that history didn't repeat itself Tuesday, knocking down 14 3-pointers on the way to a 78-50 rout and a shot at a sub-state title Friday night.
"That (West's upset of Rural) was mentioned to me in the very first summer I was here,'' Hutchins I was here. "It was talked about how incredible our environment is here at Washburn Rural with our student section and our crowd and our cheerleaders and our band.
"And they mentioned that there had been one time in the past where I think the band was on a spring break trip and we had a really high seed and kind of a sleepy crowd and it kind of ended up in disaster. So we didn't specifically bring up that story, but we told the boys, 'You can't take anything for granted, you've got to be ready to go.' ''
West (4-17) took an early 5-2 lead, but junior Draden Chooncharoen converted an old-fashioned three-point play and senior Amare Jones hit a 3-point shot to put the Junior Blues up 8-5 and they never trailed again.
Rural led 21-13 at the end of the first quarter and used a 22-9 second quarter to take a commanding 43-22 lead at the half.
The Junior Blues connected on 7 of 12 3-pointers in the half, led by freshman Brooks Ballard, who came off the bench to hit 4 of 4 treys.
Rural continued to rain 3s in the third quarter, opening up a 66-39 advantage at the end of the third stanza after leading by as many as 29 points.
