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Defending 5A champion Maize survives
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KSHAA COVERED

MAIZE DOMINATES 2ND HALF 

Maize had a tough time slowing down Highland Park early on in their state quarterfinal matchup, with the Scots shooting 54% from the field and hitting two 3-pointers in the opening frame. 

But the Eagles held their opponents to 28% from the field the rest of the way in a 53-47 win for the reigning Class 5A champions.

Maize utilized its 42-22 rebound advantage, which included 15 offensive boards, to outscore Highland Park 17-11 in the third quarter despite similar shooting numbers for both teams heading into the final quarter. 

Maize senior guard Samuel Schmidt scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in the second half to help his team overcome a 27-22 halftime deficit. 

Senior forward Jaden Gustafson finished right behind him with 13 points, including a perfect 3-of-3 on 3-pointers, and 11 rebounds. Gustafson added to his double-double performance with 4 assists and 3 blocks. Senior forward Kyle Grill added 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Maize utilized its 42-22 rebound advantage, which included 15 offensive boards, to outscore Highland Park 17-11 in the third quarter despite similar shooting numbers for both teams heading into the final quarter. 

Maize outscored Highland Park 14-9 during the fourth to hold on for the 53-47 victory.

Highland Park senior guard JuanTario Roberts had a game-high 17 points while junior guard Ketraleus Aldridge added 11 points and 6 rebounds.

KAPAUN UPSET

Topeka Seaman definitely did not look like an underdog. The Vikings entered the Class 5A boys basketball state quarterfinals Wednesday, March 9 at White Auditorium in Emporia as the No. 8 seed going up against a one-loss No. 1 seed in Kapaun. They led wire-to-wire in a 54-43 upset. Topeka Seaman won a state tournament game for the first time since 1946, and advanced to the state semifinals for the first time since 1941.


Seaman maintained a double-digit margin most of the way after senior forward Ty Henry took over the first half. Henry scored 15 of his game-high 31 points on 6-of-6 shooting and 3 of 3 from 3-point range over the first two quarters. He ended 9 of 10 from the field with 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks.

"Ty Henry was tremendous and really carried us to the win," Seaman head coach Craig Cox said.

The Vikings built up a 15-6 advantage after one quarter, limiting the Crusaders to just 30% shooting. Kapaun started to warm up a little in the second quarter, going on a 6-0 run shortly before halftime. 
 

Topeka Seaman junior guard Kaeden Bonner shoots a layup during the state quarterfinals. Photo by Rex Wolf.
 


But instead of Kapaun closing the gap, Seaman junior guard Kaeden Bonner turned a steal near midcourt into a breakaway dunk. Junior Aron Davis followed up by getting a putback layup off an airball from a last second 3-pointer. Seaman took a 30-23 advantage into the locker room. Bonner finished with 10 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals while Daivs led the team with 9 rebounds.

Kapaun could not gain any ground in the third quarter as the team shot 30% in another frame. The Crusaders were even worse in the fourth quarter, hitting on just 1 of 13 from the field with a single 3-point basket. The team instead forced its way to the free-throw line, going 8 of 9 to finish 13 of 18 in the game.

Cox credited his team's defense, including five blocks from Davis, with keeping the Crusaders' offense uncomfortable from start to finish.

"Our defense was outstanding for the entire game," Cox said. "I was really proud of the way we battled them on the boards because they crash the offensive (glass) harder than anyone we played this year."

Kapaun finished with 17 offensive rebounds, but Seaman kept its lead in double-digits late despite going 2 of 8 from the line in the final quarter. The Vikings outscored Kapaun 15-11 in the fourth quarter to finish with a 54-43 victory.




ST. JAMES ACADEMY PULLS UPSET 

St. James Academy must have seen how much fun Seaman had knocking off the No. 1 seed, because the Thunder decided to give the Emporia crowd one more upset. The Thunder shrugged off an 8-point, first-quarter deficit to defeat No. 2 seed Topeka West 59-51, ending the season for another previously one-loss team. 


The Chargers built up a 20-12 advantage after one quarter, but St. James slowly closed the gap before a single missed throw late in the half became the only difference in the 30-29 score at the break.

After acting as a distributor with six assists in the first half, St. James junior guard Brian Hawthorne took over scoring duties in the second half when he scored 13 of his 15 points. Hawthorne also finished with five rebounds.

Senior forward Sam Somerhalder scored a team-high 16 points, scoring 8 points in each half, while pulling down five rebounds.

Topeka West finished the game with a 9-of-17 mark from 3-point range, but the team had a hard time scoring inside following the first quarter. Despite hitting 8 of the first 13 shots from the field, the Chargers shot 39% the rest of the way.

St. James also held a 9-point advantage from the charity stripe despite shooting just 60% from there in the game. Topeka West missed all nine of its free-throw attempts, with five of those coming in the third quarter when the Thunder slowly pulled ahead on the scoreboard.

St. James outscored Topeka West 17-10 in the fourth quarter as it finished with a 59-51 victory.

Topeka West senior guard Zander Putthoff scored a game-high 17 points, hitting 5 of 10 from 3-point range. Senior forward Elijah Brooks added 13 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks. Junior guard Sincere Austin scored all 10 of his points in the first half.

DE SOTO EXPLODES 


It looked like De Soto's early scoring punch was too little until the Wildcats offense reappeared late to power past Blue Valley Southwest 50-45 in the Class 5A state quarterfinals.

De Soto started fast by scoring the first 7 points of the contest before eventually closing the opening quarter with 19 points. But Blue Valley Southwest chased them down by scoring 16 points of their own.

That's when the Timberwolves put the defensive clamps on De Soto through the middle quarters, holding the Wildcats just 11 points over that stretch while building up a 35-30 lead.

Timberwolves senior guard Sebastian Hamm scored 15 of his team-high 17 points in the first half. His partner in the backcourt, senior guard Jinwoo Kim, struggled on 1-of-5 shooting with just 2 points. Kim, who entered the game as the team's leading scorer, finished with 7 points on 3 of 15 from the field, including 1 of 5 from the 3-point range.

But De Soto was able to turn on the jets in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats shot 50% from the field with three 3-pointers and connected on 9 of 11 free throws.

David Cobin scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to go along with 8 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal in the game. Blake Hicks added 7 of his 10 points in the second half, hitting two big-time 3-pointers late in the game.

The Timberwolves offense could not match De Soto down the stretch, going 36.4% from the field and missing all three of their 3-point attempts in the fourth quarter.

Senior forward Cooper Schwieger finished with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go along with his seven rebounds. His twin brother Carson Schwieger never found the same touch, finishing 1 of 7 with 4 points and 6 rebounds.

SEAMAN 54, KAPAUN 43
Seaman  15 15 9 15 -- 54
Kapaun     6 17 9 11 -- 43
Seaman (16-7) -- Henry 9-10 0-1 21, Bonner 3-9 3-5 10, Wilhelm 3-8 0-0 8, Hyman 3-4 0-0 6, Griess 2-4 1-1 5, Davis 2-2 0-0 4.
Kapaun (21-2) -- Thengvall, H. 6-17 6-8 19, Anciaux 2-6 3-3 7, Porter 2-9 0-0 4, Thengvall, W. 1-6 2-4 4, Shibley 1-4 2-2 4, Johnson 1-1 0-0 3, Schmitz 1-3 0-0 2, Charles 0-2 0-0 0, Keller 0-2 0-0 0.
3-point goals -- Seaman 6-14 (Henry 3-3, Wilhelm 2-5, Bonner 1-5, Griess 0-1); Kapaun 2-12 (Thengvall, H. 1-6, Johnson 1-1, Keller 0-2, Thengvall 0-1, Porter 0-1, Shibley 0-1). Rebounds -- Seaman 27 (Davis 9), Kapaun 31 (Thengvall H. 9) Assists -- Seaman 16 (Hyman 5), Kapaun 7 (Thengvall W. 2). Total fouls -- Seaman 16, Kapaun 14.

MAIZE 53, HIGHLAND PARK 47
Highland Park  18 9 11 9 -- 47
Maize 11 11 17 14 -- 53
Highland Park (18-5) -- Roberts 6-17 3-4 17, Aldridge, 3-12 4-5 11, Richardson, 2-5 1-2 5, Kingcannon 2-7 0-0 5, Adams 1-2 0-0 3, Robinson 1-3 0-0 2, Clemons 0-1, 1-2 1.
Maize (19-4) -- Schmidt 6-9 2-4 14, Gustafson 5-11 3-3 13, Grill 5-8 2-4 12, Johnson 4-13 0-1 9, Williams 1-1 1-2 3, Belcher 1-5 0-0 2.
3-point goals -- Highland Park 4-12 (Roberts 2-4, Aldridge 1-3, Adams 1-1, Kingcannon 0-4); Maize 1-5 (Johnson 1-3, Grill 0-1, Belcher 0-1). Rebounds -- Highland Park 22 (Aldridge 6), Maize 42 (Gustafson 11). Assists -- Highland Park 7 (Roberts 3), Maize 11 (Johnson 4). Total fouls -- Highland Park 14, Maize 10. 

ST. JAMES ACADEMY 59, TOPEKA WEST 51
St. James Academy  12 17 13 17 -- 59
Topeka West 20 10 11 10 -- 51
St. James Academy (16-7) -- Somerhalder 7-15 2-3 16, Hawthorne 6-12 3-6 15, Boydston 3-5 0-0 8, Lynch 3-8 2-3 8, Burritt 2-2 0-0 6, Niesen 1-6 2-2 4, Sydzyik 1-2 0-1 2.
Topeka West (21-2) -- Putthoff 6-12 0-0 17, Brooks 6-16 0-3 13, Austin 4-7 0-0 10, Alexander 3-5 0-1 7, Bearman 1-1 0-0 2, Berg 0-4 0-0 0,  Smith 5-6 4-4 14, Jones 1-2 2-2 5, Alexander 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 23-46 15-19 65.
3-point goals -- St. James Academy 4-12 (Boydston 2-2, Burritt 2-2, Hawthorne 0-5, Niesen 0-2, Sydzyik 0-1); Topeka West 9-17 (Putthoff 5-10, Austin 2-2, Alexander 1-3, Brooks 1-2). Rebounds -- St. James Academy 31 (Lynch 11), Topeka West 31 (Brooks 9). Assists -- St. James Academy 12 (Hawthorne 7), Topeka West 11 (Brooks 4). Total fouls -- St. James Academy 11, Topeka West 14. 

DE SOTO 50, BLUE VALLEY SOUTHWEST 45
BV Southwest  16 12 7 10 -- 45
De Soto 19 5 6 20 -- 50
BV Southwest  (15-8) -- Hamm 7-18 0-0 17, Schwieger 5-7 1-1 11, Kim 3-11 0-0 7, Schwieger 1-7 2-2 4, Rank 1-3 2-2 4, Piggott 1-1 0-0 2, Noland 0-1 0-0 0.
De Soto (19-4) -- Cobin 5-12 10-12 21, Schultze E. 5-9 0-0 10, Hicks 3-7 1-2 10, Schultze, T. 2-4 2-4 1-2 7, James 1-3 0-0 2, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Chappel 0-1 0-0 0.
3-point goals -- BV Southwest  4-17 (Hamm 9-3, Kim 1-5, Rank 0-2, Nolan 0-1); De Soto 6-9 (Hick 3-5, Schultze T. 2-4, Cobin 1-6, Schultze E. 0-3, Johnson 0-1). Rebounds -- BV Southwest  23 (Schwieger Co. 7), De Soto 31 (James 9). Assists -- BV Southwest  10 (Kim 5), De Soto 9 (Schultze T., Schultze E t-3). Total fouls -- BV Southwest  14, De Soto 6..