By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' hopes looked bleak late in the first half of Saturday's Capital City Classic championship game against Washburn Rural.
Shawnee Heights poses for a team picture Saturday after winning the championship in the Capital City Classic. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights celebrates its 59-54 win over Washburn Rural Saturday at Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The T-Birds trailed the Junior Blues by a whopping 16 points while their top three scorers were all in serious foul trouble.
But the situation wasn't anything a career performance from sophomore star KK Emmot as well as timely key plays from several other T-Birds couldn't rectify, with Shawnee Heights rallying for a 59-54 win at Topeka West.
"For our girls to have the resolve to come through adversity like they did, I'm just so proud of them,'' Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. "Because it would have been real easy, like coach (Duncan) Whitlock said, to fold like a lawnchair, but they didn't. They kept fighting and they kept staying with it and they stayed together as a group when it would have been real easy to splinter off there.''
"We just really needed to step up and just stop fouling,'' Emmot said about the Heights turnaround. "We just had to change defenses. We changed to a different defense and we just kept going to that and that helped the game.''
Shawnee Heights sophomore KK Emmot (left), who scored 36 points, battles for a loose ball Saturday against Washburn Rural's Tenly Bunck (22) and Maddie Vickery. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Emmot poured in a career-high 36 points, including 19 in the third quarter, as the 9-4 T-Birds turned the tables on the No. 5-ranked Class 6A Junior Blues.
"We just never stop competing,''Emmot said. "No matter how far down we are we just compete, compete, compete and competing wins the game.''
Shawnee Heights, which trailed 33-19 at the half, hit the Junior Blues (7-4) with a 24-11 lick in the third quarter, pulling within a point (44-43) at the start of the fourth quarter.
Rural continued to hold the lead through the bulk of the final stanza until T-Bird junior Reianna Vega scored with 45 seconds remaining to give Heights its first lead since the first quarter at 55-54.
Washburn Rural turnovers led to two Emmot free throws and two Vega charities to close out the win.
Vega backed Emmot with 12 points while senior Kaydence Torrez and Vega combined for 15 rebounds.
Washburn Rural sophomore Maddie Vickery scored 27 points in Saturday's 59-54 loss to Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Maddie Vickery led Washburn Rural with 27 points while sophomore Gracie Hayes added 9 points off the bench on three 3-pointers.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 59, WASHBURN RURAL 54
Washburn Rural 6 27 11 10 -- 54
Shawnee Heights 8 11 24 16 -- 59
Washburn Rural (7-4) – Hinck 1-2 3-5 5, Rutherford 0-4 0-0 0, Vickery 9-25 8-8 27, Lemke 1-4 0-0 2, Bunck 1-2 1-1 3, Hirschi 1-4 0-0 2, Hayes 3-6 0-0 9, Walker 0-2 2-4 2, Carlgren 1-3 1-2 4. Totals 17-52 15-20 54.
Shawnee Heights (9-4) – Emmot 11-18 10-14 36, Brees 0-3 0-0 0, Bowers 2-4 2-2 6, Torrez 2-5 1-2 5, Vega 5-9 2-2 12, Hanshaw 0-2 0-0 0, Hamilton 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 20-41 15-22 59.
3-point goals – Shawnee Heights 4 (Emmot 4), Washburn Rural 5 (Hayes 3, Vickery, Carlgren). Total fouls – Washburn Rural 21, Shawnee Heights 18. Fouled out – Bunck. Technical fouls – Hayes, Shawnee Heights bench.
Topeka West holds off Lions, 58-53
Topeka West entered the Capital City Classic with just one win on the season, but put together a solid tournamnt performance with two wins in three days, capped by a 58-53 decision over Lawrence in Saturday's third-place game.
The Chargers, now 3-9, built a 17-8 first-quarter lead before Lawrence (6-6) held a 21-9 advantage in the second quarter to take a 29-26 halftime advantage.
West opened the second half the same way it opened the game, however, outscoring the Lions 18-11 in the third stanza to take a 44-40 into the fourth and held off Lawrence the rest of the way.
Junior Teairra Gonzales led West with 14 points, including three 3-pointers, while junior Addaline Hall added 13 points (two 3s) and junior Imani McGlory 11.
Senior Brynnae Johnson led Lawrence with 19 points while freshman Zoey Barber added 12 points.
TOPEKA WEST 58, LAWRENCE 53
Lawrence 8 21 11 13 -- 53
Topeka West 17 9 18 14 -- 58
Lawrence (6-6) – Baars 1 1-2 4, Barnes 2 0-0 6, Johnson 8 1-1 19, Nauholz 3 0-1 7, Ramos 1 0-0 3, Barber 5 1-2 12, Juelsgaard 0 0-0 0, Ramsey 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 3-6 53.
Topeka West (3-9) – I. McGlory 3 4-6 11, VanDyke 3 3-5 9, Keeling 3 1-2 7, Hall 3 5-8 12, Gonzales 5 1-2 14, A. McGlory 2 0-0 4, Allen 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 14-23 58.
3-point goals – Lawrence 8 (Johnson 2, Barnes 2, Baars, Nauholz, Ramos, Barber), Topeka West 6 (Gonzales 3, Hall 2, I. McGlory). Total fouls – Lawrence 15, Topeka West 12. Fouled out – Nauholz, Baars. Technical fouls – none.
Scots bounce back with 21-point win
After dropping back-to-back games, Highland Park bounced back to post a 60-39 win over Lawrence Free State in Saturday's seventh-place game, improving to 8-3 on the season.
The Scots trailed the Firebirds 13-9 at the end of the first quarer but took control with a 23-6 second quarter, opening up a 32-19 halftime advantage.
Highland Park went on to outscore Free State 14-4 in the third quarter to push its lead to 23 points (46-23) before the 3-9 Firebirds outscored the Scots 16-14 over the final eight minutes.
Sophomore Pearmella Carter led Highland Park with 18 points while freshman Ciarra Harts added 11 points with three 3-pointers and sophomore Zayah Kincade 10 points with a pair of 3s.
Free State did not have a player crack double figures, with senior Chloe Clossen leading the Firebirds with 9 points.
HIGHLAND PARK 60, FREE STATE 39
Free State 13 6 4 16 -- 39
Highland Park 9 23 14 14 -- 60
Free State (3-9) – Fulscher 3 0-0 7, Grooms 1 0-0 2, Hice 1 1-2 3, Easter 2 0-0 5, Hothan 0 2-2 2, Copeland 1 1-2 4, Moore 1 0-0 2, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Clossen 3 0-0 9, Preston 1 0-0 2, Jones 1 1-2 3. Totals 14 5-8 39.
Highland Park (8-3) – Broils 3 1-1 7, Harts 4 0-0 11, Jones 3 3-4 9, Austin 2 0-0 5, Carter 8 0-6 18, Cosey 0 0-0 0, Kincade 3 2-2 10, Cooper 0 0-0 0, Atkins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23 6-13 60.
3-point goals – Free State 6 (Clossen 3, Fulscher, Easter, Copeland), Highland Park 8 (Hartz 3, Carter 2, Kincade 2, Austin). Total fouls – Free State 17, Highland Park 14. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
CAPITAL CITY CLASSIC
RESULTS SATURDAY
Shawnee Heights 59, Washburn Rural 54 (championship)
Topeka West 58, Lawrence 53 (third place)
Blue Valley 58, SM West 33 (fifth place)
Highland Park 60, Free State 39 (seventh)
