The Scholars Bowl team from Junction City High School finished first in the 24-team Southeast of Saline Tournament Thursday night.
Team members include Matthew Champagne, Frank Kim, Hunter Seech, Katharine Kellogg, Danny Bramucci, and Nick Dombrowski. Tim Hickert is the coach.
Junction City High School senior Semaj Johnson has been selected to play on the West team in the 2014 Kansas Shrine Bowl, July 26 at Carnie Smith Stadium in Pittsburg.
The annual high school all star football game features the top seniors from the just completed season, in this case the 2013 campaign.
Johnson was a starter at tight end for the Blue Jays, who went 6-3 in 2013.
Saturday afternoon two of the three top ranked college basketball teams in the nation from the state of Kansas will be meeting up for a much anticipated match up.
The #25 Kansas State Wildcats will make the short drive down I-70 Saturday to Lawrence for the 278th Sunflower 
Showdown against the #18 Kansas Jayhawks. K-State has not won in Lawrence since 2006 and the last time the Wildcats won in Lawrence when both teams were ranked was 1958.
Shane Southwell, senior guard, said that a win Saturday would be crucial. “I never won there or even got close to winning there. I want to get a win there. It is going to be hard to look back on my life and say I did not get a win in that arena.”
To prepare his team for the atmosphere in Lawrence Saturday Head Coach Bruce Weber had his team practice while loud crowd noises played in the background.
“The biggest thing is that you have to keep your poise, just try to play and just keep coming at them,” Weber said.
Thomas Gipson, junior forward, said that the extra sound during practice was something new to the team. “We didn’t do that last year, because coaches did not even know it was going to be that loud. Today (Thursday) we handled it pretty well. We were still focused and people were still communicating and trying to talk over the music and system. I feel like we did well.”
Saturday’s game tip’s off at 1:00 p.m. from Allen Fieldhouse.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – The University of Kansas is planning a $17.5 million apartment complex to house up to 32 men’s and women’s basketball players. 
The complex is scheduled to open near Allen Fieldhouse for the 2016-17 school year.
The estimated cost for each of the students would be $265,000, compared with $68,000 per student in two freshman halls being built on campus at a cost of $47.8 million.
The Kansas City Star reports (https://bit.ly/19fMXCl ) each apartment in the basketball complex would have a full kitchen and living and dining rooms. There would be lounges on each floor, two team meeting rooms, tutoring space and a multipurpose room.
The university will pay for the project through private donors and bonds that would be paid from revenues generated by the apartment complex.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) – Kendra Suttles scored 11 straight points in the second half, her only points of the game, to spur No. 15 Oklahoma State to a 58-51 victory over Kansas State on Wednesday night.
The Cowgirls (13-1, 2-1 Big 12) trailed by one with 11:44 left when Suttles went on her scoring run with four field goals and three free throws that left Oklahoma State up 45-35 with 8:01 left.
The Cowgirls stretched the lead to as many as 14 with 2:59 left. Ashia Woods’ basket got the Wildcats (6-8, 0-3) back within seven with 59 seconds left but the teams only scored two points apiece the rest of the way.
Tiffany Bias also scored 11 points and Brittney Martin 10 for OSU, which bounced back from its first loss, a 71-67 defeat against West Virginia.
Ashia Woods scored 17 points K-State.
The win was Oklahoma State’s first in Manhattan since 2007.
Kansas State freshman Marcus Foster has been named the Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Week.
Foster helped Kansas State to a pair of wins over George Washington and Oklahoma State last week.
Foster was chosen for the weekly honor by CBSSports.com’s Jeff Borzello in partnership with the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. This season marks the first time a weekly national freshman of the week will be selected.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Thomas Gipson scored 19 points, Marcus Foster added 16 and No. 25 Kansas State ran its winning streak to 10 games with a 65-47 victory over TCU on Tuesday night.
The Wildcats (12-3, 2-0 Big 12), who made their way into the Top 25 for the first time this 
season on Monday, played their first true road game of the season.
Amric Fields scored 14 points and Kyan Anderson added 12 for TCU (9-5, 0-2), which trailed 31-21 at halftime.
The Horned Frogs used a 10-2 run to get within 36-33 with 13:45 to play, but Kansas State responded with a 9-3 run – keyed by a wide-open 3-pointer by Shane Southwell – and the Wildcats’ lead wouldn’t dip below seven points for the rest of the game.
Foster, the reigning Big 12 newcomer of the week, hit two 3-pointers in a one-minute span late in the second half. The Wildcats hit 7 of 15 3-pointers overall.
All tickets and select concession items will be only $1 when the Kansas State women’s basketball team hosts Iowa State at 7 p.m. on Saturday Jan. 18 for the annual “Pack the House” game.
As part of the NCAA’s “Pack the House” initiative, K-State is offering all tickets for just $1, which includes all available seating in the chairbacks, reserved bench, and general admission seating areas of Bramlage Coliseum. To purchase tickets contact the K-State Athletic Ticket Office at ( 800 ) 221-Cats or visit www.kstatesports.com.
In addition designated concession items will be sold for just $1, including: pretzels, popcorn, and select chips and candy, which will be available at all of the main concession stands on the Bramlage concourse.
Beginning at 6 p.m., on the Bramlage concourse, Willie’s fun Zone will be open to the public including a free photo booth, face painting, pictures with Willie the Wildcat and more. In addition, members of the 2013 Big 12 Championship baseball team will be signing autographs for fans. The team will also be recognized during the game.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) – The University of Illinois and University of Kansas will play each other during both the 2023 and 2024 football seasons.
The Illini and Jayhawks announced the home-and-home series on Tuesday. The Illini will travel to Lawrence, Kan., to play the Jayhawks on Sept. 9, 2023. The Jayhawks will come to Champaign to play the Illini on Sept. 7, 2024.
Illinois and Kansas have played each other five times in the past. The Illini hold a 3-2 series edge over the Jayhawks. But Kansas won the last time the teams played. That was in 1968. The other games were all played before 1930.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Former All-Star catcher Ramon Hernandez has agreed to a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals.
The 37-year-old is a career .263 hitter in 15 seasons in the major leagues. His 757 RBIs since the start of the 1999 season are fifth among major league catchers during that span, and his 169 homers are seventh-most among big league catchers.
Hernandez played in 17 games last year for the Los Angeles Dodgers, batting .208 with two doubles, three home runs and six RBIs. He was released June 22.
He was an All-Star in 2003 with Oakland, hitting 21 home runs. He also has played for San Diego, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Colorado.
Kansas City announced the agreement Tuesday.