Jon Thomas had one thought immediately jump into his mind when he saw the bracket for this year’s Nemaha Central Thunder Classic.
 
“It was almost scary good,” the Nemaha Central coach said.
 
And he was right. Nemaha Central went into the tournament unblemished with a 9-0 record which in many years easily would have earned the Thunder the No. 1 overall seed. They still got it, but there was plenty of competition for that spot with St. Marys entering the tournament 8-0 and Rock Creek boasting a 6-0 record.
 
“Having three undefeateds, I don’t know that this tournament has ever had three undefeateds coming into it,” Thomas said. “Not that I can remember. And then Troy is having a good year, too. Yeah it was concerning as far of who you might be facing and how good a team you’d be facing.”
 
Whatever concerns Thomas might have had, his team did more than enough to alleviate them with its performance over the tournament’s three days. The Thunder had little trouble advancing to the championship game, beating Hiawatha 52-32 in the quarterfinals and then handling one-loss Troy 49-30 in the semifinals.
 
St. Marys knocked off Rock Creek 61-55 in its semifinal battle of unbeatens, but Nemaha Central denied the Bears a second straight such victory in the finals. Holding down the Bears’ shooters in the title game, the Thunder avenged a 2024 title-game loss to St. Marys with a 53-45 win.
 
Nemaha held St. Marys scoreless over the last 4:50 of the third quarter to build a 15-point lead going into the fourth quarter before holding off the Bears in the final period and moving to 12-0 on the season.
 
“It was a challenge we were ready for and needed,” Thomas said. “The boys really stepped up on Saturday and took it to another level. We knew going in it was a game we were going to learn a lot about ourselves and that’s going to help us in the long run.
 
“Our length caused them a lot of trouble.”
 

 
Kaden Peterson scored 14 points in the title game while Colby Frehe had 13 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots and Evan Olberding added 11 points and 4 steals. Frehe also had 12 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks against Troy and 10 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks against Hiawatha and Kalem Schmelzle added 12 points against Troy.
 
Nemaha Central was 16-7 a year ago, battling inconsistent offense for much of the season. But the Thunder found themselves late in the season and in their Class 3A sub-state they knocked off Rossville in the semifinals 59-42 and then had top-seeded Beloit on the ropes in the championship game before falling 47-40.
 
Returning seven seniors this season as well as some seasoned underclassmen, Nemaha Central was able to somewhat hit the ground running this season. The offensive inconsistency that plagued the Thunder at times a year ago have been minimal this season with the Thunder averaging 52.9 points per game.
 
But it’s been the defensive end where the Thunder have really made their living this season with opponents averaging just 31.7 points per game. St. Marys was the first team to score above 40 points on the Thunder all season.
 
“Defensively, it’s surprised me more than anything,” Thomas said. “I didn’t take into account how long we would be and I think our length has caused some people a lot of trouble. And we’re quick with that length. Our feet are pretty quick. Offensively I think we’re doing about what I thought we’d do, but it’s been the defensive end that’s really been big for us.”
 
Nemaha Central has had only two games decided by less than 10 points, the other a nine-point win over Sabetha prior to the tournament. The Thunder have another date with St. Marys in mid-February.
 
But right now, they’re on a roll and Thomas has liked what he’s seen, maybe even surprised.
 
“Did I think we’d be undefeated? No. Did I think we’d be holding teams to 31 points a game. No,” he said. “I think this title gives us a huge amount of confidence. Slowly they’ve started to believe in themselves and more and more every ball game and with that performance on Saturday, they guys are really a lot more confident than they were before.
 
“The toughest part of our schedule is coming up and we’re going to have to be confident in the last half of the season.”
 

 
AXTELL SENIORS MAKE HISTORY ON BASKETBALL COURT WITH THIRD STRAIGHT TVL TITLE
 
Doing things that haven’t been done before is nothing new for Axtell’s senior class.
 
After all, this is the group that’s delivered four straight undefeated Eight-Player Division II state championships for the school – something that’s never been done in state history at the eight-player level.
 
So it’s hardly a shocker that the Eagles pulled off a first in last week’s Twin Valley League Tournament at Frankfort. In beating rival Hanover 70-61 in the championship game, Axtell secured it third straight league tournament title. Since the inception of the league tournament in the 1996-97 season, no team has been able to accomplish that feat in the ultra-competitive TVL.
 
“It just shows that we’re not only a football school,” Axtell senior Brandon Schmelzle said. “We’ve got the guys and we’re really good at basketball too. This league is tremendous and to be able to do something like this is just a great accomplishment.”
 
For the second straight year, Hanover stood in the way of Axtell and its unprecedented third straight league tournament title. The Wildcats came in as the top seed with the two schools not yet having met during regular season league play.
 
Both worked their way back to the finals, Hanover beating Doniphan West 70-56 and Clifton-Clyde 58-48 and Axtell topping Linn 53-33 and Centralia 46-31.
 
Whether it was a case of knowing that they could make history or just the fire of playing their rival, the Eagles came out flying at the start of the title game. Eli Broxterman hit a pair of early 3-pointers, Schmelzle and Logan Sandmann powered their way to easy buckets inside and Colin Shaughnessy polished off an electric first quarter with a baseline 3-pointer that staked Axtell to a 25-10 lead.
 
“We talked about getting out early because we knew they were going to make runs at us all night long,” Axtell coach Jayson Tynon said. “We knew that starting fast was going to be huge momentum for us and the kids bought into that and came out and did what we expected them to do.”
 
The early surge proved critical as the rest of the game became the battle that was anticipated. Broxterman cooled off, Schmelzle got into foul trouble and Hanover slowly worked its way back into the game, butting Axtell’s lead to nine points by halftime. 
 
Axtell weathered the storm and never let Hanover get closer than six points in the second half, eventually settling for the nine-point victory after leading by 12 going into the fourth quarter.
 
While Schmelzle and Broxterman have been the leaders throughout their careers, it’s the emergence of their supporting cast that could be a difference maker for Axtell in the postseason this year.
 
Shaughnessy missed time early this season with a broken foot, but has come back strong and scored 15 points in the title game to share team-high honors with Sandmann, who could really be the X-factor to the Eagles’ postseason hopes. At 6-foot-4, the sophomore has established himself as a presence inside to be accounted for, which can open things up for the likes of Schmelzle, Broxterman, Shaughnessy and guard Landon Schmitz.
 
“We haven’t had an inside presence like that,” Tynon said. “Last year, we knew Logan had that ability but he hadn’t grown into his body yet. We worked him in at some guard to get him acclimated to the varsity game and this summer he worked a ton and he’s just able to control that game in the post better. We love where he’s at and his presence on the court for us.”
 

 
All five Eagle starters scored in double figures in the championship game.
 
“We’ve got four guys averaging in double figures, which is a luxury at our level,” Tynon said. “If they want to take away one, we’ve got others who can step up and get it done.”
 
Axtell’s only loss this season came against Auburn (Neb.) and the nine-point win over Hanover in the tourney finals is the Eagles’ only win by less than double digits. Only two other wins have been by less than 20 points.
 
Second showdowns with Hanover and Centralia await over the last half of the season and Tynon said his team is still far from a completed product.
 
“We haven’t really put together four full quarters,” he said. “Once we do that, we can reach our ceiling. But you don’t want to be peaking right now. Our ceiling is really high and we’re excited about that.”
 
It’s high enough that the Eagles are determined to be known for more than just their gridiron greatness. And that’s completing the quest for a state basketball title after taking fourth in 2023 and third a year ago at the state tourney.
 
“It would mean everything to our seniors to improve on our legacy of what we’ve done here at Axtell by getting a state title in basketball, too,” Broxterman said. “It would mean everything to us.”
 

 
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS FINALLY GETS ELUSIVE SM WEST TOURNEY TITLE
 
Getting to the championship game of Shawnee Mission West Viking Classic is nothing new for Shawnee Heights.
 
Saturday’s title-game appearance was the third in four years for the T-Birds since they joined the tournament after previously going to the Ralph Miller Classic in Chanute.
 
But getting a title at the West tourney has been something that’s eluded the T-Birds. Make that, had been.
 
Taking on traditional Class 6A power Blue Valley North in the tourney finals for the second straight year, Heights got its revenge and got it in a big way. After a tight first quarter, the T-Birds methodically pulled away and turned the game into a one-sided affair, finishing with a 68-41 blowout of the Mustangs, who had suffered only one other loss to a Kansas team this season prior to the tourney.
 
“Probably one of the biggest wins for me at Shawnee Heights,” veteran T-Bird coach Ken Darting said. “That team is really good. It was just a great effort from everybody that played. In all three games.”
 
Jaret Sanchez led the T-Birds with 21 points in the title game while JaiMarion Cook added 12 (4 3-pointers) and Ontarius Emmott had 11.
 
Heights opened the tourney with a 67-39 win over Shawnee Mission West and then fought past Ozark (Mo.) 65-52 in the semifinals. In last year’s finals, Blue Valley North beat Heights 82-64 but the T-Birds flipped the script this time around.
 
“We’d taken second at that tournament two of the last three seasons so it was great to get it done this year,” Darting said. “We need to take advantage of the championship by building on it. Jaret led the way, but all made major contributions. We’re getting consistent 3-point shooting from (Deacon) Pomeroy, Cook and Emmot along with Sanchez. And (Javeon) Alston, (Cam) Ross, (Tyren) Parker, (Aiden) Scott and (Daquan) Lee are giving us great play on the defensive end and on the boards. The whole group is making great strides in playing their role.”
 

 
HIGHLAND PARK GETS BACK ON TOP AT THE TOPEKA INVITATIONAL
 
The only regular-season loss Highland Park has suffered over the past two-plus seasons came a year ago when the Scots were upset in the championship game of the Topeka Invitational Tournament by Wichita Northwest.
 
While the Scots weren’t able to get payback against the Grizzlies in the tournament this year with Northwest opting to play in the Valley Center January Jam instead, they got something perhaps just as nice. A chance to play a familiar rival.
 
Members of the same USD 509 district, Highland Park and Topeka West hadn’t faced each other on the basketball court since 2022 when both were still members of the Centennial League. But after the Scots beat Shawnee Mission North 62-50 and Lawrence 52-41 and West topped Lansing 76-56 and Olathe East 71-59, the matchup materialized.
 
The high-flying Scots never really saw their offense take off in the championship game. But their defense was spot on, holding West to a season-low 41 points in taking a hard-fought 44-41 victory.
 
“Winning the TIT is huge for us going forward,” Highland Park coach Michael Williams said. “The chance to practice playing three games in three nights which mimics the state tournament is a great experience for your team prior. We were able to play against game styles that really gave us opportunities to grow in our system. We guarded it well all week.”
 
Highland Park led 19-14 in a low-scoring first half and extended the lead to eight in the third quarter before West roared back to get within one by the end of the third and take a one-point lead early in the fourth. But Ja’Corey Robinson threw down a dunk, was fouled and converted the three-point play to put the Scots back up for good and the Scots hit just enough free throws down the stretch to hold off the Chargers, who got within one twice but never could reclaim the lead.
 
Mikey Williams scored 15 points for game-high honors in the title game, sinking key free throws late to seal the victory. He was named tournament MVP after also scoring 21 and 16 in the first two games. Robinson had games of 19, 14 and 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the title game.
 
“Mikey had a very good weekend and is really coming into his own,” Michael Williams said. “He plays both sides of the ball, he’s super competitive and when stakes are the highest, he plays his best.”
 
Robinson was an all-tournament team pick as were West’s Keimani Paul and Kamori Ford.
 

HAYDEN COMES UP BIG WITH BALDWIN INVITATIONAL TITLE
 
Hayden wasn’t exactly on a roll going into last week’s Baldwin Invitational.
 
The Wildcats had dropped three of its previous four games since the start of January, the lone win coming against Topeka High. Granted, those three losses came to 6A schools Washburn Rural and Manhattan and 5A Shawnee Heights, but the Wildcats were definitely in need of a little pick-me-up.
 
They found it in a somewhat unlikely spot. Going up against a strong field at the Baldwin Invitational, Hayden played arguably its best basketball of the season.
 
The Wildcats opened the tourney with a 63-50 win over defending Class 3A state champion Wellsville. They finished pool play with a 74-34 blowout of Augusta. That set up a showdown with Class 4A No. 4 Baldwin in the title game.
 
Hayden got out fast, leading 14-8 at the end of the first quarter and stretched the lead to 31-20 by halftime. Baldwin never made a serious charge and though Cooper Carr went off for 26 points, Hayden held the rest of the team to just 23 in taking a 63-49 victory.
 
The tournament title pushed Hayden to 7-5 on the season.
 
“While the tournament victory was great, we are equally excited about the opportunity to continue to level up and compete,” Hayden coach Dwayne Anthony said. “Even during our three pre-tournament losses, these young men stayed determined and eager to improve. We plan to carry this momentum into the second half of the season and consistently compete at a high level.”
 
Mason Becker scored 20 points in the championship game while James Kuta added 19 and Connor Hanika chipped in 15, all three making the all-tournament team. Kuta averaged 14 points and 7 rebounds per game at the tourney while Hanika averaged 13 points and 6 rebounds and Becker added 12 points a game.
 

 
HEALTHY OSAGE CITY WINS FIRST FLINTHILLS SHOOTOUT TITLE SINCE 2021
 
For a tradition-rich program like Osage City has, a 7-14 season a year ago was a tough pill to swallow.
 
And when the Indians started this season 1-5, well, it wasn’t getting any easier.
 
But if there was a positive to last year’s struggles, it was that veteran coach Dennis Fort got a lot of younger kids playing time in hopes of having them ready to turn things around this season. And if there was a silver lining to this year’s rough start, it was that the Indians were missing a key piece to that equation after returning Reed Silver was out with a broken collarbone suffered in the final football game in the fall.
 
Silver returned after the Christmas break and with the sophomore point guard in the lineup, Osage City has quickly turned things around. The Indians have won six straight since the start of January and last week showed exactly how different of a team they are in capturing the Flinthills Shootout title, avenging December losses along the way.
 
“Having him back has had a huge impact on our team,” Fort said. “Before Christmas, we had some kids playing in positions they were not completely comfortable with. He is running the point and others have moved into their natural positions.”
 
Going into the tournament as the No. 5 seed, Osage City drew a Chase County team it had lost 90-87 in overtime to in the season opener. In the rematch, the Indians shut down the Bulldogs to the tune of a 49-41 victory, holding them to just 12 first-half points.
 
Facing top-seeded Council Grove in the semifinals, the Indians continued their defensive prowess, holding the Braves to their lowest point total of the season in a 55-26 blowout. The Indians put up 21 points in the first quarter on the strength of five 3-pointers, two from Kasen Parsons, who finished with 24 points.
 
In the title game, Osage City got another shot at revenge, taking on a Mission Valley team that had beaten them 64-57 before Christmas. Parsons once again got off to a fast start, scoring 11 in the first quarter and 19 in the first half as the Indians took a commanding 37-20 halftime lead and went on to a 53-36 win. 
 
Parsons finished with 29 points and averaged 25.7 points per game in the tourney.
 
The title was the first at the tourney for the Indians since 2021.
 
“Defensively, we are really starting to figure out how to get after it,” Fort said. “It has been the deciding factor in our level of improvement.”
 

 
SANTA FE TRAIL PICKS UP SECOND TOURNEY TITLE OF SEASON
 
Santa Fe Trail already had one tournament championship on its resume before heading to the Royal Valley Panther Classic last week.
 
The Chargers won the Ike Cearfoss Invitational at Central Heights in early December, beating Pioneer League rival Iola 56-31 in the championship game.
 
But getting the Panther Classic title was something the Chargers really wanted, having not won the four-team round robin since 2019. And despite a somewhat slow start, that’s exactly what the Chargers got.
 
Trail topped St. Mary’s Academy 43-28 to start the tournament and then followed with a 76-58 win over host Royal Valley and capped the tourney with a 66-30 romp past Chapman to go 3-0 and take the title.
 
“As a team, we played sub-par in our first game,” Charger coach Thatcher Decker said. “But then we put together two of our best performance as a team.”
 
Jalen Smith led the way for Trail with double-doubles in all three tourney games. He had 15 points and 14 rebounds against St. Mary’s Academy, 26 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists against Royal Valley and 20 points and 17 rebounds against Chapman. Freshman Rigley Sleichter added a pair of big games with 26 points, 5 assists and 7 3-pointers against Royal Valley and 15 points and 8 assists against Chapman.
 
Santa Fe Trail is now 10-1 on the season.
 

 
RURAL VISTA ROLLS TO COUGAR CLASSIC TITLE
 
It’s been a long time coming for Rural Vista to hold the championship plaque at the Cougar Classic at Centre.
 
But the Heat left little doubt that time had come last week.
 
Going in as the tourney’s No. 1 seed, the Heat backed it up in a big way. Rural Vista opened with a 55-25 rout of Wakefield, getting scoring from 10 different players, and then got points from 12 players in a 73-25 semifinal romp past Peabody.
 
In the finals, Rural Vista found itself locked in a tight battle with third-seeded Marion at halftime, but used a 16-0 run to start the third quarter to blow the game open. Kole Riedy scored the first eight points of the decisive spurt and the Heat went on to cruise to a 57-41 victory.
 
The championship was the first at the tournament for Rural Vista since 2014.

"To end that long drought was big for our program," Rural Vista coach Adam Sobba said. "We played well throughout the week and had to find different ways to win each game but it the end it really came down to our ability to lock in on the defensive side of the ball and get stops."

Riedy finished with 18 points, 4 steals, 4 assists and 4 rebounds in the title game while Kaiden Carpenter added 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals and Nathen Traynor had 7 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
 
Rural Vista improved to 9-2 and will get some big tests in the next couple weeks with games against Wabaunsee, Elyria Christian and Ell-Saline with the latter two finishing 1-2 at the Eli J. Walter Tournament at Berean Academy last week.
 

 
ROSSVILLE TAKES VALLEY FALLS TITLE
 
For the second straight year, Rossville and Perry-Lecompton met in the finals of the Valley Falls Invitational, which last year was hosted by Oskaloosa.
 
And for the second straight year, Rossville took care of the Kaws, who are now Big East League rivals of the Bulldawgs after the merger of the Big Seven and Mid-East Leagues in the offseason.
 
After taking a dominant 57-37 win in last year’s tourney title game, Rossville had to gut out a 49-41 win to successfully defend its title.
 
The win avenged a 10-point loss to Perry a week earlier.
 
Kameron Badura scored 21 in the championship game and averaged 17 points per game at the tourney. Jack Donovan and Cameron Miller were both all-tournament team selections, each scoring 9 in the championship game.
 
Rossville advanced to the championship game with wins over Jefferson County North (76-24) and the Northeast Kansas Nighthawks (66-60).
 
 
OTHER BOYS BASKETBALL STANDOUTS

• Silver Lake finished runner-up at the Burlington Invitational, falling 67-38 in the championship game. The Eagles survived a wild 97-88 triple-overtime win over Burlington in the semifinals with Dayne Johnson and Jared Johnson each scoring 28 and Brody Deiter adding 21. Dayne Johnson had 19 in the title game and 21 in the first round win over Labette County and Jared Johnson scored 25 against Labette, both earning a spot on the all-tournament team.
• Burlington finished third at the tourney, rebounding from the 3OT loss to Silver Lake to beat Paola 70-57 for third as Sage Fefjar scored a career-high 31 points and Mason Collins added 12. Fefjar hit a pair of milestones at the tournament, getting his 1,000th career point and 500th career rebound. He led the tourney in scoring and was an all-tournament team pick and has recorded a double-double in every game this season, averaging 17.2 points and 13.6 rebounds per game.
• In leading Clifton-Clyde to a third-place finish at the Twin Valley League Tournament, Jack Skocny scored his 1,000th career point during a semifinal loss to Hanover. Skocny scored 81 points in the three tournament games and is averaging 27.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game this season.
• Piper knocked off Class 6A No. 2 Wichita Heights in the semifinals of the Dodge City Tournament of Champions and nearly took down a second undefeated team in Derby in the finals, falling 81-75 in double overtime in the championship game. Alamar Brooks had 19 points and 9 rebounds in the upset of Heights and PJ Moore scored 26 in the opening round win over Andover Central. 
• Lebo’s Zach Oswald went over 1,000 career points on Jan. 17, scoring 31 points and grabbing 22 rebounds in the Wolves’ 65-55 win over Northern Heights. He followed with 16 points and 18 rebounds in a 37-27 win over Hartford the next game and then had 22 points and 25 rebounds in a 54-40 win over Marais des Cygnes Valley. Oswald capped his big week with 18 points and 13 rebounds in a 50-22 win over Waverly last Friday.
• Lansing placed fifth at the Topeka Invitational Tournament, rebounding from a first-round loss to Topeka West to beat Topeka High and Wichita Southeast. In the overtime win over Southeast, Mehki Stephens scored 22 points and had 12 rebounds for a double-double. Against Topeka High, Reece Mattingly grabbed 14 rebounds. Mattingly was named to the all-tournament team.
• In a 71-44 win over Chapman at the Royal Valley Panther Classic, Royal Valley’s Carson Beam tied a school record by hitting 9 3-pointers, matching the 1999 performance by Kenny Schell.
• Seaman took third at the Valley Center January Jam, rebounding from a loss to eventual champion Blue Valley in the semifinals to top host Valley Center in the third-place game. Bryer Finley and KaeVon Bonner were each named to the all-tournament team.
• Northern Heights’ Kelton Bish recorded a double-double last week with career-bests of 23 points and 11 rebounds.