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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
TOPEKA WEST (12-1, 8-1) at WASHBURN RURAL (6-6, 5-3)
Topeka West senior Elijah Brooks has scored 30 or more points in five straight games and became West's career-leading scorer in last Friday's 74-58 win over Seaman. [File photo/TSN
Topeka West avenged its only loss of the season on Friday, taking a 74-58 win over Seaman, as the Chargers protected their share of the Centennial League lead with their 11th straight win. Senior Elijah Brooks scored 33 points, his fifth straight game of at least 30 points, and Brooks became West's career scoring leader. Washburn Rural played a rare Saturday night Centennial League game, evening its record with a 51-45 league win at Emporia.
JUNCTION CITY (9-3, 6-2) at SEAMAN (7-5, 6-3)
Seaman will try to bounce back from Friday's 74-58 loss at Topeka West, but faces a tough test against the Blue Jays, who are coming off a 77-57 home Centennial League win over Topeka High. The Blue Jays took an 80-63 win over the Vikings in the season-opener. Senior Gavin Wilhelm paced Seaman with 14 points against Topeka West while senior Mateo Hyman and juniors Kaeden Bonner and Aron Davis added 10 points apiece.
MANHATTAN (3-9, 2-6) at TOPEKA HIGH (2-11, 2-7)
Topeka High picked up its second win earlier in the week (53-49 over Hayden in overtime) before falling 77-57 at Junction City Friday night in a Centennial League contest. Manhattan is coming off a 70-34 league loss to Seaman last Tuesday.
Highland Park senior Juan'Tario Roberts scored the game-winning basket in the Scots' 62-60 win at Hayden last Friday. [File photo/TSN]
HIGHLAND PARK (11-2, 8-1) at EMPORIA (2-10, 1-8)
Juan'Tario Roberts scored the game-winning basket with five seconds remaining to take a 62-60 win at Hayden Friday night while Emporia is coming off a 51-45 league loss to Washburn Rural on Saturday. Junior Tre Richardson scored 19 points for Highland Park against Hayden while junior Ketraleus Aldridge scored 15 points, junior Jahmir Kingcannon 13 and Roberts 12. Parker Leeds scored 18 points and River Peters 16 for the Spartans in the loss to Washburn Rural.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (9-2) at TONGANOXIE (8-5)
Shawnee Heights has been off since dropping a 71-34 loss to Shawnee Mission Northwest in the championship game of the Vikings Classic on Jan. 22. Tonganoxie took a 63-60 win over Olathe Heritage Christian Academy last Tuesday. Senior Carter Olson led Shawnee Heights with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Shawnee Mission Northwest while senior Jarin Sanders also scored 10 points.
CAIR PARAVEL LATIN (9-3) at KANSAS CITY CHRISTIAN (8-4)
Cair Paravel Latin is coming off a 74-63 road win over Maranatha Academy last Friday night. Senior Noah Hastert scored 26 points and grabbed 24 rebounds for the Lions against Maranatha while senior Zach Clark added 21 points and had 11 rebounds.
SILVER LAKE (5-7) at OSAGE CITY (13-1)
Silver Lake is coming off a 49-40 loss to Sabetha on Friday while Osage City took a 70-37 victory over Santa Fe Trail. Kamryn Kaniper scored 15 points and Troy Heiman for the Eagles in the loss to Sabetha.
ROSSVILLE (2-11) at ST. MARYS (9-3)
Rossville went 1-2 in the Oskaloosa tournament, ending the tournament with a 45-33 loss to Jefferson County North. St. Marys went 1-2 in the Topeka Invitational Tournament against Class 6A and 5A competition, posting a win over Topeka High before dropping games to tournament champion Topeka West and Highland Park.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women's basketball team will be looking to extend its six-game home winning streak on Tuesday when the Ichabods host No. 25 Missouri Western in a 5:30 p.m. makeup game at Lee Arena.
The Ichabods are on a four-game winning streak overall and will take a record of 9-9 (7-5 MIAA) into Tuesday's game after winning a 98-93 overtime shootout against Central Oklahoma on Saturday.
Missouri Western is 16-3 overall and 10-3 in the MIAA.
The Washburn-Missouri Western game was originally scheduled to be played on Jan. 8, but was postponed to COVID-19 protocols.
The Griffons have also won four in a row and are coming off an 84-53 victory against Lincoln.
Washburn senior Hunter Bentley is coming off a 20-point game in Saturday's 98-93 overtime MIAA victory over Central Oklahoma. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn senior Hunter Bentley ranks 14th in the MIAA with a team-high 12.8 scoring average for the Ichabods. She scored 20 points for the third time this season on Saturday.
Abby Oliver ranks second on WU in scoring with and 8.4 average and adds 4.2 rebounds off the bench. Oliver has scored in double-digits in four of her last five games.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Like all bowlers, Shawnee Heights senior Karli Gilliland is always looking for higher scores.
But Gilliland was happy about Monday's girls individual and team championships in Shawnee Heights' Senior Day quadrangular at Gage Bowl and now will focus on trying to build off that performance over the final month of the 2022 season.
Gilliland rolled a three-game series of 554 to win the girls individual title while teammate Samara Colon finished second with a 518 series as the T-Birds won the team title by 119 pins over runner-up Lawrence (1,961-1,842).
Shawnee Heights bowlng coach Scott Mercer talks to his T-Birds earlier this season. Heights won the girls title in Monday's Senior Day quadrangular at Gage Bowl while the boys finished fourth. [File photo/TSN]
Gilliland got off to a slow start Monday, but was pleased with her day overall.
"I think I definitely could have done better my first game -- it was like 155 I think -- but after that I got pretty good so I'm pretty proud,'' Gilliland said.
Now Gilliland wants to continue to improve, with the United Kansas Conference and postseason tournaments coming up in the near future.
"My goal is to make it state,'' Gilliland said. "I just want to improve my game.''
West’s Brooks, Rural’s Johnson tapped as first Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Athletes of the Week
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By RICK PETERSON 
TopSports.news
Topeka West senior boys basketball star Elijah Brooks and Washburn Rural senior wrestling standout Jaliah Johnson have been named the first Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Athletes of the Week honorees.
Brooks had a record-setting week for the 12-1 Chargers while Johnson won an individual title and helped lead the Junior Blues to the team championship in the state’s largest girls high school wrestling tournament.
Here’s a brief looks at the accomplishments of Brooks and Johnson last week:
ELIJAH BROOKS, Topeka West
A 6-foot-4 senior, Brooks scored a total of 76 points in two victories as the 12-1 Chargers pushed their winning streak to 11 games.
Topeka West senior Eljjah Brooks has been named the first Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Boys Athlete of the Week after scoring 76 points in two Charger wins last week, including a 43-point outing. [File photo/TSN]
Brooks scored 43 points in 67-66 overtime victory over Junction City last Tuesday and followed that up with a 33-point performance in Friday’s 74-58 win over Seaman, with the Chargers, ranked second in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, avenging their only loss of the season.
In Friday night's victory Brooks became Topeka West's career scoring leader, moving past 2000 graduate Luke Dwyer, who scored 1,235 points. Brooks, who has scored 30 or more points in five straight games, has now scored 1,250 points at West.
Washburn Rural senior 155-pound wrestler Jaliah Johnson has been named the first Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Girls Athlete of the Week after winning an individual title and helping lead the Junior Blues to the team title in last Saturday's Washburn Rural Invitational. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
JALIAH JOHNSON, Washburn Rural
A senior, Johnson is a two-time state medalist who has helped lead Washburn Rural to back-to-back state team championships.
On Saturday Johnson captured the 155-pound individual championship while leading the Junior Blues to the team title by a 293-175.5 margin over Burlington in a tournament that included 32 schools, approximately 280 competitors, seven state-ranked teams and 46 individually-ranked wrestlers.
Johnson, second-ranked in the Class 6A-5A state rankings by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association, won her title with a pin at the 4:13 mark over Olathe Northwest sophomore Chloe Harris in the championship match, improving to 31-1 on the season.
Johnson placed third at 191 pounds in the state tournament as a sophomore and was third at 170 pounds last season before moving down to 155 this winter.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Elijah Brooks
ELIJAH BROOKS, Topeka West
A 6-foot-4 senior, Brooks had 43 and 33-point games in boys basketball victories over Junction City (67-66 in overtime) and Seaman (74-58) last week as 12-1 Topeka West, ranked second in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, pushed its winning streak to 11 games. In Friday night's Centennial League victory over Seaman Brooks became Topeka West's career scoring leader, moving past 2000 graduate Luke Dwyer, who scored 1,235 points. Brooks, who has scored 30 or more points in five straight games, has now scored 1,250 points at West.
Emma Krueger
EMMA KRUEGER, Washburn Rural
Krueger, a 5-11 senior, was named the most valuable player in the Lady Firebirds Winter Classic at Lawrence Free State after helping lead sixth-ranked Washburn Rural to the tournament championship. Krueger turned in an outstanding defensive effort in Rural's 3-0 week as the Junior Blues posted a 57-30 win over Leavenworth before knocking off No. 3-ranked Derby (54-37) and No. 1 Shawnee Mission East (47-38). Krueger scored 26 points in the tournament, including 10 in the championship game as Rural improved to 12-1 while pushing its winning streak to seven games.
