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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Brandon McDonnell had a bird's eye view of the amazing turnaround that Rick Bloomquist's Topeka West's boys basketball team has put together in recent seasons.
Now the former Topeka High and Baker University player will try to engineer a similar turnaround in his first head coaching job at Rossville.
McDonnell was introduced Tuesday as the Bulldawgs' new head coach, taking over a team that was just 3-18 this past season but heading to a school that is very well-respected as a small-school athletic power.
Topeka West assistant Brandon McDonnell has been named the new head boys basketball coach at Rossville. [File photo/TSN]
McDonnell, a 2000 Topeka High graduate, has been on Bloomquist's staff for four seasons, serving as a varsity and junior varsity assistant and guiding the Chargers' freshman team the past two seasons.
He gives Bloomquist, who has led West to back-to-back Class 5A state appearances, a great deal of credit for getting him ready to to be a head coach.
"I love Bloom to death and one of the main reasons why is you don't often come across a coach that allows you to be on all three benches,'' said McDonnell, who played 13 seasons with the Harlem Legends. "My game nights consisted of putting puzzle pieces togethers with Dwayne (Anthony) at the JV level, then halfway into the fourth quarter I'd go and get my freshman boys ready and I'd coach that game and get those puzzle pieces together and then after that I'm walking into the pregame of the varsity and I'm helping put those puzzle pieces together. So for me I'm coaching three games in one night and loving every second of it because of the autonomy, I had the freedom to do it.
"There's obviously certain things that (Bloomquist) wanted implemented at the freshman level, but outside of that he actually gave me the program and there's not a lot of coaches that do that. Bloomquist let me coach and that's one of the main reasons why I'm in this position today because he didn't put a leash on me. He let me explore, he let me coach, he let me go through some failures and then work my way out of it and that's the only way that I learned. He made that possible. He's a phenomenal guy. He's a father figure to me and I know I could go to him for anything.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Cair Paravel Latin got a pair of goals and an assist from sophomore Katherine Keys as the Lions rolled to a 5-0 win over Heritage Christian on Tuesday.
The Lions, who improved to 4-3, also got goals from Sage Schwartz, Zahra Lewis and Allison Schwarz.
Sawyer Schwartz got the shutout in goal for the Lions.
CAIR PARAVEL LATIN 5, HERITAGE CHRISTIAN 0
Cair Paravel 2 3 -- 5
Heritage Christian 0 0 -- 0
Cair Paravel -- Goals: Keys 2, Sage Schwartz, Lewis, Allison Schwarz Assists: Keys. Shutout – Sawyer Schwartz
Hayden soccer remains unbeaten
Sophomore Jill Lenherr scored the game's only goal off an assist from senior Kate Roeder as Hayden improved to 5-0-1 with a 1-0 non-league victory over Baldwin.
Senior Macy Smith and junior Hannah Schmitz combined for the shutout in goal for the Wildcats.
HAYDEN 1, BALDWIN 0
Hayden 0 1 -- 1
Baldwin 0 0 -- 0
Hayden -- Goal: Lenherr. Assist: Roeder. Shutout: Smith/Schmitz.
Topeka West Myles Cusick (right) and Ian Cusick won the doubles championship in last Saturday's Goddard Invitational. [Submitted]
Cusicks win doubles title at Goddard
Topeka West juniors Ian and Myles Cusick captured the doubles championship in the Goddard Invitational, topping Andover Central in the championship match.
Senior Gavin Chavez and junior Carter Cool beat McPherson to take third place in doubles for the Chargers.
West sophomore James Maag placed ninth in singles.
The Chargers' next meet is the Topeka West Invitational on April 19 at Kossover Tennis Center.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Four-time defending Class 6A girls soccer champ Blue Valley West made two first-half goals stand up for a 2-0 non-conference road win over Washburn Rural at McElroy Field Monday night, but Rural coach Brian Hensyel saw plenty of positives after his Junior Blues dropped their first game in seven starts on the year.
"One of the things I just told (the team) is after seven games last year we were 4-2-1 and this year we're 6-1 and we've played a very tough schedule and we're not going to back away from that,'' Hensyel said. "You have to play this team to kind of see what level you're at and we were right there today.
"We gave up a couple of bad fouls and they hit two amazing shots. They might have had a few more chances than us but it was kind of a back and forth game for the most part and a couple of little mistakes cost us.''
And although the Junior Blues suffered their first loss, Hensyel said Rural made strides.
"We got better today,'' Hensyel said. "We lost the game and the scoreboard doesn't say we got better today but playing a really tough team like that helps us.''
Washburn Rural freshman Kate Hinck (middle) battles Blue Valley West's Devin Monohan (left) and Sophia Raudez in Monday's game at McElroy Field. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Belle Kennedy advances the ball Monday night as Blue Valley West's Addison Griffey (8) and Ashley Reecht (12) defend. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Junior Blues put together their best scoring threat of the night in the opening minutes, but Rural was unable to find the back of the net.
"The opening whistle we came out with a lot of energy and I thought the first 15-20 minutes of the game it was back and forth with both teams creating chances,'' Hensyel said. "There was a lot of good stuff going on and if you get that early goal then that maybe changes the complexion of the game a little bit.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Juniors Alex Valdivia and Aiden Jones posted a one-two individual finish as Shawnee Heights rolled to the United Kansas Conference boys golf championship by an 18-stroke margin Monday at Lake Shawnee.
Alex Valdivia
Valdivia earned the individual championnship with a 69, while Jones was second with a 73 to lead the way as the T-Birds posted a four-man score of 312 to take the team title while De Soto was second with a 330 total.
Shawnee Heights won the United Kansas Conference golf title by 18 strokes Monday at Lake Shawnee. [Submitted]
Shawnee Heights also got a top-10 finish from junior Tanner Zerger, who tied for seventh place with an 83.
T-Bird junior Tyler Lincoln tied for 11th with an 87 while sophomore Zack Hohman tied for 17th with an 89 and sophomore Jensen Crawford 22nd with a 95.
Valdivia and Jones earned first-team All-UKC honors, with Valdivia being named the UKC player of the year, while Zerger and Licoln earned spots on the all-conference second team.
UNITED KANSAS CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
At Lake Shawnee
Team scores
Shawnee Heights 312, De Soto 330, Basehor-Linwood 338, Lansing 349, Leavenworth 448.
Individual results
1. Valdivia, Shawnee Heights, 69; 2. Jones, Shawnee Heights, 73; 3. Moberg, Lansing, 79; 4. Bakerink, De Soto, 80; 5. Lowe, Basehor-Linwood, 81; 6. Strah, Basehor-Linwood, 82; 7. (tie) Koch, De Soto; Thurlow, De Soto, and Zerger, Shawnee Heights, 83; 10. Baechle, De Soto, 84.
Other Shawnee Heights -- 11. (tie) Lincoln, 87; 17. (tie) Zack Hohman, 89; 22. Jensen Crawford, 96.
All-United Kansas Conference
First team
Valdivia, Shawnee Heights; Jones, Shawnee Heights; Moberg, Lansing, Bakerink, De Soto; Lowe, Basehor-Linwood; Strah, Basehor-Linwood.
Second team
Koch, De Soto; Thurlow, De Soto; Zerger, Shawnee Heights; Baechle, De Soto; Lincoln, Shawnee Heights; Doyle Duncan, De Soto..
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Six home runs and a walkoff win Monday was everything Rossville's softball team had been working for.
Rossville’s offense boosted the Bulldawgs to 10-0 on the season and it was evident throughout the course of the 10-1, 9-8 doubleheader sweep over Silver Lake why that is the case.
Rossville's Vanesa Quinones (left), Kinsey Perine (middle) and Kinley Porter combined for six home runs in Monday's 10-1, 9-8 doubleheader sweep over Silver Lake. Perine hit three homers, Porter two and Quinones one roundtripper in the twinbill. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Kinley Porter, who didn’t have a home run on the season, hit two home runs against the Eagles, including the walk-off home run in Game 2 to give Rossville the sweep.
“Today was the first time I’ve ever hit a home run and the fact that I hit two tonight, it was special,” Porter said. “In practice, we practice every outcome and visualize winning games. We put our practice into real-life tonight and it paid off.”
The Monday home run derby was led by Kinsey Perine, who had a combined three home runs in the doubleheader.
“I stayed relaxed with each at-bat,” Perine said. “I had faith in our team and coaching. That’s five home runs for me now and I’m having fun.”
Corban University commit Vanesa Quinones also hit a long ball in Rossville’s Game 2 win after pitching a stellar game in the first game of the doubleheader.
“I’m proud of myself, but I’m more proud of our team,” Quinones said. “We have a team full of underclassmen that play like four-year starters. It was cool to see our girls start and finish strong.
“I’m lucky to be a senior on this team and lead such a talented group of girls.”
Rossville didn’t fold when the pressure was on in the back and forth slugfest in the second game.
Rossville coach John Nitsch said he had full confidence in his group that they wouldn’t crumble under the pressure.
“I told them that if we pitch, hit and play defense like we are capable of, we wouldn’t have any problems,” Nitsch said. “Our hitting is starting to come around more and that helps when our pitching and defense are playing as well as they are.”
The 10-1 victory for Rossville in the first game was led by the arm of Quinones, who pitched the entire seven-inning contest while only giving up a single run in the fourth inning.
Rossville was able to tally eight runs on the board before the third inning, including five runs in the first inning.
Perine had a home run, Brinley Dyche had a double and Rossville also scored on groundouts and a sacrifice fly.
Back-to-back doubles by Perine and Dyche in the bottom of the second inning and two errors by Silver Lake brought three runs home for Rossville.
That would be all Rossville needed to secure a 10-1 victory.
Game 2 would end up being a memorable game for both teams, with five lead changes and four instances where the game was tied.
Silver Lake had the hot start early in the second game, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning.
Kira Lowrey gave Silver Lake their first run with a single and Taylor Zordel would clear the traffic on the bases with a two-run triple. Lauren Rollenhagen would finish the four-run inning off with a run-scoring single.
For the second game in a row, Perine would lead off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run. That solo shot gave Rossville momentum going forward.
In the bottom of the second inning, Porter would hit the first home run of her life bringing herself and Emma Mitchell in to score. Rossville would only trail by one run at that point.
Perine would tie things up at 4-4 in the bottom of the third with her third home run of the day.
Quinones would follow Perine and Porter with a two-run home run of her own in the bottom of third bringing, Caylee Douglas home.
But Silver Lake wouldn’t give up, even after Rossville’s momentum-killing home runs.
