Andover Central girls beat Aquinas, claim 5A championship
It took until the last game of the season, the Kansas 5A girls state finals, for the Saint Thomas Aquinas girls to suffer their first loss to an in-state opponent.

It took 24 points from Andover Central star Tiffany Bias, one of the state’s top players, and second-half foul trouble for the Saints’ own standout, junior DaShawn Harden.

Girls Basketball State Semis: Aquinas 48-Topeka Seaman 32
Statistically speaking, Saint Thomas Aquinas junior DaShawn Harden wasn’t the same omnipresent force in the first half Thursday – four points on five shots – that she so often is for the Saints.

Girls Basketball: Saints 57-Miege 49
Will play for the state championship tomorrow at 4 pm vs #1 seed Andover Central

Aquinas girls take 1st game of the season against rival Bishop Miege
The gym was busy last night at Saint Thomas Aquinas. Both the Saints and the Stags, ranked in the top 5, were playing for first place in the EKL. The crowd was in it from the beginning as the Saints went ahead quickly 4-0 with baskets from Melanie Siscos and Katie Brown.

Aquinas batters Miege by 22 in top-five showdown
Not even the Saint Thomas Aquinas girls would have predicted how Monday night’s game unfolded against rival Bishop Miege.

The Saints, ranked second in The Star’s big-class girls poll, expected the usual nail-biting battle from the fourth-ranked Stags. But Aquinas rolled to a 55-33 victory at home for its ninth victory in a row.

Aquinas girls beat O’Hara in KA-MO Classic final
Twenty minutes after Saint Thomas Aquinas’ latest victory, a 46-36 win Friday night over O’Hara, Saints junior DaShawn Harden could still hear the voice of Aquinas coach Rick Hetzel in the back of her mind.

Saint Thomas Aquinas boys (basketball) edge Wyandotte

Two days after pulling off a narrow upset win in its Kansas 5A boys substate opener, Wyandotte almost did it again Saturday.

But with the score tied late, Saint Thomas Aquinas senior Zach Bourquin scored the game’s final four points to deliver the Saints a 55-51 victory over the Bulldogs in the substate final at Gardner Edgerton.

Aquinas (boys basketball) used patience in knocking off Pittsburg Thursday


It was a combination of the fact that Saint Thomas-Aquinas had every possession that lasted no less than 35 seconds or that Pittsburg shot around 20 percent from the field.

Regardless, the Saints came to the PHS gym and knocked out the Dragons 41-17 Thursday night in the Class 5A sub-state tournament.

Blue Valley West hangs on to beat Aquinas 31-29
Blue Valley West senior Michael Moyer had been there before, toeing the foul line late in a game, awaiting a big pair of free-throw attempts. Just last week, as a matter of fact.

Saints basketball capture second in the Jim Draper Tournament

KC duo ending time at K-State on a high note


Kansas State senior Carolyn McCullough is making her first career start in the NCAA Tournament.

Every March, basketball careers that started in childhood come to an end. Kansas State seniors Carolyn McCullough and Shana Wheeler know that will be the case for them this spring.

They just hope to make their time on the court last a little longer.

Aquinas beats Sumner 58-47

TOPEKA | Saint Thomas Aquinas senior forward Clinton Mann grew increasingly frustrated on the bench as he watched his team’s once-solid lead start to dwindle.

Thanks in large part to Mann’s game-high 20 points, the Saints held an eight-point lead midway through the fourth quarter of their first-round game against Sumner in the 5A state tournament. But that was before Mann fouled out with 4:45 left.

Aquinas edges Miege in Kansas 5A substate final

Saint Thomas Aquinas senior Clinton Mann took a quick glance left in between making two free throws with 24 seconds remaining Friday. He said he saw his buddies cheering him on in the crowd.

“I couldn’t let them down,” he said. “I couldn’t let the school down.”

(Aquinas alum) McCullough made the most of opportunities

Odds are Carolyn McCullough will never take that game-winning shot or even be on the court when somebody else does.

She barely makes a dent in the box score some nights, but that's OK according to the K-State senior forward who will be playing in one of her last home games as a Wildcat today when the women host Nebraska at 7 p.m.

Aquinas boys win Kansas substate games

Saint Thomas Aquinas opened its doors Wednesday night and welcomed Gardner Edgerton into the Kansas 5A boys basketball playoffs.

About 12 minutes into the game, the Saints were running their overmatched visitors from southern Johnson County out of the Aquinas gym. The Saints built a commanding 24-point lead during the first half.

SM South edges Aquinas in Saints Classic semifinal
Shawnee Mission South guard Will Spradling said he’d never heard a gymnasium as loud as when he stepped to the free-throw line for the last time Friday night at Saint Thomas Aquinas.

<read more>

Aquinas’ Henry causes pain to BV Northwest

Saint Thomas Aquinas junior Jared Henry went to sleep Thursday night wondering whether he would play in Friday’s game.

Friday morning, his groin injury was better. Friday night, all uncertainty was gone when the buzzer sounded in a 55-46 East Kansas League victory at home against Blue Valley Northwest.

Aquinas 59 Lee’s Summit West 53
Saint Thomas Aquinas will take it. But the Saints probably weren’t too happy with the way they finished off their win over Lee’s Summit West.