In posting an 8-12 record a year ago, the Hiawatha boys showed some flashes of the potential that they had.
 
Half of those wins came against teams that at the time were ranked.
 
“We showed a lot of improvement from November to February,” Hiawatha coach Brady Jasper noted in his preseason outlook for the 2025-26 season.
 
That late season improvement was followed by an offseason in which Jasper said “all five guys who start for us are better basketball players this season than they were last season; no one stayed the same.” The result has been a somewhat historic season for the Red Hawks.
 
After going undefeated in February against eight different Big East League opponents, Hiawatha clinched the league title, finishing 9-1 in league play overall. The biggest win in that stretch was a 53-51 win over Silver Lake, which handed the Eagles their only league loss.
 
The head-to-head win gave the Red Hawks the league title, their first since 2010 in the Big Seven League.
 
“When our season started we felt like we had a chance to be pretty good,” Jasper said. “We had some guys returning who had played a lot last year and gained some valuable experience. One difference in this year’s team is consistency. Last year, we were a little up and down. This year, solid and consistent.”
 
Hiawatha returned four starters off last year’s team, including a trio of seniors in guards Ethan Morton and Michael Jensen and center Lane Kesler. While Jensen set a school record earlier this season by hitting 7 3-pointers in a game, Jasper credits Morton’s presence for being a huge key to the turnaround season.
 
“His consistency and leadership is unmatched,” Jasper said. “He runs the point, handles the ball, facilitates, scores, guards the other team’s best player and seldomly comes off the floor. He’s super-competitive and has been rock-solid in crunch time and close games.”
 
Kesler and junior returning starter Braylen Siebenmorgen give Hiawatha a sizable tandem that makes matchups tough for opponents as well. Siebenmorgen is 6-foot-6 and can score at every level while Kesler is 6-5 and has “good hands and feet” and also is a high-percentage 3-point shooter. 
 
Guard Karson Henry gives Hiawatha four senior starters and that experience has led to a 21-3 overall record after rolling past Horton in their Class 3A sub-state opener on Thursday. Hiawatha’s only league loss came to Perry-Lecompton in late Janaury and their only other losses came to St. Marys in the semifinals of the Nemaha Central Thunder Classic and to Troy in overtime in the second game of the season.
 
“We have good pieces and they fit together very well,” Jasper said. “I consider myself very lucky. My part has been easy. I support them however and whenever they need me and some nights I just try to stay out of the way.”
 
OTHER BOYS BASKETBALL STANDOUTS

• Rock Creek clinched its second straight North Central Kansas League title, going an undefeated 12-0 in league play after rolling past Wamego 74-45 on Tuesday. The Mustangs are 22-0 overall. In a Feb. 10 win over Abilene, Gavin Rosas became Rock Creek’s career leader in 3-pointers made, surpassing Coley Burgess’ mark of 161. After hitting six against Wamego, Rosa has made 179 career 3-pointers.
• Valley Falls wrapped up the Northeast Kansas League title with a 57-53 win over Jackson Heights last Friday. The Dragons finished 9-1 in league play, a game ahead of Riverside, Troy and Jefferson County North who each finished 8-2.
• Axtell finished off its second straight undefeated Twin Valley League title, going 10-0 in league play after topping Clifton-Clyde 61-31 in the regular-season finale. 
• Sacred Heart went 12-0 in North Central Activities Association play to win the league title for the second straight year. The Knights won three league games in the final week of the regular season, edging Beloit 51-42 and Ellsworth 51-47 before taking care of Republic County 61-45 to cap the undefeated league season. 
• After previously losing in overtime to Emporia in early February, Manhattan took a 71-60 win over the Spartans on Tuesday to clinch its first Centennial League title since 2017.
• Seaman and Topeka West shared the United Kansas Conference title after both finished league play with 14-2 league records. The Vikings used a 16-0 run on Friday against Shawnee Heights to erase an early deficit and go on to win in a 78-53 rout. West blew past Lansing 75-47 on Friday to complete its season.
• Little River went undefeated in the Wheat State League to captured the league title.
• St. Marys’ Ben DeVader broke the Bears’ single-season record for 3-pointers made last Friday against Silver Lake. After Monday’s game with Rossville, DeVader has 88 3-pointers made this year, breaking the old mark of 83 set by Keller Hurla.

 

• Junction City’s Lovell Autry hit 1,000 career points on Tuesday.
• Prairie View’s Anthony Dokolas set the school’s single-game scoring record, erputing for 45 points in a 69-56 win over Adrian (Mo.). Dokolas also broke the school record for 3-pointers made in a game, hitting 9 shots behind the arc.
• Olpe had a big week to close out its regular season, beating Class 1A Division I No. 1 Little River 62-57 after earlier in the week topping Class 3A Nemaha Central 60-53. Brecken McGuire had a huge week, scoring 31 points against Nemaha Central and then going for 26 points against Little River.
• Wabaunsee’s Cole Frank scored hits 1,000th career point in the Chargers’ 56-48 loss to Centralia last week. Teammate Carter Falk had double-doubles against both Solomon and Herington, going for 27 points and 13 rebounds against the Railers, and now has six double-doubles this season. Cutter Murray got his second double-double against Herington with 13 points and 15 rebounds.

 
GIRLS BASKETBALL STANDOUTS

• Rock Creek earned a share of the North Central Kansas League title in knocking off Wamego 50-48 on Tuesday night. The win was the first against the Red Raiders and gave the Mustangs a share of their first league title since winning the 2021 Mid-East League crown. Rory Pitzer scored 19 points and had 14 rebounds in the upset of Wamego after last Friday setting a school record with 36 points against Clay Center, breaking the old mark of 35 set by Debbie McCormick in 1992. She also broke McCormick’s record for made field goals with 15. The Mustangs, who also handed Class 3A Silver Lake its only loss of the season, also got 18 points from Kylee Frazee in the win over Wamego and she now has set the school record for points and field goals made in a season. Rylie Friess has set the school record for 3-pointers made in a season and Lucy Martinie has set the single-season assist record with the team setting records for made 3-pointers, rebounds, assists and steals.
• Silver Lake finished off an undefeated Big East League title with a 58-40 win over Riley County on Monday. The Eagles went 10-0 in league play with a 14-point win over Riley County in early February the closest league contest.
• Troy won the Northeast Kansas League title for the second straight year, finishing 9-1 in league play to win the title by a game over Riverside and Horton. The Trojans capped the title with a 59-50 win over Horton last Friday after nipping Oskaloosa 53-46 earlier in the week.

 

• Burlington finished off its first-ever undefeated Pioneer League championship since joining the league in 2016-17. The undefeated league title is the first for the program since 2014-15 when the Wildcats were in the Tri-Valley League. In the regular-season finale win over Council Grove, Mac Medlock became the ninth player in program history to reach 1,000 career points and third to hit it during her junior year. In that game, the Wildcats set a school record for 3-pointers made with 16 as Medlock and Alexa Splechter each hit six. The 16 3s made also allowed Burlington to break the school record for 3s made in a season, sitting at 152 to top the old mark of 148 from the 2004-05 team.
• Shawnee Heights clinched the United Kansas Conference title with a 65-14 win over Turner on Tuesday and 54-41 win at Seaman on Friday, finishing with a two-game lead on Piper, which dropped back-to-back games to De Soto and Basehor-Linwood in the final week.
• Hayden set a state record by hitting 19 3-pointers in a 76-16 win over Junction City on Tuesday, breaking the old state record of 18 set by Uniontown in a 2022 win over Altoona-Midway. Blakely Walter led the way with 5 3-pointers, while Lauren Borjon added 4 and Hailey Schmidtlein had 3. Sophia Wichman and Ella Foster each had 2 and Emberly Connell, Alana Mitchell and Sawyer Wrench added one apiece.
• Hanover claimed the Twin Valley League title, going 9-1 in league play to win by a game over Centralia, Valley Heights and Linn, who each went 8-2.
• Little River went undefeated in the Wheat State League to capture the league title.
• Beloit fought off Minneapolis 64-56 in overtime to capture the North Central Activities Association title. The Trojans finished 11-1 in league play, a game ahead of Sacred Heart, splitting with the Knights with a 56-48 win in the final week of the regular season avenging their only league loss in late January.
• Topeka High and Manhattan each clinched a share of the Centennial League title with wins over Washburn Rural in their regular-season finales as both finished with 8-2 league records. Topeka topped the Junior Blues 59-55 at Washburn Rural on Tuesday, while Manhattan got 14 points apiece from Kat Ball and Bailey Busch in a 61-48 win Friday night. The league title was the first for the Indians since 2018 and first for High since 2020.
• Atchison County’s Madison Martin recorded a whopping 16 blocks in a 39-17 win over McLouth to break her own school record for blocks in a game. It came as part of a triple-double as she also had 14 points and 13 rebounds.

 

• Chapman’s Avery Baer broke the Irish school record for career assists, topping the previous record that had stood for more than a decade by Macey Langvardt. Earlier this year, Baer was a state tennis placer and hit 100 career victories in the postseason.
• Jadelynn Brees of St. Marys broke the Bears’ single-season blocked shot record, having 66 going into the Bears’ final game of the regular season. That broke the old mark of 61 set by Hayden Heim. Earlier in the season, Brees had a 10-block game that broke the single-game mark of 7 set by Heim.
• Rossville’s Nora Burdiek has set the Bulldawgs’ career rebounding record and has 568.
• Manhattan’s Kat Ball scored 21 twice to match her season high and also had 11 steals in a win over Junction City to add to her career steals record.
• With 22 points in Clifton-Clyde’s sub-state win over Onaga, Sevy Wurtz went over 1,900 career points. She’s also just 2 rebounds away from 500 and 7 steals from 400 in her career.
• Lyndon’s Allie Kneisler set four single-season or game school records this year including season points (601), single-game points (47), single-game steals (11), single-game 3-pointers made (11) and went over the 1,600 career point mark, putting her within range of the career scoring record. Teammate Jaedyn Segrist set the school single-season assist record (106) and single-game assist record (10) while Lexi Totty broke the single-season steal record. As a team, the Tigers have set records for most assists in a game, field goals and steals.

 
 
BOWLING STANDOUTS

• Washburn Rural’s girls swept the Centennial League championships as the team posted a total of 2,881 to beat Junction City by 123 pins. Rural was led by individual league champion Megan Glinka, who posted a 610 series to finish 37 ahead of Emporia’s Taylor McKay for the title. Rural also placed four more in the top 10 with Stella Gordon fifth (534), Kenzie Lawson eighth (499), Ellen Austin ninth (471) and Camrynn Ahrens 1oth (463).
• Junction City claimed the boys Centennial League crown with a 3,276 score, just edging Washburn Rural, which finished with a 3,236 total. Emporia’s Nathaniel Green took the individual title on a best-game tiebreaker with Manhattan’s Alec Ogorzolka after each finished with 651 series. Green had a top game of 234 while Ogorzolka’s best game was a 228. Junction City was led by a fourth from Sean McKone.
• Shawnee Heights’ boys cruised to the United Kansas Conference title, posting a 3,652 total to finish 128 ahead of Lansing. Heights went 1-2 individually with Henry Schattilly taking the league title with a 761 series and Kaden Evans finishing runner-up with a 707. Chevy Stallbaumer was 10th for the T-Birds with a 658.
• Seaman topped Shawnee Heights by 112 pins for the girls’ United Kansas Conference title with the Vikings posting a 3,019 total. De Soto’s Avery Lovegren claimed the individual title with a 641 series while Seaman got a 4-5 finish from Leah Crawford (596) and Claire LaDuke (590) as well as a seventh from Paige Snyder (551) and 10th from Ava Carlson (536).
• Seaman’s girls nipped Emporia for the Class 5A regional title at Gage Bowl, finishing with a 2,958 score to edge the Spartans by 54 pins. De Soto’s Avery Lovegren was the individual champion with a 621 while Emporia’s Sophia Hill was second with a 587 and Seaman’s Claire LaDuke took third with a 565. Shawnee Heights took third to also qualify as a team.
• De Soto got a 300 Baker game to take the boys 5A title at the regional finishing with a 3,417 score to top runner-up Shawnee Heights by 142 pins. Emporia’s Nathaniel Green and Seaman’s Garrett Shaw tied for second behind Newton’s Landyn Neitzel, who won the regional with a 689 series, Green and Shaw each rolling 666s. Emporia got the final team berth, taking third.
• Reece Renyer bowled Hayden’s second 300 game of the year in leading defending Class 4A state champion Hayden to the title at its Class 4A regional. Renyer rolled his perfect game in the second game of his series and helped Hayden to a team score of 3,413 to beat runner-up Ottawa by 116 pins. Renyer finished with a 652 series to take third behind Ottawa’s Kolten Powell (692) and teammate Kelton Meier (682), who had the Wildcat’s other 300 game in the opening meet of the season.
• Hayden’s girls took second at the 4A regional behind Ottawa, which posted a 1-2-3 individual finish and won the team title by more than 400 pins. The Wildcats were led by a fourth from Jenna Henkensiefken.
• Washburn Rural’s boys won the 6A regional in Lawrence with a 3,614 score, beating runner-up Mill Valley by 273 pins. Brecken Garrett made it a sweep for the Junior Blues, winning the individual title with a career-best 739 series.
• Junction City and Washburn Rural finished 2-3 in the team standings at the 6A regional in Lawrence to qualify for state. Manhattan’s Cortlynn Millington won the regional with a 684 series, seven ahead of runner-up Riley Roberts of Junction City.