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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Fans have grown accustomed to Highland Park's boys basketball team running up and down the court with numerous dunks and highlight-film plays.

Senior Mikey Williams scored a game-high 17 points Friday as Highland Park advanced to its third straight Topeka Invitational championship game with a 52-41 semifinal win over Lawrence. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Highland Park senior Ja'Corey Robinson scored 13 points Friday in the Scots' 52-41 semifinal win over Lawrence in the Topeka Invitational Tournament. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

But Friday night was more about getting the job done at a slower, grind-it-out pace, with the 10-0 and top-ranked (Class 5A) Scots advancing to the Topeka Invitational Tournament championship game for the third straight season with a 52-41 semifinal win over Lawrence at Topeka High.

"When it comes down to it, we're going to see games like we've had over the last couple of nights,'' said Scots coach Mike Williams, whose team took a 12-point win over Shawnee Mission North in Thursday's opening round. "Over the last couple of years I can count on two fingers the single-digit games that we've gotten in the regular season.

"So we've found pockets to get a few more games that are kind of challenging us in a different way and we're seeing different things show up for our guys. Some things aren't as good at times, but it's OK. It's not the end of the world if we get out there and make a mistake or two. That allows us as coaches to do our job.''

Highland Park, which has won 19 Topeka Invitational titles, trailed just once, at 2-1, in the game, but the Lions (2-6) were able to stay within single-digits most of the night before the Scots closed out the 11-point victory to earn a berth in Saturday's 2:30 p.m. championship game against city rival Topeka West.

The Scots led 8-5 after a slow-paced opening quarter and led 22-12 at the half after senior Mikey Williams scored three straight points to end the second quarter.

Highland Park went up 13 points (29-16) with 5:42 left in the third quarter on a 3-pointer from senior Da'Mykel Hales but Lawrence got within six late in the third before Scot senior Ja'Corey Robinson hit a follow shot at the buzzer to put Hi Park up 33-25 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Lawrence got no closer, with Highland Park leading by as many as 14 points (43-29) midway through the final quarter.

Williams scored a game-high 17 points to lead three Scots in double figures, with Robinson adding 13 points and Hales 11 with three 3-pointers.

Lawrence got a team-high 11 points from freshman Joey Dooley while senior Aden Ramirez added nine points.

Scot coach Mike Williams wasn't surprised to get a test from Lawrence, which has advanced to the Topeka Invitational championship game nine times since 2010 with four titles and a championship-game loss to the Scots in 2023.

"They've got pride,'' Williams said of the Lions. "Highland Park and Lawrence is a traditional matchup in the TIT. They know that, the fans know that, their school knows that.

"The coaches have pride and they're going to get their kids out there and compete, and when you get in tournament play, records are out the window. I'm just happy our guys were able to get a challenge and overcome.''

HIGHLAND PARK 52, LAWRENCE 41

Lawrence         5 7 13 16 -- 41

Highland Park 8 14 11 19 -- 52

Lawrence (2-6) – Johnson 1-4 0-0 3, Ramirez 2-5 4-4 9, Foster 3-3 0-2 6, Roman Nose 3-8 1-2 7, Dooley 4-8 1-1 11, Becker 0-0 0-0 0, Simar 1-2 0-2 2, Doleman 1-2 0-0 3. Totals: 15-32 6-12 41.

Highland Park (10-0) – Wilson 2-5 0-0 5, Hales 4-7 0-0 11, Kelley 2-4 0-0 4, Williams 6-13 5-8 17, Robinson 4-7 4-6 13, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Kingcannon 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 19-38 9-14 52.

3-point goals – Lawrence 5 (Dooley 2, Johnson, Ramirez, Doleman), Highland Park 5 (Hales 3, Wilson, Robinson). Total fouls – Lawrence 13, Highland Park 14. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.

Lansing pulls away late to top Topeka High

For the second straight night Topeka High put itself in a position to post its first win of the season.

But after Topeka High took a six-point lead at 55-49 with 4:10 left, Lansing scored the final 14 points of the night to take a 63-55 win on Friday on the Trojans' home court.

High fell to 0-10 on the season while Lansing improved to 2-8.

"I told the guys, this one's on me,'' Topeka High coach Geo Lyons said. "I knew we were playing at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, no band, no student section. It was like a middle school basketball game and I didn't have my team ready to go and that's what it came down to.

"And once a team already has it on and then you try to turn it on, it's hard to play catchup. We put so much energy into trying to get back into the basketball game and even taking the lead that we just didn't have it down the stretch and really that came down to we were mentally tired.''

Topeka High led 16-10 after one quarter but the Lions rallied to take a 31-29 advantage at the half.

The Trojans led 45-43 at the start of the final period and held a lead until Lansing went in front to stay with 2:14 remaining.

Junior Jalen Aldridge led Topeka High with 19 points while junior Octavian McFadded added 16 points.

Junior Jesse Wilson came off the bench to lead Lansing with a game-high 21 points.

LANSING 63, TOPEKA HIGH 55

Topeka High 16 15 14 10 -- 55

Lansing          10 19 14 20 -- 63

Topeka High (0-10) – Guest 3-9 0-0 9, McFadden 7-10 0-0 16, Aldridge 7-14 2-3 17, Campbell 1-2 0-0 2, McComas 3-6 3-6 9, Redmond 0-5 0-0 0, Wilkerson 0-3 0-0 0, Trotter 0-0 0-0 0, Carter 0-3 0-0 0, Dingle 0-1 0-0 0, Mallory 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-56 5-9 55. 

Lansing (2-8) – Stephens 8-18 0-2 18, Heim 1-4 0-0 2, Zimmerman 0-7 1-2 1, Mattingly 2-6 4-5 8, Boden 5-8 0-0 13, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Wilson 6-9 9-14 21. Totals: 22-52 14-23 63. 

3-point goals – Topeka High 6 (Guest 3, McFadden 2, Aldridge), Lansing 5 (Boden 3, Stephens 2). Total fouls – Topeka High 22, Lansing 8. Fouled out – McComas. Technical fouls – none. 

TOPEKA INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT

RESULTS FRIDAY

Wichita SE 69, SM North 66

Lansing 63, Topeka High 55

Highland Park 52, Lawrence 41

Topeka West 71, Olathe East 59

GAMES SATURDAY

10 a.m. -- Topeka High vs. SM North (seventh place).

11:30 -- Wichita SE vs. Lansing (fifth place).

1 p.m. -- Lawrence vs. Olathe East (third place).

2:30 -- Highland Park vs. Topeka West (championship).

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

With Highland Park waiting in the wings after a win in Friday's first semifinal, the quest for Topeka West was clear, to secure an all-city Topeka Invitational Tournament championship game for the first time in 21 seasons.

Junior Keimani Paul led a balanced Topeka West attack with 16 points in the Chargers' 71-59 Topeka Invitational semifinal victory over Olathe East. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Senior Kamoni Ford scored 15 points with three 3-pointers in Friday's 71-59 Topeka Invitational semifinal win over Olathe East. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

And the Chargers went out and took care of their part with their sixth straight win, a 71-59 romp over Olathe East at Topeka High.

"We've been waiting for this one for a long time,'' West junior Keimani Paul said. "We've been wanting to play them (the Scots) for the last two years and we're hungry for this one. We're going to go get it.''

With the win Topeka West will put its 8-2 record on the line against the 10-0 Scots in a 2:30 p.m. championship game, the first city final since West topped Seaman in the 2004 championship game.

Olathe East (6-4) built early 4-0 and 7-3 leads before the Chargers rallied to take a 26-18 advantage at the end of the opening quarter and never trailed again.

"We went out knowing we wanted to win this game because we wanted to play HP and we saw that they just won, so we were hungry all through it,'' Paul said. 

West built its lead to 14 points (46-32) by the end of the first half and led by 18 early in the third quarter (50-32) and 62-45 after three quarters.

The Chargers went on to go in front by 20 points (69-49) with 5:10 remaining before Olathe East made up some ground in garbage time.

"The guys came out and they executed well,'' West coach Christian Ulsaker said. "The same thing I said yesterday against Lansing, when you take a way a team's favorite two options on offense it makes it very difficult for them offensively and I think our guys attacked the rim super hard.

"Even if we didn't finish at times they attacked the rim hard on offense and we were able to draw some fouls and finally knocked down the free throws compared to last night.''

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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Mikey Williams is usually a reliable free throw shooter, including a 90.9 percent average in the first city stats, which made his struggles at the line in Saturday's Topeka Invitational Tournament championship game a bit frustrating for the Highland Park senior star.

Highland Park senior Mikey Williams (middle) scored a game-high 15 points in Saturday's 44-41 win over Topeka West in the Topeka Invitational championship game en route to being named tourament MVP. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Highland Park poses for a team picture after winning the 2025 Topeka Invitational championship Saturday at Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

But Williams was able to get eight charities to fall in the fourth quarter, including five in the final 1:32, as the top-ranked and undefeated Scots held off city rival Topeka West 44-41 to claim the tournament championhip in the first all-city final in 21 seasons.

"Usually I'm a really good free throw shooter,'' Williams said. "I'm the guy they look to shoot free throws at the end of a game, but I don't know, maybe it was just fatigue from three games in a row. I think the fatigue just sort of settled in my legs, they were feeling heavy.

"Every time after I missed I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I need these to seal the game,' so I was super frustrated because I knew my team needed those in that moment, but I'm just glad we got the win.''

Williams was a big part of that win and the Scots' championship, being named the tournament most valuable player after scoring a game-high 15 points in the final as top-ranked (Class 5A) Highland Park improved to 11-0 on the season.

Highland Park struggled at times against the No. 7-ranked Chargers (8-3), but did the things it needed to do to get the win according to Scots coach Mike Williams.

"You can't be disappointed with that at all,'' said Williams, whose Scots played without senior starter Da'Mykel Hales due to illness. "In tournament play you're looking to advance and you get to the championhip game you're looking to win any way possible.

"And I felt like our guys did that, even when our offense wasn't as clean at times as it has been. Credit to teams having a good game plan, focusing in on things that they can take away from us and how they should play us and we responded. And I think when our offense kind of slowed our defense got stingy and we just take pride in it.''

Highland Park led the bulk of Saturday's game, but Topeka West refused to go away.

The Scots led 6-4 after a low-scoring opening quarter and 19-14 at the half before going up by a game-high 8 points (27-19) with 5:15 left in the third on a Williams bucket.

But the Chargers answered in a hurry, cutting their deficit to 29-28 at the end of the third and taking a brief 30-29 advantage at the 7:28 mark on a hoop from junior Keimani Paul.

That West lead only lasted about a minute, however, as Highland Park senior star Ja'Corey Robinson was fouled on a driving dunk and converted the 3-point play to give the Scots a 32-30 advantage.

Sophomore Joseph Kingcannon followed with a basket and Williams hit two free throws to put Hi Park up 36-30 with 4:54 remaining.

Topeka West clawed within a point twice, the final time on two Malakyah Duncan free throws with 9.6 seconds left, but Williams hit two charities at the other end to give Hi Park its final margin.

"The shots weren't falling for us, especially in the first half,'' West coach Christian Ulsaker said. "Now I'm sure that's what coach Williams would say as well, but we were missing bunnies early and then we just didn't make the right plays at the end. I think we need to play a little bit more tougher as when we're attacking the rim we can't get bumped out of our spots and we've got to finish at the rim.''

But Ulsaker was also proud of his team for the way it kept battling back.

"If you want to bring back up the Shawnee Heights game (a 74-45 loss), these boys were able to deal with adversity better,'' he said. "They didn't back down. A run happens and then they came back with a run of their own, which is very pleasing to see for sub-state and state material.''

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