NORMAN, Okla. (AP) – The Oklahoma Sooners will be on the road to take on No. 8 Kansas in Big 12 basketball.

OU has won three of its last four to improve to 20-7 on the season and 9-5 in the Big 12 after an 86-73 win over Kansas State on Saturday. Kansas is 21-6 overall and 12-2 in the conference following an 85-54 win over Texas on Saturday.

Tip-off for Monday’s game is set for 8:05 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.

 

Eleven Junction City Blue Jay wrestlers have qualified for the Class 6A State Tournament.

Junction City finished third in the Class 6A Regional Tournament team standings on Saturday at Washburn Rural, behind first-place Derby and second-place Manhattan.

Wrestlers who finish in the top four of their respective weight classes can advance to the state tournament, which is next Friday ( Feb. 28 ) and Saturday ( Mar. 1 ) at Hartman Arena in Park City near Wichita.

Regional weight class champions for Junction City included Gary Joint at 106 pounds, Andrew Millsap at 152, Mikah Felton 170, and Devonte Wilson at 182 pounds.

Second place finishers in the regional for the Blue Jays included Gabe Padilla at 120 pounds, Gavin Kroeger 132, Jake Bazaan at 138, Aryus Jones 145, and Kayne Hutchinson at 220 pounds. Kamari Smith finished fourth at 160 pounds, and Lake Deam finished fourth at 113. Deam was injured and had to forfeit the third place consolation match.

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) – Buddy Hield scored 18 points and Isaiah Cousins added 17 to help Oklahoma beat Kansas State 86-73 and clear up the Big 12 standings with four games remaining in league play.

The runaway win helped break a three-way tie for third with Oklahoma, Kansas State and Iowa State all entering the day with 8-5 league marks. Iowa State’s 71-60 Saturday win over TCU kept the Cyclones knotted with the Sooners.

Oklahoma (20-7, 9-5) dominated in nearly every category, leading by as many as 27 points in the second half.

The Sooners took their first lead 3 minutes in when Hield drained a 3-pointer following a Kansas State turnover. From there, Oklahoma outscored the Wildcats 34-17 to lead 41-22 at the half.

Cameron Clark scored 11 and Jordan Woodard added 10 for the Sooners, who have won three of their last four games going into Monday night at Kansas.

Marcus Foster led Kansas State with 21 points. Nigel Johnson scored 11 and Thomas Gipson added 10.

The Wildcats (18-9, 8-6) lost their sixth consecutive road game and are 1-6 in away league games.

Kansas State dug a hole early it couldn’t climb out of, committing 10 first-half turnovers and shooting 39 percent with no starter scoring more than five points.

Oklahoma turned those turnovers into 17 points and controlled the tempo, outrebounding Kansas State 21-15 in the half and 32-28 for the game.

The Wildcats outscored Oklahoma 51-45 in the second half but it wasn’t enough in what has been a difficult season away from home.

The Wildcats have done some of their best work this season at home inside Bramlage Coliseum – winning their last 14 games, including beating No. 15 Texas and No. 7 Kansas.

Saturday’s game was a much different story than when the two teams met in Manhattan, Kan., on Jan. 14. Kansas State led 39-38 after the first half and came from behind in the final 5 minutes to win 72-66 with five different players scoring in double figures.

Saturday, the Wildcats didn’t have a player reach double-figure scoring until 7:51 remaining when Foster hit his second 3-pointer of the afternoon.

Both Oklahoma and Kansas State play two of their final three games at home.

 

MANHATTAN, Kansas (AP) – Christal Caldwell scored 21 points as No. 13 West Virginia throttled Kansas State 61-40 Saturday night, winning its seventh straight and holding five of its last six foes to less than 62 points.

After a mid-week drubbing of 12th-ranked Oklahoma State, the Mountaineers (24-3, 13-2 Big 12) coasted through a disjointed game at Kansas State (10-16, 4-11) that saw long scoreless stretches.

Caldwell led the Mountaineers for the sixth time this season, picking up for Bria Holmes, who scored just five points on 2-for-11 shooting.

Kansas State led for the first 5 minutes, then went more than 9 minutes between field goals. By then the Mountaineers were up 20 just ahead of halftime. Drought hit the cold-shooting Wildcats (27 percent) again after halftime, going 10 minutes between Ashlynn Knoll 3-pointers. Knoll led K-State with 13 points.

Neither team scored for the better part of 5 minutes during that dry spell.

 

Topeka High (  11-7, 6-5 )built up a first half lead on Junction City ( 5-13, 3-8 ) and then held off the Blue Jays in the second half enroute to a 56-43 win in the capital city.

Junction City trailed by 16 but on two occasions in the second half cut the lead down to nine points.

After the game Blue Jay coach Pat Battle on the difference between the first half when the team struggled, and the second half said, “It’s just a matter of us understanding who we are and who we’re not, and I think we came out a little bit and we played who we’re not. We’ve got to play in the halfcourt, especially with the opponents that we have coming up.” Battle added the Blue Jays rushed a few of their shot selections, and didn’t close out at times.

Semaj Johnson led Junction City with 11 points, while Joshua Barber topped the Topeka High scoring with 13 points.

Junction City will play at Topeka West Tuesday night.

—

In the girls varsity game the Junction City Lady Jays ( 3-14 , 1-10 ) fell to Topeka 42-33.

Topeka High ( 11-7, 6-5 )  led Junction City throughout the game but a fourth quarter push by the Lady Jays brought them from an 18 point deficit to within nine at the end of the game.

Scoring was a problem for Junction City for three quarters, with the Lady Jays only putting 13 points up through the first 24 minutes. Junction City got 10 points from Kealee Rains in the fourth quarter, and the rest of the team chipped in to combine for 12 more points.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL
Abilene 66, Clay Center 51
Andale 66, Circle 37
Andover 55, Maize South 43
Argonia 41, Sedan 38
Augusta 62, Wichita Collegiate 59
Basehor-Linwood 59, KC Turner 37
Berean Academy 55, Remington 26
Bishop Seabury Academy 69, Heritage Christian 60
BV Northwest 71, BV West 36
Caldwell 64, Elk Valley 21
Central Plains 61, Kinsley 34
Coffeyville 60, Frontenac 49
Concordia 68, Wamego 57
Council Grove 60, Sedgwick 42
Derby 66, Newton 51
DeSoto 63, Paola 48
El Dorado 60, Rose Hill 53
Gardner-Edgerton 65, St. Thomas Aquinas 63
Goddard 62, Andover Central 58
Goddard-Eisenhower 86, Valley Center 53
Halstead 45, Pratt 43
Hays 44, Garden City 39
Hesston 70, Smoky Valley 33
Highland Park 54, Manhattan 44
Hillsboro 62, Haven 40
Hutchinson 58, Arkansas City 37
Hutchinson Central Christian 64, Pratt Skyline 39
Independence 57, Fort Scott 23
Kapaun Mount Carmel 81, Wichita West 54
Kingman 52, Nickerson 29
Lansing 63, Mill Valley 43
Lawrence 74, Olathe North 49
Lawrence Free State 39, Olathe East 36
Linn 71, Wakefield 51
Maur Hill – Mount Academy 59, Oskaloosa 46
McPherson 61, Buhler 45
Medicine Lodge 48, Belle Plaine 47
Moundridge 57, Peabody-Burns 30
Nemaha Valley 50, Jefferson West 24
Olathe Northwest 46, Olathe South 44
Oxford 49, Flinthills 36
Pleasanton 37, Marmaton Valley 24
Prairie View 60, Anderson County 49
Rock Hills 49, Wilson 32
Royal Valley 55, Riverside 42
Salina Central 54, Wichita Campus 40
SM East 62, Leavenworth 37
SM Northwest 58, SM West 47
SM South 58, SM North 51
St. James Academy 49, Metro Academy 35
St. John’s Beloit-Tipton 80, Tescott 39
Stockton 71, Smith Center 51
Topeka 56, Junction City 43
West Elk 38, Udall 34
Wetmore 53, Clifton-Clyde 49
Wichita Heights 43, Wichita South 38
Wichita Independent 75, Conway Springs 61
Wichita North 57, Wichita Bishop Carroll 56
Wichita Southeast 77, Wichita Northwest 53
Wichita Trinity 70, Bluestem 36
Winfield 66, Mulvane 59
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
Andale 46, Circle 30
Anderson County 35, Prairie View 30
Andover 66, Maize South 35
Andover Central 56, Goddard 28
Argonia 62, Sedan 60
Augusta 46, Wichita Collegiate 35
Axtell 39, Troy 36
Basehor-Linwood 55, KC Turner 17
Bishop Miege 67, Blue Valley Stilwell 41
Bonner Springs 47, KC Piper 21
Burlington 64, Neodesha 24
Caney Valley 69, Erie 30
Central Heights 41, Osawatomie 20
Central Plains 73, Kinsley 18
Cherryvale 69, Eureka 27
Clay Center 33, Abilene 23
Columbus 53, Baxter Springs 22
Conway Springs 41, Wichita Independent 36
Council Grove 45, Sedgwick 28
Cunningham 25, Pretty Prairie 21
Dighton 53, Rawlins County 27
Doniphan West 56, Hanover 47
Elkhart 57, Southwestern Hts. 51
Ell-Saline 37, Ellinwood 33
Ellis 57, Norton 30
Ellsworth 55, Larned 37
Fort Scott 49, Independence 44
Frontenac 67, Coffeyville 46
Galena 51, Pittsburg Colgan 49
Garden City 67, Hays 24
Garden Plain 59, Chaparral 25
Golden Plains 41, Wheatland-Grinnell 34
Great Bend 59, Dodge City 40
Hays-TMP-Marian 62, Plainville 35
Hesston 69, Smoky Valley 27
Hillsboro 58, Haven 35
Hoisington 52, Hutchinson Trinity 42
Holcomb 60, Ulysses 31
Horton 41, Valley Falls 32
Hoxie 70, Oakley 35
Hugoton 41, Goodland 39
Hutchinson 68, Arkansas City 53
Jackson Heights 45, KC Christian 22
Jefferson North 97, McLouth 19
Kapaun Mount Carmel 89, Wichita West 18
KC Sumner 59, KC Washington 47
Kingman 57, Nickerson 29
Kiowa County 58, South Gray 35
Lakin 47, Syracuse 33
Lawrence 59, Olathe North 49
Leavenworth 40, SM East 19
Little River 32, Inman 23
Logan 45, Western Plains 21
Louisburg 61, Spring Hill 52
Madison 51, Lyndon 41
Maize 44, Salina South 18
Manhattan 44, Highland Park 30
Marais des Cygnes Valley 86, Veritas Christian 25
Marion 42, Bennington 25
Marysville 72, Chapman 47
Maur Hill – Mount Academy 45, Oskaloosa 26
McPherson 47, Buhler 32
Mill Valley 53, Lansing 44
Minneapolis 53, Beloit 48
Mission Valley 53, White City 52
Moundridge 48, Peabody-Burns 17
Mulvane 43, Winfield 41
Nemaha Valley 50, Jefferson West 24
Newton 54, Derby 43
Northern Heights 54, Hartford 25
Norwich 51, Fairfield 36
Olathe East 47, Lawrence Free State 31
Olathe South 51, Olathe Northwest 24
Osborne 54, Hill City 34
Otis-Bison 58, Solomon 40
Ottawa 45, Baldwin 39, OT
Oxford 52, Flinthills 21
Paola 47, DeSoto 42
Perry-Lecompton 62, Hiawatha 57, OT
Pleasanton 37, Marmaton Valley 24
Pratt 58, Halstead 39
Remington 48, Berean Academy 41
Riverton 53, Oswego 42
Rose Hill 45, El Dorado 42
Royal Valley 70, Riverside 28
Sabetha 51, Santa Fe Trail 46
Salina Central 78, Wichita Campus 30
Salina Sacred Heart 45, Republic County 40
Scott City 50, Colby 30
Shawnee Heights 59, Topeka West 22
Silver Lake 63, Rock Creek 49
SM South 55, SM North 51
SM West 61, SM Northwest 56
Smith Center 45, Stockton 32
South Barber 44, Burrton 18
South Central 63, Minneola 54
Southeast 40, Girard 36
Southeast Saline 52, Russell 46
St. Francis 51, Greeley County 23
St. James Academy 52, Metro Academy 42
St. John 57, Macksville 24
St. Thomas Aquinas 62, Gardner-Edgerton 28
Sterling 68, Lyons 67
Sylvan-Lucas 43, Chase 34
Tonganoxie 46, KC Bishop Ward 33
Topeka 42, Junction City 33
Topeka Hayden 48, Washburn Rural 45
Topeka Seaman 46, Emporia 30
Triplains-Brewster 64, Palco 44
Valley Center 54, Goddard-Eisenhower 53
Valley Heights 68, Baileyville-B&B 59, OT
Victoria 58, Ness City 53
Wabaunsee 59, Herington 30
Washington County 59, Frankfort 44
Wellsville 36, Iola 24
Wichita Northwest 61, Wichita Southeast 40
Wichita South 51, Wichita Heights 20
Wichita Trinity 53, Bluestem 14

 

Both the Junction City High School boys 200  freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay team’s were unable to make it past the first day of the State Swim Meet in Topeka Friday.

The 200 freestyle relay team of Brett MaGee, Jason Carter, Blake Nimmo and Gavin Carey placed 20th out of 24 teams.

Beth Schlesener did say that they did shave a second off of there time in the 200 freestyle relay,”which is a pretty huge drop and our 400 we same about the same that we have in the past.”

Results were not immediately available for the 400 freestyle relay. The 400 freestyle relay team was made up of Brett MaGee, Austin MaGee, Evan Hallum and Jason Carter.

“I’m just really proud that the boys dropped time. I couldn’t have asked for anything better than their best and this was the best they swam all season,” Schlesener said.

Looking back on the season Schlesener said that it was a good season after graduating some pretty strong swimmers last year.

“I was a little worried about how this year would go. I knew we had one or two strong swimmers but a lot of kids came out of the woodwork this year and really impressed me.”

The Junction City High School Boy’s Varsity Bowling team took 3rd Friday at the Centennial League Bowling Championship tournament at Junction City Bowl.

The team finished with a 2410 pins, just 53 pins out of 1st place.

“We could have done a lot better,” Brad Adams, JCHS Bowling Coach, said.”It is what it is today.”

 

The team was led by Will Wriston who shot 208, 218,199 for a 625 series.

“That’s one of Will’s better showings this year and you can’t blame a kid for shooting over 600, averaging over 200 a game,” Adams said.

Jayson Quicksall also had a good day on the lanes bowling a 260, 222, 235 for a 617 series.

Emporia walked away with first with 2463 pins, followed by Manhattan with 2456 pins and Junction City with 2410 pins.

Individually, Wriston’s 625 was good enough for a 4th place finish and Quicksall’s 617 placed him in 6th out of 54 bowlers.

On the girls side the Lady Jay’s Varsity team placed 7th overall with 2079 pins.

Leading the way for the Lady Jay’s was Kaylee Stutz who shot a 196, 169, 160 for a 525 series. Also shooting well was Ryan Coffman who bowled a 186, 140, 187 for a 513 series, and Samantha Goudey who bowled a 140, 166, 196 for a 502 series.

Stutz, Coffman and Goudey all placed in the top 20 individually with Goudey placing 14th, Coffman placing 13th and Stutz placing 11th.

Junior Varsity will bowl Monday at Junction City Bowl for there half of the Centennial League Bowling Championship.

Varsity will next travel to Topeka for regional’s on Friday at Westridge Lanes.

An early February basketball tournament game between the Junction City Lady Jay basketball team and their counterparts from Kansas City Sumner Academy was not played  due to wintry weather conditions and the resulting potential impact on travel on the day the game was due to be played at the tournament site in Lawrence. Junction City did not make the trip on Feb. 1.

JCHS Athletic Director Matt Westerhaus said the two schools were unable to find a suitable reschedule date, but Junction City has found another school needing an additional game.

Olathe North will be traveling to Junction City High School on Thursday Feb. 27. There will be both jv and varsity games. The junior varsity contest will begin at 4:30 p.m. and the varsity contest at about 6 p.m., or 20 minutes after the junior varsity game.

Former, long-time Junction City High School Wrestling Coach Ben Bennett and State Champion Mike Goodwin are broadcasting this Saturday (February 22)  from the Class 6A Regional Wrestling Tournament at Washburn Rural High School, Topeka. Our hourly updates will air 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The top four place finishers in each weight class advance to the State Tournament Friday and Saturday, February 28th and March 1st at the Hartman Arena, Park City, Ks near Wichita. Ben and Mike will be back for two days of State Tourney coverage on 1420 KJCK.