Vote now: Who's the Topeka area's high school athlete of the week for Feb. 26-March 2?
TOPEKA — Sub-state basketball concluded with seven Topeka-area teams hoisting a trophy. They enter this week’s state championship tournament, but these players were the standouts from a crowded week of action on the hardwood.
Vote for the Capital-Journal’s athlete of the week for Feb. 26-March 2. Voting closes at noon on Thursday.
Here are the nominees:
Makenzie McDaniel, Silver Lake
The senior was an important piece to Silver Lake’s offense in the team’s sub-state championship. As she’s been all season long, McDaniel’s calm finishing around the paint made Silver Lake tough to stop. She scored 30 points in the first round against Marysville and followed it with a 22-point performance against St. Marys in the sub-state title on Saturday.
Deacon Pomeroy, Shawnee Heights
The junior was one of the best players on the floor when Shawnee Heights defeated St. Thomas Aquinas in the sub-state championship game on Friday. Pomeroy scored the game-winning basket in overtime to clinch a spot in the state tournament for the Thunderbirds. Pomeroy scored 18 points as he controlled the paint all evening.
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Dom Ridley, Hayden
The senior nailed a game-tying 3-pointer to send the sub-state title game to overtime. Ridley’s shot helped the Wildcats win the title in double-overtime as he scored a team-high 18 points. Ridley also scored 18 points in the semifinal game against Perry-Lecompton as the guard has emerged as one of the primary scorers during Hayden’s postseason run.
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Ja’Corey Robinson, Highland Park
The junior rocked the rims all night long against Bonner Springs in Friday’s sub-state championship game. He threw down dunk after dunk, but he also highlighted his mixture of offensive game from outside shooting to contested layups. He was everywhere on the floor as he scored a game-high 40 points for Highland Park.
Taylin Stallbaumer, Seaman
The senior scored 15 points in Seaman’s win over Basehor-Linwood for the sub-state title on Saturday. Stallbaumer was nailing every jump shot that she took as she made three 3-pointers and ended the game with 15 points. Her on-ball defending was impressive, too. The Bobcats struggled to find space, especially with their guard play as Seaman won by 35 points.
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Previous Winners
Dec. 4-9: Will Powell, Washburn Rural swimming
Dec. 11-16: Kendra Hurla, Rossville wrestling
Jan. 2-6: Detrick Johnson, Topeka High wrestling
Jan. 8-13: Maddie Gragg, Seaman basketball
Jan. 15-20: Imani McGlory, Topeka West basketball
Jan. 22-27: Jaxon Cowdin, Topeka High swimming
Jan. 29-Feb. 3: Nora Burdiek, Rossville basketball
Feb. 5-10: Isabel Reyes, Shawnee Heights wrestling
Feb. 12-17: Rykan Carver, Shawnee Heights wrestling
Feb. 19-24: Molly Spader, Washburn Rural wrestling
Liam Keating covers high school sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Vote for the Topeka area's HS athlete of the week for Feb. 26-March 2
