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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- The final first-round game in the Glacier’s Edge Tournament was a back-and-forth battle between the Topeka Lady Trojans and the Shawnee Mission South Raiders, with Topeka High dropping a 54-51 decision to the defending Class 6A state champions, currently ranked No. 4 in the state.
Sophomore Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton scored 19 points in Thursday's 54-51 Topeka High loss to SM South Thursday. [File photo/TSN]
The Lady Trojans fell to 6-4 on the season and will take on Wichita Northwest in the consolation semifinals at 3:15 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
The first quarter saw SM South jump out to a 7-point lead, 18-11, thanks to shooting 8-11 from the field -- a whopping 73 percent. Meanwhile, the Lady Trojans shot 36 percent from the field, but only one out of five from the free throw line.
The script was flipped in the second quarter as Topeka High responded by outscoring SM South 18-8 to take a 3-point lead into the half, 29-26. Topeka High shot 8-15 from the field while SM South cooled off, shooting just 3-11 from the field for the quarter.
SM South began the third quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 32-29 lead, causing Topeka High to burn a timeout. The Lady Trojans responded with a 3-pointer by sophomore Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton to tie the score at 32. The remainder of the quarter went back-and-forth and SM South took a 40-38 lead into the final quarter.
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- The Class 5A top-ranked Seaman Lady Vikings cruised past the Wichita Northwest Grizzlies 56-15 on Thursday in the first round of the Glacier’s Edge Tournament hosted by Emporia High School.
Matt Tinsley's Seaman girls basketball team improved to 11-0 Thursday with a 56-15 win over Wichita Northwest. [File photo/TSN]
The Lady Vikes improved to 11-0 on the season and will face the fourth ranked team in Class 6A, the Shawnee Mission South Raiders, in the tournament semifinals at 7:45 p.m Friday.
Nine players scored for Seaman with two scoring in double figures.
The game started with Seaman jumping out to a 7-2 lead in the first four minutes. In the quarter, Seaman assisted on four of their five baskets and led 11-5 after the first eight minutes.
The first three minutes of the second quarter was very sluggish -- several turnovers and missed shots from both teams. A short jump shot from senior Kinley Wilhelm was the only basket until the four-minute mark of the quarter when sophomore Maddie Gragg hit a 3-pointer to extend Seaman’s lead to 16-5. The Lady Grizzlies were held scoreless for the quarter and the Lady Vikes led at the half, 26-5.
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
El Dorado -- In the first round of the 32nd annual Lady Cat Classic, the top-seeded and Class 4A No. 1 Hayden Wildcats went up against the host El Dorado, rolling to the tournament semifinals with a 64-15 win Thursday.
Freshman Hailey Schmidtlein scored a game-high 21 points in Hayden's 64-15 win over El Dorado on Thursday. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden started the game on a 13-0 run before El Dorado would answer with a floater to make it 13-2.
The Lady Cats would go on to out-score El Dorado 51-13 over the final three quarters of play to take a 64-15 decision and advance to play in the 7:45 p.m. semifinal Friday against (6-4) Gardner-Edgerton, which beat Goddard, 48-46.
The Wildcats had a near perfect night from there 6-foot freshman, Hailey Schmidtlein, who went 10-12 from the field to lead all scorers with 21 points.
“She went all out tonight, got some points off our defense and did a really nice job finishing,” Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldon said.
“I can’t thank my teammates enough,'' Schmidtlein said. "They were finding me when I was out ahead, seeing me, giving me those great passes. I didn’t do much but run up the court and get the ball and score.”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
As has become tradition, Washburn Rural finished first in the Topeka City Boys Swimming Championships Thursday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium.
Andres Morao-Jaspe captured four gold medals to help lead Washburn Rural to the city team title Thursday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But the gap was narrower than in many previous years, with other city schools claiming higher point totals.
Sophomore Andres Morao-Jaspe had the only perfect day, finishing first in two individual events and helping two Washburn Rural relay teams to firsts as well. Morao-Jaspe won the 200-yard individual medley and the 500 freestyle.
“I feel like a great sense of satisfaction coming out of this with the whole team,” Morao-Jaspe said. “I've been working a lot for this, for these moments.”
Seaman's Peyton Holmes won three gold medals in Thursday's city meet at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman’s Peyton Holmes claimed first in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle events and was part of two relay teams that placed first and second. He did it despite sinus surgery a week ago, having practiced little since the procedure.
“It was hard to come back into it, but I believed I could win both my events,” Holmes said. “Competing in this city meet is really fun because my whole family could come, and just being in Hummer is fun.”
Washburn Rural placed first with 532 points while Topeka High’s 418.5 points edged Seaman and was cause for celebration for the Trojans.
“I’m really proud of my boys and feel like we had a great day,” Trojan coach Ken Bennett said.
He said Topeka High’s strong upper classes are bolstered this year by a group of freshmen who are contributing to varsity success.
“They came in raw, so to speak, and they stepped up,” Bennett said. “The older swimmers are bonding with the freshmen and showing them the way.”
Topeka High senior Jaxon Cowdin won his fourth city diving title on Thursday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. [File photo/TSN]
Topeka High's Dawson Blankenship helped lead the Trojans to a second-place team finish in Thursday's city swimming championships. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
One of the most impressive performances of the day was turned in by Topeka High senior swimmer/diver Jaxon Cowdin.
Cowdin won the city dive competition for the fourth consecutive year. But he also took fifth in the 50 freestyle and helped two Trojan relay teams to second and third-place finishes.
“Jaxon came in as a freshman and wanted to swim and dive,” Bennett said. “We told him to focus more on diving. As a senior he came out and was like, ‘I’m going to swim.’ It’s rare for someone to be able to do both because you have to practice so much to be a good diver.”
For the second year in a row, Washburn Rural won the city meet behind a first-year head coach. Bob Burdick replaced Janson Garman and had to rebuild the Washburn Rural roster.
“Last year, we lost a whole lot of really fast guys. We took third at state last year and we graduated a whole bunch,” Burdick said. “When I took over, we had about 18 guys.
“We had seven guys who couldn't swim before they got to us, and we made them into swimmers. We had a couple of guys who just popped out of the woodwork and they had a little bit of swim background. They came back and they're just hammering it, and so we're building well. Success breeds success.”
2025 TOPEKA CITY CHAMPIONSHIPS
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West's girls basketball team has suffered its lumps while facing a United Kansas Conference schedule that includes three of Class 5A's seven top-ranked schools.
Topeka West celebrates Thursday's 52-45 overtime win over Highland Park Thursday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But the Chargers put their lessons learned to good use Thursday night, picking up their second win of the season while handing USD 501 rival Highland Park only its second loss in a 52-45 overtime decision in the opening round of the Capital City Classic on West's home court.
"At the beginning of the season it's hard to keep those girls focused, but it's like, 'Hey, we're playing the top teams in the state,' '' West coach Angie Ketterman said. "But this helps a lot. It's good to see them happy and it was a good, hard fought win.''
West, now 2-8, and Highland Park, 7-2, locked up in a nail-biter from start to finish, with the Chargers' final margin the biggest lead by either team on the night.
With the victory Topeka West advanced to a 6:30 p.m. Friday semifinal to face Shawnee Heights, a 54-47 overtime winner over Blue Valley. Washburn Rural, a 76-25 winner over Free State, will take on Lawrence in the 8 o'clock semifinal, with the Lions advancing with a 54-36 win over Shawnee Mission West.
Topeka West junior Addaline Hall sent Thursday's game against Highland Park to overtime with a layup at the end of regulation. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Topeka West junior Addaline Hall reacts after sending Thursday's game against Highland Park to overtime with a layup at the end of regulation. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Topeka West forced the extra session when junior Addaline Hall came out of a scrum to convert a breakaway layup with two seconds left to tie the game at 39.
"I just saw a loose ball, hustled to get it and made the layup and that's about it,'' Hall said. "I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw the clock and I was like, 'Four seconds, I've got to make this.' ''
Highland Park led for much of the overtime, including a 45-42 advantage after two Pearmella Carter free throws with 1:51 remaining, before West scored the final 8 points of the game, all by junior Imani McGlory.
McGlory went an amazing 17 of 18 from the free throw line on the way to a game-high 28 points while the Chargers also took advantage of a 10 of 32 showing at the line from Highland Park.
"We practice a lot on our free throws,'' McGlory said. "I feel like as the season goes on we get better and are more like a team together. We got our second win of the season and it feels good.
"I feel like we really stayed composed this game and really played as a team and didn't give up.''
Hall added 11 points for West.
Carter, a sophomore, paced Highland Park with 21 points while senior Tahtionna Broils added 11 points and senior De'Asia Sanders 9 points with a pair of 3-pointers.
TOPEKA WEST 52, HIGHLAND PARK 45 (OT)
Highland Park 5 12 11 11 6 -- 45
Topeka West 9 6 14 10 13 -- 52
Highland Park (7-2) – Kincade 0-5 0-0 0, Broils 4-14 4-7 12. Harts 1-8 0-6, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Carter 7-20 8-13 22, Paredes 0-0 0-0 0, Rice 0-1 0-0 0, Sanders 3-11 1-6 9. Totals 15-54 13-32 45.
Topeka West (2-8) – I. McGlory 5-19 17-18 28, VanDyke 0-2 0-0 0, Keeling 0-3 0-4 0, Gonzales 2-8 0-0 4, A. McGlory 2-5 0-0 4, Allen 1-2 2-2 5, Hall 4-11 2-4 11, Kutina 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-40 21-28 52.
3-point goals – Highland Park 2 (Sanders 2), Topeka West 3 (Allen, I. McGlory, Hall). Total fouls – Highland Park 25, Topeka West 20. Fouled out – Allen, VanDyke, Gonzales, Jones. Technical fouls – none.
Junior Reianna Vega led Shawnee Heights with 19 points in Thursday's 52-45 OT win over Blue Valley. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
T-Birds advance to semis with 54-47 OT win
Shawnee Heights was forced to play the entire overtime without leading scorer KK Emmot after the sophomore standout fouled out with 6.8 seconds remaining in regulation.
But Emmot's teammates quickly picked up the slack, with the T-Birds holding a 9-2 advantage over Blue Valley in the four-minute extra session to take a 54-47 first-round win and move on to Friday's 6:30 p.m. Capital City Classic semifinals to face Topeka West.
"It was something that we've been trying to get through in practice and make sure that there's times when we get (KK) out and play for an extended period of time just in case something silly happens,'' Heights coach Bob Wells said. "And I thought the girls responded well.''
Heights senior Kaydence Torrez opened the overtime with a hoop to put the 7-4 T-Birds ahead to stay and junior Reianna Vega hit two free throws to put Heights up 49-45 with 2:28 left in the OT.
After Blue Valley (3-8) scored its only basket of the OT, the T-Birds scored the final 5 points, including the final four from senior Haley Bowers.
Vega led the T-Birds with 19 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds while Emmot finished with 14 points and Torrez had 9 points and 14 rebounds.
"I felt very proud of us,'' Vega said. "I think on the court we show that we're a very capable team.''
Freshman Devin Splittorff tied Vega for game-high scoring honors with 19 points.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 54, BLUE VALLEY 47 (OT)
Blue Valley 11 14 7 13 2 -- 47
Shawnee Heights 13 14 8 10 9 -- 54
Blue Valley (3-8) – Goldstein 2-7 0-0 5, Forgy 0-1 0-0 0, Splittorff 6-16 4-4 19, Ashley Bergeson 1-1 0-0 3, Barnes 4-6 2-4 10, Wombolt 1-12 3-6 6, Lund 1-5 0-0 2, Suhr 1-2 0-0 2, Tenpenny 0-3 0-0 0, Faulkner 0-0 0-0 0, Avery Bergeson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-53 9-14 47.
Shawnee Heights (7-4) – Emmot 4-14 5-6 14, Brees 0-3 0-2 0, Euwer 1-7 0-0 2, Torrez 2-10 5-8 9, Vega 6-13 7-8 19, Hanshaw 0-1 0-0 0, Hamilton 0-1 3-4 3, Bowers 2-8 2-2 7. Totals 15-57 22-30 54.
3-point goals – Blue Valley 6 (Splittorff 3, Wombolt, Goldstein, Ashley Bergeson), Shawneee Heights 2 (Emmot, Bowers). Total fouls – Blue Valley 27, Shawnee Heights 12. Fouled out – Emmot, Ashley Bergeson, Barnes. Technical fouls – none.
Sophomore Maddie Vickery scored a game-high 21 points in Washburn Rural's 76-25 win over Free State Thursday night in the Capital City Classic. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Rural rolls to 51-point first-round win over Firebirds
On paper, No. 5-ranked (Class 6A) Washburn Rural looked to be a heavy favorite over Free State in final first-round game of the Capital City Classic.
And the Junior Blues lived up to that billing and then some, rolling to a 76-25 win over the Firebirds.
