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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
ROSSVILLE – It took every ounce of life for the Rossville girls basketball team to prevail in a 61-52 double-overtime victory over a Rock Creek team, which had beaten them nine consecutive times.
Junior Kinsey Perine gave Rossville a big lift in double overtime in the Bulldawgs' 61-52 win over Rock Creek. [File photo/TSN]
It would be an understatement to say Rossville faced adversity in double overtime.
Two of Rossville's leading scorers fouled out with plenty of game time left, shots weren't falling as the Bulldawgs would like, and Rock Creek was fueled full of momentum after trailing for 36:32 of the game and tying the game to go into overtime.
Rossville wasn't supposed to win, but it did, and that's all that matters to the team.
"It's always good to win no matter what," Rossville coach Michael Bell said. "You get the (win), and you're going to sub-state, which is always nice. We haven't beaten (Rock Creek) in a while, and they are a great team. I think if you ask (Rock Creek coach Adam Plummer), he'd say that we both didn't play pretty well. But we are happy with the win."
The Bulldawgs won with great defense, forcing turnovers, junior Katie Spielman's poise in clutch moments and the 10-point performance in the second overtime period from standout junior Kinsey Perine.
Going into Tuesday night's contest, Perine led all classes in Kansas in assists per game (7.3) and was second in the state for steals per game (6.2). Perine's role on Rossville's team is to be the peskiest defender she can be while going out of her way to find the open player on offense.
Perine had to flip her script when top scorers Emma Mitchell and Rylee Dick fouled out. Then, Perine had to put the team on her back offensively and finish the job.
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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
One week ago, Class 6A No. 7-ranked Topeka High had lost a second straight Centennial League game.
After a 60-25 runaway victory over Junction City on Senior Night Tuesday, coach Brittney Redmond feels a lot better about where the Trojans are.
Topeka High star Kiki Smith scored 18 points on Senior Night as the Trojans rolled to a 60-25 win over Junction City. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
Senior Jachiyah Verser (24) takes the ball inside Tuesday night against Junction City in Topeka High's 60-25 Centennial League win. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
“As a coach, I’m super glad that we took all of our losses early, cause that is going to give us momentum going into the postseason,” Redmond said. “We have already seen all of the talent that we are going to see, we kind of know what we need to do to win and close out those games this time.”
Closing out the regular season with a win also boded well for the spirits of Senior Nght, which saw all five members of the graduating quintet score after starting the game together and combining for 35 points.
“It’s been fun. Coming in as a freshman, going 20-0 the first season and getting canceled because of COVID, and coming back sophomore year and getting all the way to the state championship,” said senior Kiki Smith who led all scorers with 18 points.
“It’s been really fun just growing together from our freshman year to now, just seeing the progress that all of us have made and I love playing with them.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After dropping a 14-point decision at Shawnee Heights earlier in the season, Seaman dished out a big dose of payback Tuesday night, with the Vikings continuing their late-season surge with a 75-48 United Kansas Conference romp past the T-Birds on Senior Night at Seaman.
Seaman trailed by three points at the end of a 22-19 first-quarter shootout, but the Vikings took control with a 19-6 second quarter, including the final 11 points of the half, opening up a 38-28 halftime advantage.
Senior Aron Davis scored 19 points, including 15 in the first half, as Seaman rolled to a 75-48 UKC win over Shawnee Heights Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Kaeden Bonner scored 18 points, including an eight of eight performance at the free throw line, in Seaman's 75-48 win over Shawnee Heights Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"They really came out strong at their place, and that's what they're capable of,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said of Shawnee Heights. "So for us to be able to hang with them in the first quarter and then have that little burst into the half was huge, obviously.''
The Vikings followed that up with a 25-11 third quarter onslaught to build a 63-39 cushion and forced a running clock with 6:26 remaining when senior Kaeden Bonner canned two free throws on a Shawnee Heights technical foul to put Seaman in front by 31 points (73-42).
Seaman, which won its fifth straight game, shot 58.7 percent from the field and had five players combine for nine 3-pointers while also going a perfect 12 of 12 at the free throw line.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
This season's first meeting between Seaman and Shawnee Heights went down to the wire, with the Vikings ecaping with a three-point victory.
For more than a half, Tuesday night's rematch had all the makings of being just as close before Seaman, top-ranked in Class 5A, took control with a 23-1 second-half run on the way to a 50-37 United Kansas Conference win over the T-Birds on Senior Night at Seaman.
Seaman freshman Maddie Gragg (32) goes up for two of her game-high 21 points in Tuesday's 50-37 UKC win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman junior Taylin Stallbaumer (21), who had 10 points, drives to the hoop in Tuesday's 50-37 UKC win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"Basketball's a simple game,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "You get the ball, they get the ball. You get the ball, they get the ball. Sometimes we complicate it. We got on a run and then we went too much one on one, we went too much not running our offense and kind of going off script and that's when you let another team back in the game.
"By focusing on defense, the offense comes and when we're patient, we're good. We've just got to be patient.''
Seaman, which improved to 18-1 overall and 14-1 in the UKC, jumped out to a 16-11 first-quarter advantage before Shawnee Heights (13-6, 11-4) used a 13-6 second-quarter rally to take a 24-22 lead at the hal.
The T-Birds used a 6-2 start to the second half to take a 30-24 lead at the 5:49 mark of the third quarter before Seaman turned the tables on Heights.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
As the older sister, Washburn Rural star senior girls wrestler Addi Broxterman isn't ready to relinquish family bragging rights to younger brother Easton, a sophomore standout for the Junior Blue boys.
"We do wrestle, and I'll whoop him -- you can let him know that,'' Addi Broxterman joked.
Washburn Rural wrestling's brother-sister star combo of Easton and Addi Broxterman will take aim on state championships this week in Park City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But most of the time the Broxtermans, two of the state's best, are content serving as each other's biggest fans.
And that will be the case later this week as the Broxtermans set their sights on winning their first high school state championships.
Both Addi, Rural's 125-pounder, and Easton, a 113-pounder, are coming off regional championships and will enter their respective state tournaments on the short list of top title contenders after both advanced to the state finals a year ago.
Addi Broxterman has finished second at state the past two seasons and will take a glossy 40-3 record into her final Class 6A-5A girls state tournament Wednesday and Thursday at Park City's Hartman Arena.
Easton Broxterman, 45-3 entering the 6A boys tournament Friday and Saturday at Hartman Arena, advanced to the state 106-pound championship match last season, finishing second to Junction City's Ezekiel Witt, and Broxterman gained a measure of revenge with a 15-3 major decision over Witt in last Saturday's 113-pound regional final.
