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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

The Topeka West Chargers entered Tuesday night coming off a four-point United Kansas Conference defeat at Kansas City-Piper Friday and would get off to a sluggish start against 8-9 Lansing.

Senior Malakyah Duncan led four Topeka West players in double figures Tuesday with 22 points as the Chargers rallied for a 74-69 UKC win over Lansing. [File photo/TSN] 

But the Chargers came to life in the second half to pull out a 74-69 home victory over the Lions.

Junior Prince Lassiter would get Topeka West going with the first basket of the game, followed by a Gad Munganga 3-pointer to make it 5-0 Chargers.

But Lansing would answer to tie it up at 5 and the two teams would end the first quarter tied 15-15.

Lansing would come out of the quarter break on a run, going up 22-19, but West senior Keimani Paul would get a basket to take the lead 23-22. Lansing would take the lead back before Paul hit a 3 to make it 28-26.

The Lions then outscored West 11-4 to take the lead into halftime, 37-32.

As the first half belonged to the Lons the second half would be all Chargers.

"We didn't really execute in the first,'' Topeka West coach Christian Ulsaker said. "You can tell in the third quarter we went out and we really got transition going.

"The third and fourth quarter, we really tried to push the tempo and use athleticism to our advantage.”

The Chargers would scratch and claw their way back in the third as they would go on a 6-0 run to make it 41-40, but the Lions would answer with a run to go back up 47-43.

Down 53-50, Paul would throw down a huge one-handed dunk to get West within a point.

“I mentioned to him for the last 10 to 12 games, he's been, and this might not be a very crucial word, but he's been steady,'' Ulsaker said. "I mean, he's just been the staple for our program the last 10 or 12 games.”

“That dunk got our energy up and that's what we needed,'' West senior Malakyah Duncan said. "We needed that energy. We just used that and just took it.”

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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

Topeka West, winners of three of its last four games, hosted the Lansing Lions in a United Kansas Conference matchup Tuesday night, looking to keep its momentum going.

Senior Teairra Gonzales led a balanced attack with 14 points in Topeka West's 52-16 home UKC win over Lansing Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]

And the Chargers achieved that goal in dominant fashion, rolling to a 52-16 victory.

“We have been playing some good basketball here lately,” said West coach Angie Ketterman.

The Chargers got off to a strong start as senior Patience Allen opened the scoring with two free throws for the early lead.

Lansing answered with a 3-pointer to briefly go ahead, but Allen quickly responded with a personal 6-0 run to give West a 9-5 advantage.

Teairra Gonzales then added five quick points to push the lead to 15-5 at the end of the first quarter.

Allen scored eight of her 13 points in the opening frame.

“I was getting open looks, and coach had been telling me that I need to be more aggressive and if I am open to take the shot,” Allen said.

Lansing struck first in the second quarter, but the Chargers responded with a 15-5 run.

Gonzales led the charge, scoring seven of her game-high 14 points in the quarter.

“Coach kept telling us to get off to a big start and go from there, get open looks and be aggressive,” Gonzales said.

Topeka West took a commanding 30-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Allen and Gonzales continued their strong play in the third quarter, helping spark a 6-0 run before Lansing finally broke through to make it 36-12.

The Chargers outscored the Lions 8-3 the rest of the period to extend the lead to 44-15 heading into the fourth quarter, triggering a running clock and all but sealing the victory.

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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Topeka High girls basketball took control early Tuesday night and never looked back, avenging an earlier 11-point Centennial League loss to Hayden with a 59-47 league romp past the Wildcats at The Dungeon.

Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton scored a game-high 23 points in Tuesday's 59-47 Topeka High win over Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

The Trojans, who topped the .500 mark for the first time this season, only trailed once on the night, at 3-2, and there was just one tie, at 6-6, before Topeka High, now 9-8 overall and 4-2 in the league, scored the final eight points of the opening quarter to go up 14-6.

Topeka High went on to open up a 14-point advantage (27-13) before Hayden (13-5, 4-2) scored the final seven points of the half to cut its deficit to 27-20.

But the Trojans scored the first four points of the third quarter to go back in front by double-digits and led by 14 twice before taking an 11-point (45-34) advantage at the end of the third quarter and led by as many as 17 early in the fourth.

"It's always nice to get a good start,'' Topeka High coach Ron Slaymaker said. "Every coach would say that, but if you don't you don't fold your tent, but it's nice to get it and I thought we played with energy and all the things you want to play with in any game.

"And we just kept it going, pretty much through the whole game.'' 

Sophomore Hailey Caryl (40) scored 15 points Tuesday as Topeka High improved to 9-8 with a 59-47 win over Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton paced the Trojans with a game-high 23 points while sophomore Hailey Caryl added 15 points and all seven Topeka High players that saw action cracked the scoring column as High won its third straight game.

"They're playing really well right now,'' Slaymaker said.

Sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein led Hayden with 14 points in Tuesday's 59-47 loss at Topeka High. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Hayden sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein overcame a slow start to lead the Wildcats with 14 points while senior Ella Foster and sophomore Blakely Walter added 11 each.

Foster helped keep the Wildcats in the hunt with three 3-pointers while Schmidtlein and Walter both connected on two treys.

Topeka High will go on the road Thursday for a non-league game against Seaman, which handed the Trojans a 75-60 loss in the final round of the Capital City Classic on Jan. 31.

Hayden will return to action Friday with a Centennial League game at Emporia.

TOPEKA HIGH GIRLS 59, HAYDEN 47

Hayden          6 14 14 13  -- 47

Topeka High 14 13 18 14 -- 59

Hayden (13-5, 4-2) – Walter 4-9 1-2 11, Schmidtlein 5-12 2-2 14, Foster 3-5 2-2 11, Huscher 0-2 0-0 0, Watts 0-1 0-0 0, Wichman 1-1 0-0 2, Mitchell 0-4 1-2 1, Borjon 1-3 0-0 3, Connell 2-7 1-2 5. Totals 16-44 7-10 47. 

Topeka High (9-8, 4-2) – Short 3-4 0-0 6, Marshall 1-3 0-0 2, Rayton 8-21 6-7 23, Caryl 6-7 2-4 15, Gotru 2-3 2-2 6, Triplett 1-2 1-1 3, Whayne 1-2 1-2 4. Totals 22-42 12-16 59.

3-point goals – Hayden 8 (Foster 3, Walter 2, Schmidtlein 2, Borjon), Topeka High 4 (Rayton 2, Marshall, Short). Total fouls – Hayden 6, Topeka High 9. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.