Kansas.com: Basketball

Top 25

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

No. 16 Xavier 70, Saint Louis 44

SAINT LOUIS (9-6): Conklin 2-7 4-5 8, Reed 2-5 1-4 5, Mitchell 3-7 1-2 7, K.Lisch 4-13 0-1 9, Liddell 2-12 1-3 5, Eckerle 0-1 0-2 0, Eberhardt 2-6 1-2 5, Cassity 0-0 0-0 0, Thompson 1-1 3-4 5. Totals 16-52 11-2 3 44.

XAVIER (12-2): Brown 6-6 5-5 20, Anderson 6-8 1-2 13, Love 4-7 3-4 11, Raymond 2-6 0-0 4, Holloway 2-4 0-1 4, Redford 3-4 0-0 8, Duckett 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor 0-1 0-0 0, McLean 2-5 0-0 4, Jackson 1-3 0-0 2, Fr ease 2-9 0-0 4, Hughes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-54 9-12 70.

Halftime--Xavier 39-22. 3-Point Goals--Saint Louis 1-10 (K.Lisch 1-4, Liddell 0-1, Eckerle 0-1, Eberhardt 0-1, Mitchell 0-3), Xavier 5-13 (Brown 3-3, Redford 2-3, Holloway 0-1, Duckett 0-1, Jac kson 0-2, Raymond 0-3). Fouled Out--Frease. Rebounds--Saint Louis 33 (Eberhardt 7), Xavier 37 (Anderson, Love, McLean 6). Assists--Saint Louis 6 (Liddell, Mitchell 2), Xavier 15 (Jackson 6). Total Fouls--Saint Louis 10, Xavier 20. A--10,250.

No. 21 Butler 64, Wright St. 48

East prevails in swim showdown

TRAVIS RICHARDSON — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

East swimming coach Joe Hutchinson admits that during the course of Thursday's swimming duals against Northwest and Kapaun Mount Carmel, Hutchinson was a frequent visitor to the score sheet.

What he saw was his team rising to the occasion, defeating Northwest 134 ½-51 ½ and Kapaun 104-76. Kapaun defeated Northwest in the other dual, 117-66.

"I usually look at the score more than I should," Hutchinson said. "And I shouldn't, because if the kids are swimming well, the scores will take care of themselves."

The event started well for the Aces, winning the 200-yard medley relay as Jordan Neugebauer, John Reader, Dillon Park and Matt Bowser edged Kapaun by less than one second. Bowser followed it up by dominating the 200 freestyle, winning by more than six seconds.

Kapaun began to mount a comeback by winning the next two events. Ryan Maloney won the 200 IM by 11 seconds, then Ryan Zwick won the 50 freestyle. The wins brought the Crusaders to within eight points, 35-27.

Ellis already has offer from KU

JONATHAN LONG — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

Wichita Heights freshman Perry Ellis was offered a basketball scholarship by Kansas last month, his high school coach said.

"Things are changing," Heights coach Joe Auer said. "Young players are having these things put before them like never before."

Attempts to contact the Ellis family for comment Thursday were unsuccessful.

Kansas is just one of the teams reportedly recruiting Ellis. Kansas State, North Carolina, Memphis and Indiana are among the many attempting to lure him.

In five games this season for Heights, the 6-foot-8 Ellis has averaged 17 points and 15 rebounds.

Jan. 9 basketball schedule

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:50 CST

Girls 6 p.m., boys 7:30

City League

East at North

Kapaun at Carroll

Maize at Heights

Guards key to success

JONATHAN LONG — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

Every position on the basketball court is important. But all positions are not created equal.

When it comes to winning high school basketball games, coaches often have different recipes for success. One key ingredient for all is quality play at the guard positions.

"We are in a guard-oriented league," North boys coach Gary Squires of the City League. "If you don't have good guard play, you are going to struggle."

Heights, Southeast, and North are the top three teams in the standings and all three of them have reliable guards.

Before the winter break, Heights' Dorrian Roberts took over down the stretch against Southeast to take away the state's top ranking. Tuesday, Chekiel Wright made a 15-footer at the buzzer to help North defeat Bishop Carroll 56-54. In Southeast's overtime victory Tuesday over East, Joe Mitchell and Cecil Shaw combined to score 46 in an 83-79 victory.

Area high school basketball standings

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:50 CST

Boys

City League

	League	Overall
Heights	5-0	5-0
Southeast	4-1	5-1
North	3-1	3-1
Kapaun	2-2	2-3
East	2-2	3-2
Carroll	2-3	2-3
West	1-3	1-4
Northwest	1-4	1-5
South	0-4	0-5

Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail

Division I

Goddard	2-0	4-1
Derby	2-0	3-1
Maize	1-1	3-2
Salina Central	1-1	3-2
Salina South	0-2	1-4
Hutchinson	0-2	0-4

Division II

Andover girls get confidence boost

JONATHAN LONG AND JOANNA CHADWICK — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

Victories over rival Andover Central and McPherson have the Andover girls off to a 5-0 start.

Yes, those teams are experiencing down years after winning state titles last season. But the tradition is there, and to get wins over such programs is big for the Trojans.

"A lot of it is mental," fourth-year coach Max Hamblin said. "'Oh, we have to play Central. I don't know if we can beat them.' They know now."

The Trojans have balance, utilizing Kylie Cooper (15 points, 11 rebounds) inside. Andover plays 10 or 12 with most of its depth at guard. Taylor Tilson averages 13 points.

"We have some good guards that can shoot and dribble and are quick," Hamblin said. "We have a rotation that we use that gives us two, three minutes every quarter and we play more full-court stuff. We've never been able to do that. We always had to sit back and be passive because of our lack of depth."

Evansville edges Bears in overtime

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

Jason Holsinger had 19 points and Evansville shot 47 percent from the floor as the Purple Aces beat visiting Missouri State 66-61 in overtime Wednesday night in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Will Creekmore had 13 points for the Bears (7-8, 0-4), including a free throw with 37 seconds left that forced overtime. Shane Laurie had 10 for Missouri State.

The teams swapped the lead 13 times and there were 15 ties during the game. Evansville's biggest lead was by seven late in the first half; the Bears, who shot 35 percent, led by no more than five.

Evansville (11-3, 3-1) led 30-27 at halftime. Holsinger was the only Evansville player in double figures.

With one minute left in overtime, the Bears tied it at 61 on a free throw by Justin Fuehrmeyer. But the Purple Aces took the lead for good on free throws and a key layup by Pieter van Tongeren.

Junior College Men

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

Garden City 58, Butler 56

BUTLER: Underwood 3-6 1-1 8, Morgan 1-3 0-0 3, Pierce 3-6 0-0 6, Engelken 2-11 0-0 6, Milliner 5-9 0-0 11, Colter 2-6 1-2 7, Brooks 3-7 0-0 6, Walker 1-6 3-5 5, Creecy 0-0 2-2 2, (unknown) 2. Totals 21-58 7-10 56.

GARDEN CITY: Wesley 0-3 3-6 3, Manzano 3-12 0-0 8, Thomas 8-12 0-0 17, Ottley 2-3 1-3 7, Burley 1-4 0-0 2, Anderson 3-6 1-2 9, Stephens 0-1 0-0 0, Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 1-3 2-2 5, Kirkland 0-1 1-2 1, Jackson 2-2 2-4 6. Totals 20-48 12-22 58.

Halftime -- Butler 27, Garden City 26. 3s -- BC 7-26 (Engelken 2-8, Colter 2-5, Underwood 1-3, Morgan 1-3, Milliner 1-2); GC 6-23 (Manzano 2-9, Anderson 2-5, Thomas 1-3, Williams 1-3). Rebounds -- BC 36 (Engelken 9); GC 35 (Manzano 7). Assists -- BC: 12 (Underwood 6), GC: 9 (Thomas 3).

Hutchinson 86, Dodge City 74

McCray tops 1,000 points for KU

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

Junior Danielle McCray topped 1,000 points for her career and helped Kansas improve to 11-2 with an 80-60 victory over Fairfield on Wednesday in Lawrence.

McCray became the 20th Jayhawk to score 1,000 career points, scoring 16 against Fairfield. She has 1,008 points for her career.

Kansas took control of the game early, building a nine-point lead and holding the Stags to just two free throws in the first 4 ½ minutes of play.

McCray and sophomore Krysten Boogaard scored 10 points each in the first half and Kansas went to the locker room with a 41-25 lead at halftime.

Fairfield began the second half on a 6-0 run, but could never get closer than eight points.

Clearwater upsets No. 4 Andale

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

Clearwater's girls basketball team went on the road Tuesday night and knocked off the No. 4 team in Class 4A.

Danielle Becker scored 13 points and Melanie Brockelman added 12 for Clearwater in the Indians' 49-46 victory over Andale.

Clearwater is 5-1, 2-0 in Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League Division IV. Andale is 3-2, 2-1.

Erin Carney and Melissa Easter had 12 points apiece for Andale, which made 9 of 22 free throws.

Clearwater	17 10 12 10 -- 49
Andale	10 15 12 9 -- 46

CLEARWATER: Shinn 5, Hoover 4, Vogel 9, Brockelman 12, Becker 13, Lauer 6. Totals 18 (2) 11-16 49.

UConn tops W. Virginia

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

Jeff Adrien scored 17 points and No. 5 Connecticut beat No. 25 West Virginia 61-55 on Tuesday night.

Hasheem Thabeet added 13 points and 13 rebounds for Connecticut (13-1, 2-1 Big East). With the victory, Huskies coach Jim Calhoun moved past Lefty Driesell into seventh place on the NCAA career wins list with 787.

Neither team led by more than four points until Thabeet's inside basket put the Huskies ahead 52-47 with six minutes left.

West Virginia was outrebounded 52-33 and managed just three field goals over the final eight minutes.

Da'Sean Butler and Alex Ruoff scored 13 apiece for West Virginia (11-3, 1-1), which saw its five-game winning streak snapped and lost for the first time at home this season.

Carroll's Marshall scores 27 in victory

JEFFREY LUTZ — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

Julia Marshall spouted off the number as if she had been counting them each individually.

"I was just ready to play today. We hadn't played in 18 days," the Bishop Carroll senior point guard said. "I was just ready for it."

Marshall played as though she was glad to be back from a long holiday break. She showed no rust in scoring 27 points in a 74-34 win over North.

The layoff seemingly didn't affect any of Carroll's players negatively. Facing a team many think could finish in the top four of the City League, the Eagles raced to a 12-point lead after the first quarter and kept extending it.

Four players scored in double figures for Carroll, which hit eight three-pointers and held North to 13-of-36 shooting.

North steals win from Carroll with clutch shot

JEFFREY LUTZ — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

Chekiel Wright's first name is pronounced like that of Mr. O'Neal, the future Hall of Fame center known as "Shaq."

Not only does Wright have an NBA name, he is developing a skill that helps players stand out at basketball's highest level, or any level for that matter -- clutch shooting.

Late last season, Wright dropped in a buzzer beater to help North beat South. Tuesday night, he did it again.

Wright's 15-footer as time expired gave the Redskins a 56-54 win over Bishop Carroll.

"In situations like that, I feel like I don't necessarily have to be the one to take the shot, but I have to be the one to create something for the team, to make something happen," Wright said. "In this case, the ball ended up in my hands and I just put it up there and it went in."

Bradley pins firstloss on Illinois State

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

Theron Wilson and Chris Roberts each scored 12 points to lead Bradley to a 56-52 win over previously undefeated Illinois State on Tuesday in Peoria, Ill.

Bradley (10-5, 4-0 Missouri Valley) held Illinois State (14-1, 3-1) to 25 points under its scoring average.

The Braves led 30-21 at halftime and led by as many as 14 early in the second half. A 6-0 run pulled the Redbirds to 45-39 with about seven minutes left, but the Braves' foul shots and stingy defense ended the comeback.

The Braves sank 11 of 13 free throws, while the Redbirds were 2 of 4.

Osiris Eldridge led Illinois State with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Dinma Odiakosa added 12 and Emmanuel Holloway chipped in 10.

Goddard stymies Hutchinson boys

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:46 CST

Ian Spence scored 10 points to lead Goddard to a 41-38 Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League boys basketball victory over Hutchinson at Goddard on Tuesday night.

Goddard led much of the way, owning a six-point lead with three minutes to play. Hutchinson cut the lead in half with a three-pointer but could never tie or take the lead.

Jordan Flynn led Hutchinson with 10 points.

Hutchinson	13 6 11 8 -- 38
Goddard	12 8 11 10 -- 41

HUTCHINSON: Haden 8, Flynn 10, Dreiling 6, Dinwiddie 1, Grissom 8, Goetz 5. Totals 14 (3) 7-12 38.

GODDARD: Langhofer 6, Spence 10, Schroth 7, Puthoff 8, Schroeder 2, Chippeaux 8. Totals 14 (2) 11-13 41.

Circle slips by Rose Hill boys

BROOKS SEELEY — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:46 CST

Circle looked great for three quarters against Rose Hill on Tuesday night. But after Rose Hill came back from a 22-point deficit and had the ball trailing 62-60 with 22 seconds remaining, things looked rocky.

But Rose Hill, which got 32 points from Caleb Brown, didn't score in its final two possessions and Circle held on for a 63-60 victory in a matchup of unbeaten Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League teams.

Rose Hill's Tyler Shirley missed a three-point shot and Dillon Rapp missed the follow attempt.

Circle's Seth Siemens, who scored a team-high 15 points, grabbed the rebound and threw it downcourt to an open Alex Gardinier. Gardinier was fouled with 8.4 seconds to play.

Gardinier made his first free throw but missed his second and gave Rose Hill another chance. Circle (5-0) was 20 of 37 from the free-throw line.

Unbeaten Heights rolls past West

TRAVIS RICHARDSON — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

The Heights boys basketball team, playing its first game in more than two weeks, predictably showed some rust Tuesday night against West.

But the Falcons quickly shook it off, defeating the Pioneers 84-52.

"Coach told us not to worry about coming out and making mistakes," said Heights senior Dorrian Roberts, who finished with 18 points behind 4-of-5 three-point shooting. "We knew we would get back into the flow of the game."

Heights, the No. 1 team in Class 6A, never trailed, fueled in part by a 10-0 run to end the first quarter.

Sophomore Evan Wessel hit a three to start the run, followed by Roberts hitting a three of his own.

Kapaun controls Northwest late

JONATHAN LONG — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:46 CST

During the holiday break, Kapaun Mount Carmel and Northwest worked on late-game leadership.

Tuesday night, the Crusaders got it at key moments and defeated Northwest 40-37 at Kapaun.

Kapaun trailed by one with three minutes remaining before the combination of Dolan Greathouse and Dyllon Knox took control. Greathouse made a three-pointer from the wing with 2:30 to play to give Kapaun (2-3, 2-2 City League) the lead.

Knox made 4 of 5 free throws down the stretch to keep it.

"When we needed it tonight, different people stepped up," said Knox, who finished with a game-high 13 points. "We played hard and got the 'W.' "

Southeast trips East in overtime

JOANNA CHADWICK — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:52 CST

It was just another classic East-Southeast boys basketball game on Tuesday night.

In a battle of two of the state's top teams -- Southeast is ranked No. 2 in Class 6A, East No. 4 -- Southeast defeated East 83-79 in overtime at Southeast.

"It's a good Southeast and East ballgame," said Southeast coach Carl Taylor, whose team improved to 5-1. "They had their spurts, we had our spurts."

It's the fourth straight regular-season matchup between the two that went into extra time.