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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Centennial League-leading Washburn Rural boys were a little slow getting out of the gate Tuesday night, trailing underdog Topeka High 10-8 at end of the opening quarter.
But Alex Hutchins' Junior Blues got better and better as the night wore on, rolling to a 61-35 Senior Night decision over the Trojans at Washburn Rural.
Topeka High's Jayden Norman (5) and Washburn Rural's Jack Bachelor (12) try to corral a loose ball in the Junior Blues' 61-35 win Tuesday night at Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural junior JC Heim (25) grabs one of his nine rebounds in Tuesday's 61-35 Centennial League win over Topeka High at Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"I thought we were impatient early, we settled,'' Hutchins said. "I think we're a good shooting team and we like to get outside looks but I think that's all we were doing and weren't putting enough pressure on the rim and getting into the paint enough, but I do think our defense was pretty consistent throughout and kind of kept us in it early when we were being impatient on offense.''
It didn't take long for Washburn Rural (14-4 overall, 7-1 league) to turn its two-point deficit into a double-digit advantage, with the Junior Blues outscoring the Trojans (3-15, 0-8) by a 35-11 margin over the middle two quarters to take control.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's girls basketball team knew it was in for a tough challenge Tuesday night.
After all, No. 5-ranked (Class 6A) Rural had pulled out a one-point win over No. 4 Topeka High in the first meeting between the Junior Blues and Trojans early last month and Rural was without junior Zoe Canfield for Tuesday's rematch afer losing the standout point guard to a season-ending knee injury.
Senior Brooklyn DeLeye (32), being guarded by Topeka High's Jo'Mhara Benning,had a double-double with 20 points and 18 rebounds in Tuesday's 55-42 Centennial League win over Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Chloe Carlgren (13), being defended by Topeka High's Adisyn Caryl, scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Washburn Rural's 55-42 Centennial League win over Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Junior Blues were up to the task, never trailing after taking a one-point lead at the end of the opening quarter and pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 55-42 Centennial League win over the Trojans at Rural as seniors Brooklyn DeLeye and Chloe Carlgren recorded double-double performances.
"It's very big, especially since we only beat them by one the last time,'' DeLeye said. "It was definitely good to get ahead of them and then getting them where they had to foul us at the enf of the game. That was really nice taking control the whole time instead of always having to work from behind. We kind of put the majority of the pressure on them.''
Washburn Rural, which improved to 13-4 overall and a perfect 8-0 in the league race, clinched a least a share of the league championship while earning a regular-season sweep over Topeka High after entering 2022-2023 with a seven-game losing skid against the Trojans.
The Junior Blues, the defending 6A state champion, also helped their seeding for the upcoming state playoffs, moving into the No. 3 seed in the West with three regular-season games remaining.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High sophomore Jaxon Cowdin has never been afraid to try new things, particularly in the athletic realm.
And that attitude has paid, and continues to pay, big dividends for the standout one-meter diver and the Trojans.
Topeka High sophomore Jaxon Cowdin will begin his quest for a Class 5A state diving medal in Thursday's 11:30 a.m. preliminary competition in Shawnee Mission. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Cowdin also runs cross county and participates in track and field for Topeka High and has also taken part in ballet and other similar activities, which led him to try diving last year for Topeka High swim coach Ken Bennett, who also coachess Cowdin in cross country.
"Last year was my first year doing it, freshman year,'' said Cowdin, who will make his second straight appearance in the Class 6A state diving event this weekend at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center. "I didn't really think I was going to make the basketball team and I had a little bit of a history of doing like some flips and everything.
"My sister Maisie, she had had Bennett's class and she had told him that I had done this type of stuff, so he convinved me to go out for dive after running cross country for him.''
Cowdin experienced almost immediate success, winning the city title and advancing to the top 16 in the state meet as a freshman while also setting a school record in the six-dive discipline.
His early success caught even Cowdin by surprise.
"Definitely, you don't expect it at all when you're going in and I definitely wouldn't have expected it for myself, but I'm really happy with how a lot of this has turned out.,'' Cowdin said.
His sophomore season has been even better, with Cowdin winning a second straight city crown and capturing his first Centennial League title last week in decisive fashion.
"I'm always looking for the bigger fish to go after, so this one was defiinitely a goal,'' he said. "It feels really cool to accomplish that one for the first time, so I'm really happy.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' boys moved into the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Class 5A state rankings for the first time this season Tuesday after improving to 12-4 on the season with four straight victories.
Ken Darting's 12-4 Shawnee Heights boys made the KBCA Class 5A state rankings for the first time this season, taking over the No. 10 spot.
Highland Park's boys and Seaman's girls continue to hold on to the No. 1 spot in the 5A state rankings, with the undefeated Scots holding the top spot in the boys rankings for the sixth straight week while Viking girls are No. 1 for the fourth straight week.
Silver Lake's girls remained No. 3 in 3A.
Topeka High and Washburn Rural are No. 4 and No. 5 in the 6A girls rankings while Hayden's girls are tied for No. 10 in 4A .
Washburn Rural's boys stayed No. 10 in 6A.
KANSAS BASKETBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION STATE RANKINGS
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn men's basketball team will face its second top-10 team in three days as the Ichabods host No. 4-ranked Northwest Missouri at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night in Lee Arena.
Hayden product Levi Braun is coming off a 20-point, six 3-pointer game on Saturday in Washburn's 75-55 win over Central Oklahoma. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Ichabods are 12-11 overall and 9-8 in the MIAA after a 75-55 win over No. 6 Central Oklahoma on Saturday.
The Bearcats are 23-2 and 16-2 in the MIAA and have won their last nine games, including a 79-53 win over the Ichabods on Feb. 4 in Maryville, Mo.
Northwest topped Northeastern State on Feb. 11 in a 79-43 win.
Sophomore Andrew Orr averages a team-high 13.8 points for Washburn while averaging 14.5 points in MIAA contests. He is third on the team in rebounds at 5.7 per game.
Tyler Nelson is averaging 11.8 points and has reached double-digits in nine of his last 10 games, averaging 15.5 points.
Hayden product is scoring 10.2 points a game and has hit 58 of 127 3-pointers (46 percent). Of his 77 field goals this season, 58 have been from 3-point range.
Michael Keegan is averaging 8.3 points with 5.9 rebounds, 20 steals and 18 blocks.
Freshman Brady Christiansen is scoring 5.7 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds and scored a career-high 16 points against Central Oklahoma last time out.
Northwest, the two-time defending national champion, is in the midst of a nine-game win streak.
Diego Bernard leads the Bearcats with a 16.9 scoring average and 5.1 rebounds per game while recently going over the 2,000-point mark in scoring.
Bennett Stirtz averages 12.6 points, while Wes Dreamer averages 11.2 points.
Washburn will go on the road to face Lincoln on Thursday and will play at Central Missouri at Saturday.
WU women to host Pink Out game
Washburn is set to host Northwest Missouri at 5:30 p.m.Tuesday for the annual Pink Out Game.
