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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Rossville boys basketball bounced back from a Big East League loss against Hiawatha with a 65-42 home league romp past Riley County Tuesday night.
The Bulldawgs, ranked No. 6 in Class 2A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, improved to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the league with Tuesday's victory.
Brandon McDonnell's Rossville boys basketball team improved to 5-2 Tuesday night with a 65-42 romp past Riley County. [File photo/TSN]
Senior Kameron Badura paced three Rossville players in double figures with 18 points.
Junior Jack Donovan added 16 points and junior Cameron Miller 13 for the Bulldawgs.
Rossville's girls fell to 3-4 overall and 0-4 in the Big East with a 55-33 loss to the Falcons.
Senior Mikey Williams scored 20 points in Highland Park's 86-42 win over KC-Sumner Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
Top-ranked Hi Park boys keep rolling with 86-42 win
Highland Park's boys, No. 1-ranked in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, improved to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Meadowlark Conference with an 86-42 road romp past Kansas City-Sumner Tuesday night.
The Hi Park win was its second in as many nights and the Scots will play their third game of the week at KC-Harmon on Friday.
Senior Mikey Williams led Highland Park with 20 points against Sumner while senior Ja'Corey Robinson added 19 points and senior Elijah Thomas 17.
Highland Park sophomore Pearmella Carter scored 23 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in the Scots' 54-42 win over KC-Sumner. [File photo/TSN]
Carter posts huge double-double in Hi Park girls win
Sophomore Pearmella Carter scored 23 points and grabbed 20 rebounds as Highland Park improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the Meadowlark Conference with a 54-42 win at Kansas City-Sumner Tuesday night.
Carter grabbed 13 of her 20 rebounds on the offensive end and also had 3 assists and 3 steals for the Scots.
Senior Tahtionna Broils added 8 points for the Scots.
Piper earns home UKC sweep over Shawnee Heights
The No. 2-ranked (Class 5A) Piper boys rolled to a 67-50 United Kansas Conference victory over No. 4 Shawnee Heights while the Pirate girls, No. 5 in 5A, took a 73-49 win over the T-Birds.
Piper's boys improved to 6-1 overall and 5-1 in the UKC while Shawnee Heights fell to 5-2, 4-2.
The Piper girls improved to 6-1, 5-1 while Heights dropped to 4-4, 4-3.
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By NICHOLAS GAINEY
Special to TopSports.news
Despite a strong first-quarter performance, the Washburn Rural boys basketball team fell 52-46 to Blue Valley West in a Tuesday night non-conference game at Washburn Rural.
Washburn Rural senior Kaden Ballard scored 15 points with three 3-pointers in Tuesday's 52-46 home non-league loss to Blue Valley West. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The visiting Jaguars held a small 5-2 advantage in the opening minutes, but the Junior Blues’ offense quickly came to life.
The hosts took back the lead with a 9-0 run that included a pair of 3-pointers from senior Kaden Ballard.
Blue Valley West would cut the lead to three, but the Junior Blues scored the final seven points of the quarter to take a 20-10 lead after eight minutes.
Washburn Rural featured intense defensive pressure, forcing six turnovers in the period.
In the second quarter, the teams were evenly matched, with the Junior Blues starting to cool off from the field.
Blue Valley West was able to cut the lead down to six, but Washburn Rural added a 3-pointer and a free throw before the break to maintain a 10-point lead heading into the locker room.
The Junior Blues lead began to dwindle in the third quarter, with the Jaguars putting together better offensive possessions and limiting turnovers.
Blue Valley West center Tyler Peterson finished a layup with a foul early in the period, knocking down the free throw to complete the 3-point play and cut the deficit to six.
The Jaguars would get back within two following a 3-pointer from Luke Goodale a few minutes later.
The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes, with Washburn Rural’s Simon Rowley knocking down a turnaround jumper from the free throw line to give the Junior Blues a 37-32 lead entering the final period.
After showing signs of life in the third quarter, Blue Valley West took control of the game in the final eight minutes.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The boys basketball teams from Topeka West and Seaman couldn’t be much more evenly matched, judging by their two United Kansas Conferencee meetings this season.
Junior Malakyah Duncan (12) hit the game-winning free throws with 8.5 seconds remaining, giving Topeka West a 59-57 UKC win at Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Avenging a 60-57 loss at Topeka West in mid-December, the Chargers went to Seaman Tuesday night and won in the final seconds, 59-57.
After falling into a huge hole early, the Chargers crept back, taking their first lead of the night with 1:20 left in the third period. The teams swapped leads until Seaman junior sharpshooter Landon Wiltz dropped in a shot from about 35 feet from the basket to tie it at 57-57 with 50 seconds remaining.
Topeka West junior playmaker Malakyah Duncan attacked the goal and drew a foul with 8.5 seconds left. He nailed both free throws to give the Chargers the come-from-behind win.
The win lifted Topeka West to 4-2 on the season and also in the UKC. Seaman dropped to 5-2 overall and in the conference. Seaman was ranked seventh in the latest Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Class 5A rankings, while the Chargers were eighth.
“This was huge, not just for the UKC standings but also sub-state,” first-year Topeka West coach Christan Ulsaker said. “Anytime you can notch a win against the team that you’re kind of battling for a home court (playoff) game, it’s a plus.”
A team can’t start a game much hotter than Seaman did Tuesday. The Vikings hit 10 of 13 attempts in the first period, including five 3-pointers. They bolted to a 26-12 lead that could have demoralized the visiting Chargers.
“I wanted to start hot, but that wasn’t the case,” Ulsaker said. “I told them at the end of the first quarter that basketball is a game of runs. They’ve heard it a thousand times from me that if you can withstand their runs, we’d make our own.
“Seaman is so well coached. They got some great players in (KaeVon) Bonner and (Bryer) Finley and our guys really stepped up and took it to them throughout the game.”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
Ranked atop Class 5A, the Seaman girls are doing everything they can to stay sharp despite the long holiday, snow and ice, and an up-and-down schedule.
Senior Ava Esser led a balanced Seaman attack with 15 points in Tuesday's 71-29 UKC win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Tuesday night the Vikings put their foot on the gas in the second half to run away from Topeka West 71-29 at Seaman.
The Chargers were within 16 points early in the second half. But Seaman turned it on and ran its record to 7-0, with all seven wins coming in the United Kansas Conference.
The defending state champs know what it takes to reach the pinnacle, and coach Matt Tinsley isn’t letting the team take its focus off the ultimate goal.
“We don’t talk about the number one ranking or anything like that, because really that doesn’t matter,” Tinsley said. “We’ve only got 20 practices before sub-state. We’ve got to make those 20 practices where we’re getting better. We can’t afford to take two steps forward and two steps back.”
The Christmas vacation, compounded by snow days, threatened to throw the plan off schedule.
“We haven’t had a lot of conditioning,” the coach said. “Just over Christmas break when I thought we were getting in shape, we had to take five days off.”
The Vikings shook off some of the rust Tuesday, getting balanced scoring up and down the lineup. Nine Vikings scored, with five players contributing nine or more points.
Leading the way with 15 points was senior post Ava Esser, who helped lead Seaman to 5A state runners-up in volleyball in the fall.
“She’s a weapon inside, who we’ve got to throw the ball to,” Tinsley said. “She showed us what she can do when she gets it down there.”
“I’m pleased by how I’ve developed, and I definitely give credit to my coaches for all that they’ve done for me and for pushing me to be the player I can be,” said Esser, who will play volleyball at Johnson County Community College upon graduation. “I try to be there for when my teammates need me. I’m more (focused) on rebounds and helping my teammates get their shots. We’re more of a guard-team, so I just try to do my part.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Longtime former Washburn Rural teacher and tennis coach Kevin Hedberg, Brenda Holaday's 2008 Class 6A state championship softball team and the late Michael Brennan, a Rural graduate and world-renowned musician and composer, will be inducted into the Washburn Rural Hall of Fame Friday night at Rural.
A social hour will be held from 4:30-5 p.m. in the WRHS cafeteria, followed by the induction ceremony from 5-7 p.m. The inductees will also be recognized at halfcourt between the girls and boys varsity basketball games against Emporia.
2025 WRHS Hall of Fame inductees:
2008 GIRLS SOFTBALL TEAM -- Coach Brenda Holaday's Junior Blues won the 2008 Class 6A championship at Hummer Sports Park. The team defeated Olathe Northwest in the championship game by a score of 2-1 and finished with an overall record of 23-2. During the State Tournament, the team did not allow a single earned run and gave up only one run in three games. The Junior Blues also won Centennial League and regional championships. The title was the second state championship for the softball program, which also won titles in 1995 and 2014. Holaday was named the Kansas softball coach of the Year in 2008 and Paige Ladenburger was named the Gatorade Player of the Year. Many of Rural's softball players played more than one sport at Rural and their ability to multitask, be team players, develop tremendous leadership skills and build great work ethic has contributed to their adult life and the impact they continue to have on others and in this community. Four of the 2008 players went on to earn their medical doctorate degrees in their chosen field, three became nurses or work in the medical field, two became teachers in USD 437, and four became business leaders. Seven of the 13 went on to play college ball. Coach Holaday left Washburn Rural in 2016 after being a part of all three state championships and posting a 351-93 record, 14 Centennial League championships and 16 6A state tournaments. In her 19 years of coaching at Rural Holday was named Centennial League and City Coach of the Year nine times. Holaday took over the reins at Washburn University’s softball program before the 2017 season. Her teams have won two MIAA Conference titles, appeared in three NCAA tournaments and she has been named MIAA Coach of the Year twice.
