Centralia’s resume for the 2024-25 girls basketball season already was looking pretty impressive.
 
The Panthers opened the season with a 22-point win over Nemaha Central and then picked up tight wins over St. Marys (54-45) and Silver Lake (68-58), the latter of those ending the Eagles’ 28-game winning streak.
 
Centralia added late-December wins over Twin Valley League challengers Valley Heights and Clifton-Clyde, beating the Eagles by nearly 30 points.
 
Yet even in that start for the No. 2 team in Class 1A Division I, Centralia coach Dusty Thompson saw plenty of room for improvement. Particularly in one area.
 
“We talked before Christmas that our third quarter was our worst quarter we’d played in all five games,” he said.
 
If Centralia’s performance at the Twin Valley League Tournament is any indication, the Panthers have gone a long ways toward curing that ill. After cruising past Axtell in the tourney opener, Centralia used a 21-6 third quarter against Doniphan West in the semifinals to break open a seven-point halftime lead and roll into the finals with a 62-34 victory.
 
But it was Saturday’s title game where the Panthers really made arguably their biggest statement of the season. Facing Class 1A Division II No. 1 and fellow unbeaten Hanover, Centralia delivered a big-time performance.
 
Already up 36-25 at halftime on the Wildcats, Centralia dropped the hammer in the third quarter. Standout guard Oen Deters hit three 3-pointers in the quarter, Josie Haverkamp powered her way to eight points inside and Hayden Kramer came up with a trio of baskets as Centralia hung 30 points on Hanover in the period to blow the game open on their way to an impressive 71-43 victory.
 
“We weren’t expecting that, but I’m glad we did that,” Deters said of the blowout victory that gave Centralia its second straight league tournament title and third in the last four years. “I think it says a lot about this team. I’m just so proud of everybody on this team and I hope it carries over to next Friday when we’ll see them again.”
 

 
The title game was everything it was hyped to be in the first quarter as Hanover and Centralia traded blows throughout. Kramer got a putback at the buzzer to put Centralia up 16-14, but there was nothing to indicate what was about to happen over the next two quarters.
 
Already with seven first-quarter points, Deters added eight more in the second as Centralia finally began to hit a bit of an offensive rhythm. But she also picked up her third foul and had to spend the last three minutes of the period on the bench.
 
Instead of faltering without their unquestioned leader, Centralia rose to the occasion and with Haverkamp scoring five, Kramer four and Tatum Kramer hitting a big 3-pointer, the Panthers were able to stretch their lead with Deters on the pine to an 11-point halftime lead.
 
“We probably played more that stretch in the second with girls off the bench than we had all season long,” Thompson said. “But through the course of the ball game you have to fight through adversity and things go wrong, and the girls stepped on the floor with some confidence and were able to get through it.”

The momentum going into halftime was nothing like the wave Centralia hit Hanover with in that third quarter. Hanover’s bread and butter throughout its recent run of success that’s included back-to-back Division II state championships, has been its ability to relentlessly pressure opponents into mistakes and use their depth and athleticism to wear them down.
 
In Saturday’s championship game, Centralia not only was able to counter the Wildcats’ tenaciousness but gave them a bit of their own medicine. Hanover never found an offensive rhythm and wasn’t able to fluster the Panthers, who not only found their rhythm, but were in a pretty serious groove, playing arguably their best quarter of basketball in quite some time.
 
“It just felt awesome,” said Deters, who finished with 5 3-pointers in the game, four coming in the second half, on her way to a game-high 27 points. “At halftime, we were in some foul trouble, but we knew what we needed to do. If we want to win games, we have to come out with our defense and when that starts flowing, our offense starts flowing, too. And that showed.”
 

 
Haverkamp finished with 15 points and Hayden Kramer added 14 to back Deters’ 27. The Panthers also were able to hold Hanover standout Anna Jueneman to just 13 points, including just four in the second half. Drew Bruna added 12 for the Wildcats, who fell to 10-1 on the season.
 
Deters went over 1,500 career points in the tournament title game and finished the tourney averaging 25.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 5 steals per game. Haverkamp and Kramer each averaged 12 points per game at the tourney.
 
Now 11-0, Centralia is one of just four unbeatens left in 1A Division I along with Little River (12-0), South Gray (11-0) and Troy (9-0). Coming off a third-place finish at last year’s state tournament, falling to Little River 50-42 in the semifinals, the Panthers seem locked in on finishing this season with the program’s first state championship since 2016.
 
And as good as the Panthers looked on Saturday night in Frankfort, both Deters and Thompson said they haven’t yet reached their peak.
 
“There’s still room for improvement,” Deters said. “We’ve got little things we want to get better at and we can’t get gassed out yet. We’ve got a lot more we want to do.”
 
“We’ve seen some great competition and found ways to win and that makes us dangerous,” Thompson said. “We can get better at the defensive end of the court, but our girls do a good job of finding another gear. We’ve got a great mix. We’ve got girls that can score outside, girls that can score inside, can rebound.
 
“I hope we haven’t peaked yet and I think we’ve still got room to improve. Even as well as we played tonight, that first half there were things I’d like to see us do better with. We can still improve and hopefully we do.”
 

 
NEW-LOOK SILVER LAKE EXTENDS BURLINGTON INVITATIONAL TITLE STREAK
 
Experience can be a relative thing.
 
Going into the 2024-25 season, Silver Lake on paper looked to be a pretty green bunch. The Eagles graduated five seniors off last year’s undefeated Class 3A state championship team, including All-State Top 5 selection Makenzie McDaniel and four-year starting guard McKinley Kruger.
 
“We knew it was going to be a growth process because of the lack of (varsity) experience we were bringing in,” Silver Lake coach Kyle Porter said.
 
At the same time, however, Porter acknowledged that while this year’s newcomers may not have been key figures in last year’s title run, they got plenty of experience in seeing what it took to be a championship-caliber team.
 
“There’s a couple things that stand out to me,” Porter said. “No. 1, how much better our players got in practice every day by playing against those players. I thought of experience coming in being an issue, but these girls coming in now played against great competition every single day that made them better. That’s given them confidence to step into those roles and play with confidence when the lights come on.”
 
While Silver Lake may have a new identity this season, the results are certainly something the Eagles are accustomed to. Silver Lake saw its 28-game winning streak snapped in mid-December by Centralia – which is undefeated and captured the Twin Valley League Tournament title last week – but has looked every bit capable of positioning itself for a title defense this March.
 
Silver Lake made a huge statement in that regard last week at the Burlington Invitational, capturing the tournament championship for the third straight year. And as satisfying as the first two tournament titles were for Porter and his squad, this year’s championship might just be the most satisfying of them all.
 
Even going into the tourney with a 5-1 mark, the Eagles had about as tough of a draw as they could have hoped for in a field that was loaded with five schools in the field with one loss or fewer. Silver Lake opened with Ottawa, the team it had beaten in last year’s championship game and one that has spent the bulk of the season ranked in Class 4A, as high as No. 3.
 
But Silver Lake did what it did in last year’s title game, jumping all over the Cyclones early with a 22-point first quarter. The Eagles got 20 points each from Kailyn Hanni and Karys Deiter and cruised to a 69-38 victory.
 
Hanni was a known commodity coming into the season, earning third-team All-Class 3A honors last year after being a driving force on the title team and leading the Eagles in the championship game with 26 points, including hitting 14 of 15 free throws. Deiter, meanwhile, has been a revelation as a freshman addition, stepping into a starting role and providing the Eagles with a consistent secondary scoring complement to Hanni.
 
But when Deiter came down with the flu and had to miss the final two days of the tourney, Silver Lake was down a big piece as it took on undefeated teams in back-to-back games, facing Girard in the semifinals and then Labette County in the title game.
 

 
Hanni battled through an ankle injury early in the Girard game to score 24 points and help the Eagles gut out a 50-48 win. The Eagles trailed virtually the entire second half before going on a 5-0 run to grab a 48-45 lead with 51.6 seconds left, a layup from Hanni giving them the lead for good. Ella Bolan added 10 points and Jaylie Whitehead scored 7 of her 8 in the first half to help keep the Eagles in the game.
 
That set up a showdown with 4A No. 6 Labette County, which survived host Burlingotn in overtime in its semifinal game. Silver Lake started fast, bolting to a 20-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and took a 35-18 halftime lead. 
 
But just as Ottawa did in the 2024 tourney title game, Labette County stormed back to make a game of it. The Grizzlies went on a 14-4 run in the second half to cut the Eagle lead to single digits, but Silver Lake was able to hit free throws late and put the game away for a 70-60 win.
 
Hanni finished with 22 points and earned tournament MVP honors while Savanah Wende added 19 points. Wende went 10 for 10 at the free throw line over the final two games and Bolan joined Hanni on the all-tourney team.
 
“We were going to be happy at that tournament from a coach’s standpoint knowing that if we won that first game, we were going to get three really good competitive games to test ourselves and see where we were at and then we’d handle the wins or losses, whatever they may be,” Porter said. “You have to play against quality teams in order to get better and see where you’re at and Burlington’s always a good test for us to see new teams and an opportunity to compete and persevere and perseverance was the key on Friday and Saturday.
 
“I think it’s just as rewarding (as past titles) and it’s meaningful to us as a coaching staff not necessarily because we won, but how we did it. To have to battle and compete. We didn’t have our best stuff on Friday and Saturday and we talked about how that shows who you are as an individual and a team. Can you battle through adversity? Can you come together? Can you find a way to trust yourself and do the things necessary to win in the fourth quarter, and we did that. It’s one of those things you smile on as a coach and get more excited about, when you don’t have your best stuff and still find a way.”
 

 
ROCK CREEK CONTINUES BIG TURNAROUND WITH PANTHER CLASSIC TITLE
 
As head coach at Wabaunsee for the past five seasons, Trevor Keller had enough up close experiences with Mid-East League rival Rock Creek to make the job an enticing one for him when it came open following last season.
 
Even with the Mustangs coming off just a 4-17 season.
 
“I knew they had a young group last year, but traditionally, competing against them in the Mid-East League, they’e been really good,” Keller said. “The opportunity to come in and work with that young core, I felt we had the potential to do some special things if we all got on the same page. So far this season, it’s been even better than what I could have imagined.”
 
Indeed, it has. After cruising to the championship at last week’s Royal Valley Panther Classic, Rock Creek not only has surpassed last year’s four-win total, but doubled it. The Mustangs are 8-1 with their lone loss coming to Clifton-Clyde in the final game before Christmas break.
 
The tournament title was the first for the program since capturing the championship at the Burlington Invitational in 2022.
 
After that loss prior to the break, Rock Creek had nearly a month before getting in its next game with its first two games coming out of the break wiped out by the snowstorm that hit north central Kansas. And that first test back was a big one with the Mustangs taking on then-undefeated Clay Center.
 
But the Mustangs were up to the task and pulled out a 54-46 victory, coming back from 10 down in the first quarter.
 
“We didn’t have school all week and weren’t really able to practice much before getting in the gym Friday before that game,” Keller said. “It was a full week off from basketball after practicing over the break. Coming in first game back from basically a month off, going into it I wasn’t sure what to expect. Some rust for sure and it showed in the first quarter. But after getting down 10, we got it tied by halftime and it was back-and-forth the rest of the way and we were able to make a little run at the end.”
 
Rock Creek has simply carried that momentum forward. After beating Chapman by 14 the week prior to last week’s tournament in Royal Valley, the Mustangs took a 19-point win over the Irish at the tourney. That fell in between a 59-34 rout of Santa Fe Trail to start the tourney and a 61-37 drubbing of the host Panthers to finish the tourney off.
 
Rock Creek won its three tourney games by an average of 22.7 points. Three players averaged double-figure scoring for the Mustangs at the tourney with junior Brynna Zoeller leading the way with 15.7 points and 8 rebounds a contest and sophomore Kylee Frazee added 11.3 points and 7 rebounds and sophomore Lucy Martinie getting 11 points a game.
 
In the earlier win over Chapman, Zoeller set a school record for blocked shots in a game with 10, surpassing the previous mark of 7 shared by Becky Lightfoot (2009) and Alli Snapp (2016). Earlier in the season, Hadley Rempe tied the school record for assists in a game with 9, matching Lightfoot (2010) and Brooklyn Goehring (2020).
 
While the success has been surprising to some, Keller knew just what kind of athletes he was getting when he took over the program. Several players on the team were part of Rock Creek’s Class 4A state runner-up volleyball team this fall and several also have been a part of the Mustang softball program that’s been to state each of the past four seasons.
 
“All these other sports, they’ve been going to state and have had success,” Keller said. “Coming up in middle school, they’d won in basketball and in past years, they’ve won. Last year was a difficult year. But they’ve had success and it was just re-instilling the confidence and belief in it and building up what I want to do. We’re playing a little faster than what they traditionally had and that’s allowed us to get out in transition and scored easier points and that’s led to buy-in and belief there.”
 
The confidence gained thus far this turnaround season will be needed going forward. Fresh off its tournament title, Rock Creek faces arguably its toughest week of the season.
 
On Tuesday, the Mustangs take on defending 3A champion and former league rival Silver Lake, which knocked off two undefeated teams on its way to winning its third straight Burlington Invitational title last week. On Friday, it’s a showdown with North Central Kansas League rival Wamego.
 
“Being champions of the Panther Classic, we enjoyed that and celebrated that,” Keller said. “We want to make sure we enjoy the wins because it can be easy to focus on the opponent and what we have next, especially this week with two great programs and coaches and athletes.”
 

 
OSAGE CITY COMPLETES SECOND STRAIGHT SWEEP OF FLINT HILLS LEAGUE TITLES
 
After cruising to the Flint Hills League regular season title with a 7-0 mark and no game closer than 11 points, Osage City was the overwhelming favorite for last week’s league tournament crown as well.
 
But top seeds have a history of coming up short at the Flinthills Shootout, even though the Indians had bucked that trend a year ago when they completed the league title sweep. With the chance to repeat that feat, Osage City wasn’t going to be denied.
 
As dominant as the Indians were during the regular season undefeated run, they were even more so at the tournament in Emporia. A 49-35 win over Lyndon in the semifinals was Osage City’s toughest test and in Saturday’s title game, the Indians rolled to a 64-38 victory over Chase County, which now has suffered two of its three losses to Osage City.
 
“We’ve had a goal since the beginning of the season to win both the regular season and tournament championship again,” Indian coach Kate Boss said. “They came out each game during the tournament with that game as their focus and took care of business each night.”
 
Osage City returned three starters and two key reserves off last year’s team that went 17-5 and fell in the sub-state semifinals to Halstead. What the Indians lost with the graduation of standout post Campbell Stark, they have more than capably filled with the addition of freshman Kaelyn Boss.
 
Already with a triple-double to her credit this season, Boss (coach’s daughter) was outstanding at the tourney, averaging 23.7 points per game. She scored 24 in the semifinal win over Lyndon and then went for 26 in the championship game.
 
Returning junior point guard Emory Speece added 11 points per game, including 24 in a 64-15 quarterfinal win over Cair Paravel, while also adding 5 assists and 4 steals per game. Jewelia Kitselman backed Boss with 16 points in the title game and also came up with 3 assists and 4 steals in the game.
 
“These girls are a close-knit group and work hard every day in practice,” Coach Boss said. “They are very competitive and bring that energy to each game.”
 
Now 11-1 on the season with the lone loss coming to Lebo in the finals of the Ike Cearfoss Tournament at Central Heights in early December, the Indians currently hold the top seed in the 3A Hiawatha region, just ahead of defending 3A champion Silver Lake. 
 
The Indians have a number of stern tests over the last half of their schedule, starting with Tuesday’s game against 4A Ottawa. Traditional powers Burlington, Olpe and Holton and a rematch with Lebo also loom on the horizon.
 
“We have some big games coming up during the second half of our season,” Boss said. “We’ve got things to work on and will continue to get better each day at practice and prepare for the upcoming games.”
 

 
MAUR HILL PICKS UP FIRST TOURNAMENT TITLE IN PROGRAM HISTORY AT MCLOUTH
 
It was a historic season for Maur Hill last year, one in which the Ravens went 20-3 overall, finished as undefeated Northeast Kansas League champions and won a league title and made it to the sub-state finals for the first time since 1985. Two of the three losses came to eventual Class 2A state runner-up Riverside.
 
Having to replace six seniors off that squad wasn’t going to be easy, but with leading scorers Kaitlyn Folsom and Capri Koechner back, Maur Hill still carried high expectations into the 2024-25 season.
 
Then the season started with somewhat of a thud. The Ravens dropped their first three games to go into the Christmas break 0-3 and after winning their first two January games, dropped a fourth to undefeated Troy.
 
“We knew we could face some challenges with our early schedule, but we came away better from it,” Maur Hill coach Luke Noll said. “To be honest, the two six and five-point losses going into our Christmas break were difficult but we kept emphasizing that we can compete at a high level and the girls continued to believe that. We really showed growth offensively and defensively over this last week and those tough early games surely helped.”
 
While Maur Hill may not have looked like a favorite to get back to a third straight McLouth Invitational championship game last week, the Ravens not only did but went one better. After losing to Riverside in the tournament championship game each of the past two years, the Ravens finally got the title that had eluded them.

Battling foul troubles and a tough offensive night in the semifinals, Maur Hill was able to survived 54-47 double-overtime battle with top-seeded Horton to reach the finals for the third straight year. In the title game, the Ravens found their offensive groove and used a 24-0 run in the second half to blow past the Northeast Kansas Nighthawks 60-40.
 
The championship was not only the first McLouth tourney title for the Ravens, but the first tournament title of any kind for the program.
 
“I really think the confidence was one of the few things we had going for us in our double-overtime semifinal,” Noll said. “We were struggling greatly with foul trouble and finishing shots, but the girls handled the late-game pressure well. There were several key free throws, timely buckets, big rebounds and defensive stops down the stretch and they were locked in during every timeout. Without confidence in themselves and their teammates, that’s a game we probably drop. In the championship game, the second-half run we went on was special with how well we moved the ball, hit shots and forced turnovers.”
 
Folsom averaged 17.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game at the tourney, scoring 20 in the championship game and getting 17 in the semifinals. Koechner was right behind with 16.3 points and 10.7 rebounds a game, leading the way in the finals with 24 points and in the semifinals with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Both were all-tournament team selections.
 

 
PRAIRIE VIEW GETS REVENGE WITH TITLE AT UNIONTOWN
 
There was certainly plenty of motivation for Prairie View when it hit the court for the championship game of the Kenny Holt Memorial Tournament at Uniontown last Saturday.
 
For starters, there was a title to defend. Actually, two with the Buffaloes having won the tournament each of the previous two seasons.
 
But there was also some payback in mind. In the finals, Prairie View was facing Jayhawk-Linn, which had handed the Buffaloes their first loss of the season with a 33-28 win in mid-December, on the Buffaloes’ home court in the finals of Prairie View’s preseason tournament, no less.
 
The victory that eluded them at home, Prairie View was able to secure Saturday in Uniontown. After handling host Uniontown 40-26 in the opener and demolishing Pleasanton 40-8 in the semifinals, the Buffaloes fought past Jayhawk-Linn for a 39-32 win in the championship game, improving to 9-2 on the season and handing the Jayhawks their first loss of the season.
 
“Jayhawk has been having a great year,” Prairie View coach Casey Konda said. “They beat us in the championship game of our opening-season tournament so this was an important win for our program. I was proud of our girls because they wanted this rematch and stepped up once they got it. It was a hard-fought game and will be great springboard into the second half of the season.”
 
Kally Stroup led the Buffaloes in the title game with 17 points and also had a team-high 12 in the win over Uniontown. Laramie Stevens just missed a double-double in the semifinals with 11 points and 9 boards.
 
Prairie View won’t get a break coming off the tournament, taking on Pioneer League rival Burlington on Tuesday and then a week later hosting Wellsville, which handed the Buffaloes their only other loss of the season.
 

LITTLE RIVER WINS TITLE IN MID WINTER CLASSIC DEBUT
 
In joining the field at the St. John Mid Winter Classic for the first time, Little River had a new look for its mid-season tournament tests.
 
Which for a new-look Redskin team was something they were excited for.
 
Little River graduated several key pieces off last year’s Class 1A Division I state runner-up team, including first-team All-1A I selection Alaina Eck and standout posts Aubrey Olander and Ashley Stepheson. But with three starters back, led by junior post Arika Feldman, the Redskins haven’t missed a beat, taking a 9-0 mark into last week’s tourney at St. John.
 
But knowing tourney host St. John potentially awaited in the semifinals and 2A ranked Inman or 1A I power Central Plains were possible title-game opponents made the tourney a challenge the Redskins readily accepted.
 
And handled.
 
After blasting Nickerson 79-16 to start the tournament, Little River handled St. John – a team that had upset the top-ranked Redskins in sub-state play in 2023 – with a 46-28 semifinal win. After Inman edged Central Plains 38-30 in its semifinal, Little River got arguably its biggest test of the season in the finals and passed it with a 67-53 victory.
 
“It was a great challenge tonight,” Little River coach Cy Rolfs said. “This was good for us.”
 
Inman, led by standout Suttyn Harris, was giving Little River all it wanted in the title game as the two teams traded blows in a frenetic first quarter that saw the Redskins lead 19-18. The game was still tight before Little River hit a spurt at the end of the second quarter and pulled out to a 40-29 halftime lead.
 
“We just went back to basics,” Rolfs said of the run that gave the Redskins the 11-point cushion. “Our press wasn’t real effective at that time. We just went to the fundamentals of good man defense and they really executed well. Great ball pressure, Addie Strecker is good with that – a lot of them are.”
 
The Redskins stretched the lead to 15 by the end of the third quarter and finished things off with a 67-53 win to move to 12-0 on the season. 
 
Feldman was named the tournament MVP, scoring 16 in the title game and averaging 20.3 points per game at the tourney. She was joined on the all-tournament team by freshman Saelyn Raleigh, who scored 10 in the semifinal win over St. John.
 
Evie Look (15 points), Havana Olander (13 points) and Avery Lafferty (12 points) all joined Feldman in double figures in the title game and Lafferty, Look and Strecker all scored in double figures in the opener against Nickerson.
 
That balance on offense has been something on display all season and is a big reason the Redskins are No. 1 and unbeaten.
 
“We’ve talked all year about how collective this is, how many pieces we have,” Rolfs said. “So many different kids step up at different times. Having that balance is a huge deal. They share the ball so well.
 
“They always rally around each other. It’s just a true team and I love that about them.”
 

 
MINNEAPOLIS GOES BACK TO BACK AT HOISINGTON WINTER JAM
 
In winning the championship at the Hoisington Winter Jam a year ago, Minneapolis hardly had to break a sweat. And the Lions certainly didn’t have to sweat anything out.
 
They opened tourney play with a 42-point win over Ellinwood, beat Pratt by 21 in the semifinals and cruised to a 24-point win over host Hoisington in the finals.
 
Whether that dominating showing put a target on the Lions’ back when they returned to Hoisington to defend that title this year or not, a repeat did not come with ease. In fact, it was downright tough.
 
Minneapolis downed Victoria 56-37 in the quarterfinals before pulling out a 45-42 win over North Central Activities Association rival Ellsworth in the semifinals to set up a showdown with top-seeded Ellinwood in the finals. After blasting the Eagles 66-24 in last year’s tourney, Minneapolis got all they wanted from them this time around but claimed a 44-39 to secure the title repeat.
 
The Lions jumped out to a 19-10 lead at the end of the first quarter on the strength of three 3-pointers, two from Baylee Randall-Hurt, who scored eight in the quarter. But Ellinwood crawled back into it by halftime, hitting three threes of its own in the second quarter to make it a 27-23 game at the break. 
 
Maci McClure’s eight third-quarter points helped Minneapolis take a 37-31 lead into the fourth quarter and the Lions did just enough at the free throw line in the fourth quarter (5 of 10) to hold off the Eagles for the title
 
McClure finished with 13 in the championship game and Randall-Hurt added 12, each grabbing 11 rebounds in the game. McClure also scored 26 in the semifinal win over Ellsworth and averaged 17.7 points per game at the tourney, earning All-Tournament team honors. She was joined on the all-tourney team by Randall-Hurt, who averaged just under 10 points a game and added 10.7 rebounds per game, and Braedee Weatherman, who scored 22 in the opening win.
 
“It was a good week for us to build off of for the rest of the season,” Minneapolis coach Bryan Weatherman said. “We follow up the tournament with another three games this week that are all big games.”
 
 
OTHER GIRLS BASKETBALL STANDOUTS

• Burlingame’s Joselyn Simmons hit 10 3-pointers against Marais des Cygnes Valley last Thursday to set a school record and go over 100 3-pointers made in her career. Simmons ranks second on the school’s career list with 106 made.
• Akyra Traver scored 25 of her 31 points in the second half as Marais des Cygnes Valley rallied from 16 points down to beat Madison 55-54, earning the Trojans the No. 4 seed at this week’s Lyon County League Tournament. Traver also had 7 rebounds and 5 assists as the Trojans improved to 8-3 overall.
• St. Marys’ Hayden Heim had a monster night in the Bears’ 72-49 win over Jefferson West, scoring 36 points and grabbing 22 rebounds. Both totals were just shy of her school records of 42 points and 24 rebounds.
• Riley County finished third at the loaded Hillsboro Trojan Classic, knocking off undefeated Eureka in the opening round in overtime, 53-46, before losing in the semifinals to Class 3A No. 1 Hesston 40-30 and beating host Hillsboro 34-22 for third. Anna Lambert scored her 1,000th career point in the third-place game and is averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds per game this season.
• Clifton-Clyde’s Sevy Wurtz scored her 1,000th career point in the Eagles’ consolation semifinal win over Blue Valley-Randolph and helped the team to a fifth-place Twin Valley League Tournament finish.
• Blue Valley-Randolph’s Brynlyn Brockman picked up her 500th career rebound in posting a double-double against Linn in the Twin Valley League Tournament seventh-place game, where she finished with a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
• Burlington’s Mac Medlock averaged 13.7 points per game and Alexa Splechter added 13 points per game as the Wildcats took fourth at their home tournament, losing to undefeated 4A Labette County in overtime in the semifinals and one-loss Girard in the third-place game. Splechter was named to the all-tournament team.
• West Franklin’s Haydan Walters set a school record for rebounds in a game during the Falcons’ 30-28 consolation semifinal win over Cair Paravel at the Flinthills Shootout. Walters grabbed 21 rebounds in the game to break the old school record of 20.
• Southeast of Saline finished runner-up at the Sterling Invitational, falling 46-43 to Scott City in the championship game.
• Goessel’s Abbigail Funk scored 49 points in three games at the Centre Cougar Classic, leading the Bluebirds to a third-place finish. She had 20 points in wins over both Rural Vista and Wakefield.
• Royal Valley’s Panno Wahwassuck scored 55 points in three tournament games at the Panther Classic as the Panthers went 2-1 and finished second to Rock Creek.
• Rural Vista freshman Kaimey Evans averaged 13.6 points, 6 rebounds, 6 steals and 3 assists per game as the Heat went 2-1 and took fifth at the Cougar Classic at Centre.
• KK Emmot averaged 22 points in a pair of wins for Shawnee Heights last week, scoring 21 against Leavenworth and 23 against Topeka West. Kaydence Torrez and Reianna Vega each added 14 points against West.
• Abilene’s girls got their second win of the season in the consolation semifinals of the Salina Invitational as Tessa Herrman scored 22 and had 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists in a 47-40 victory over Great Bend.
• Basehor-Linwood’s Delaney Wittkop tallied 43 points, 8 assists and 11 steals in wins over Topeka West and Lansing last week.