The Western Athletic Conference postseason honors were dominated by Dodge City High School, which had the player of the year in senior forward Terrance Williams and the coach of the year in Dennis Hamilton.
The Red Demons added three other players on the first team — sophomore guard Rico Hogan, senior forward Landon Head and senior post player Miles Morin. A fifth starter for the Demons, sophomore guard Trey Hallman, was named honorable mention.
Selections were made in a vote by the league’s coaches.
The Class 1A state champion South Gray High School girls led the Southern Plains-Iroquois Athletic Association with three players named first-team all-league.
The Rebels’ Mikayla Skidmore, Brigit Hesser and Kayla Thomas are joined on the first team by Jetmore’s Shelby Cossman, Minneola’s Kara Minor and Spearville’s Megan Stein.
EMPORIA — Washburn Rural High School's Maggie Holmberg's long-distance prowess Saturday morning was nearly beyond belief.
Holmberg, a 6-foot-1 senior, exploded for 40 points, draining 9-of-10 3-pointers in the first half and tying a state record with 11 for the game, as the Junior Blues defeated the shell-shocked Dodge City Red Demons 76-61 in the third-place game of the Class 6A state tournament at White Auditorium.
Knocking down her first six 3-point attempts, Holmberg was 7-for-8 from beyond the arc for 21 opening-quarter points. By halftime, she had made nine of her first 10 3s for 27 first-half points, as Rural opened up a 44-27 halftime lead and never looked back.
“How often do you run into that?,” Dodge City head coach Justin Briggs asked. “Not very. We didn't have an answer for her. We tried several different schemes to try to get somebody in (Holmberg’s) face. We tried to face-guard her, and we did a lot of different things.
“She came off screens really well and she was shooting lights out. That's pretty awesome for anybody. I just wish it wouldn't have happened to us. That's the best performance I've been around.”
Holmberg set a school standard for single-game points scored, topping the previous mark of 36, and narrowly missing the 6A state tournament single-game record of 42 points, set by Nadira Hazim of Topeka West (1987). Holmberg tied the all-state tournament record by making 11 3-pointers in a game, established by Miklannet Tennal of Centralia in 2000.
BOYS
6A Final
Wichita Heights 56,
Blue Valley Northwest 40
EMPORIA — Sophomore Perry Ellis scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, as top-seeded Wichita Heights repeated as Class 6A state champions, beating Blue Valley Northwest Saturday night in the final at White Auditorium.
Ellis, an unprecedented 6A player of the year last year as a freshman, is the highest-recruited sophomore in the nation. Ellis made 7 of 10 field goals, 5 of 7 free throws and seven of his rebounds came on the defensive end. Dreamius Smith added 10 points, and Evan Wessel and Terrance Moore scored seven apiece for the Falcons (23-2).
Northwest, which upset No. 2 seed Dodge City in the opening round, had its magic carpet ride come to a halt against the Falcons. Northwest was led by guards Tyler Brashears and Brett Fisher with 16 points apiece. Fisher had four 3-pointers.
Connecticut's path to another perfect season could include a renewal of the most heated rivalry in women's college basketball.
The Ingalls High School's boys' basketball team had five players named to Santa Fe Trail All-League teams. The Ingalls girls also had five players named all-league.
Washburn Rural High School's Maggie Holmberg's long-distance prowess Saturday morning was nearly beyond belief.
Kansas, Kentucky, Duke and Syracuse earned top billing and the No. 1 seeds for the NCAA tournament Sunday, with the Jayhawks named the top seed overall for the 2010 version of March Madness.
With three seconds remaining in the Class 1A state championship, the fate of the South Gray basketball team hinged on a sophomore's free-throw abilities.
