By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Seaman and Topeka West's boys basketball teams faced off on Friday night in a rematch of the Dec. 7 game which saw the Vikings hand the Chargers their only loss of the season.
Topeka West senior star Elijah Brooks was not going to let that happen again as he followed up his 43-point effort earlier in the week with 33 more, breaking the all-time career scoring record at Topeka West.
“They just told us before the game, but whatever happened happened,'' Brooks said. " I wasn’t hunting for it, but it’s good to have it. Every time I would have went over there out of bounds they (the fans) would have told me I broke it and I was like I just wanted to finish the game really cause I was tired.”
Topeka West star Elijah Brooks scored 30 or more points for the fifth straight game in Friday's 74-58 win over Seaman, becoming the career scoring leader in West history. [File photo/TSN]
The previous record of 1,235 was held by Luke Dwyer and had stood since 2000, but after Brooks' 33 points he leaped up to 1,250 in his career.
“It’s definitely great because I spent all my four years here, I worked hard for it,'' Brooks said. "And just, every year they told me I could be a special player, so just seeing the proof is in the pudding, that’s really the great thing about it.''
The 74-58 win moved the second-ranked Chargers to 12-1 on the season overall and 8-1 in the Centennial League while the Vikings fell to 7-5, 5-3.
Topeka West came out fast and capitalized on turnovers with a 9-4 lead early. Seaman responded with increased defensive effort, going on an 8-0 run to take the lead after two free throws by senior Mateo Hyman. The run gave the Vikings a 13-11 lead after one.
In the second the Chargers offense took off, led by junior Xavier Alexander, who had eight points in the quarter, and Brooks, who had 11. The two accounted for 19 of the 24 points for Topeka West in a quarter which saw them lead by as many as 10.
After an up-and-down second quarter, the score was left at 35-27 with the Chargers in front.
The pace slowed down in the third quarter as both teams had trouble with turnovers and knocking down open shots from outside when they were available.
“We had a stretch where we had four good looks, shots that we wanted to take that could have kept us in the game and we didn’t hit any of them,” Seaman coach Craig Cox said. “Just got to shoot the ball better to hang with an explosive offense like West has.”
The difference in the final four and a half minutes of the quarter was the ability of Brooks to take the ball inside, as he scored eight straight for the Chargers to give them a 49-35 lead heading into the fourth.
Topeka West’s defense stayed strong in the final quarter and turned into offense. A fullcourt steal and dunk from Brooks less than two minutes into the quarter extended the lead to 15 points.
Hyman continued to attack the basket for the Vikings, scoring four points in the first four minutes and getting to the line twice. On the other end, the Chargers were taking just as many free throws themselves, keeping the lead near 15 inside the final three minutes.
Seaman connected on 3-pointers on three straight possessions down the stretch, the final two coming from senior Gavin Wilhelm, but it still left the Vikings trailing by 10 points with less than two minutes to go.
A breakaway dunk from Topeka West junior Malachi Berg, followed by a defensive stop put the game away for the Chargers as they took home the 16-point win.
“It’s great for our confidence,” Brooks said of avenging the earlier loss to the Vikings. “Back then we weren’t really the same team … we didn’t have the same chemistry we have now.”
Alexander backed Brooks' 33-point night with 12 points, as both of them knocked down a pair of 3-pointers.
For Seaman, Wilhelm paced the team with 14 points while Hyman and juniors Kaeden Bonner and Aron Davis all added 10.
“We are the only team that has beat them this year, and we played really well and hit shots that night, and tonight we didn’t shoot the ball well enough to stay in the game,” Cox said.
Seaman will be back home to face Junction City next Tuesday while Topeka West will travel to Washburn Rural.
TOPEKA WEST BOYS 74, SEAMAN 58
Topeka West 11 24 14 25 -- 74
Seaman 13 14 8 23 -- 58
Topeka West (12-1, 8-1) – Austin 2-3 4-6 8, Robinson 1-2 0-0 2, Foy 1-1 0-0 2, Brooks 12-20 7-10 33, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Alexander 4-9 2-2 12, Berg 4-6 1-2 9, Putthoff 1-7 3-4 6, Noonoo 0-0 0-0 0, Reimer 1-1 0-0 2, Bearman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-49 17-24 74.
Seaman (7-5, 5-3) – Greiss 2-5 2-2 6, Hyman 3-8 4-6 10, Henry 3-11 0-0 6, Bonner 4-9 0-0 10, Wilhelm 5-9 0-0 14, Finley 0-0 0-0 0, Barta 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 4-4 1-2 10.
3-point goals – Topeka West 5 (Brooks 2, Alexander 2, Putthoff), Seaman 9 (Wilhelm 4, Greiss 2, Bonner 2, Davis). Total fouls – Topeka West 12, Seaman 19. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
