By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Top seed and undefeated Highland Park got everything it wanted from No. 8 Andover Central in Thursday's Class 5A boys state tournament opener at White Auditorium, but senior Mikey Williams made sure that the Scots lived to see another day.
Senior Mikey Williams scored a game-high 33 points in Thursday's 65-56 Class 5A state tournament win over Andover Central. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Williams scored a career-high 33 points, including an amazing 7 of 7 performance from 3-point range as Highland Park advanced to Friday's 4 p.m. semifinal with a 65-56 win over Central.
"I just knew going into it I had to step up,'' Williams said. "We know we rely on Ja'Corey (Robinson) and Jamon (Wilson) and all our other guys to step up, but I know in every game I can't just rely on another guy I know I've got to step up and do it for myself and do it for my team and do whatever it takes to get us to the next round and that's what I had to do.''
The Jaguars trailed by just a 24-22 margin at the end of the first quarter and led 35-33 at halftime before the Scots rallied in the third stanza for a 61-56 advantage.
Hi Park went up by 10 (56-46) on a Williams hoop with 6:19 remaining, but the Jaguars cut their deficit to two (58-56) at the 3:20 mark before the Scots ended the game with a 7-0 run.
The Scots also got 14 points (7 of 9 shooting) and a game-high eight rebounds from senior Isaiah Kelley.
Andover Central, which stayed in the hunt with a 10 of 21 performance from 3-point range, was led by Jayden Brown with 17 points (4 of 8 3s) while Jace Jefferson added 12 points on four treys and Jason Adler also had 12 points.
Highland Park advanced to the state semifinals for the third straight season to face last year's runnerup, Piper, a 70-52 winner over Shawnee Heights.
HIGHLAND PARK BOYS 65, ANDOVER CENTRAL 56
Andover Central 22 13 11 10 -- 56
Highland Park 24 9 18 14 -- 65
Andover Central (14-9) -- Brown 5-13 3-6 17, Degarmo 1-5 0-0 3, Jefferson 4-7 0-0 12, Meschke 1-2 1-2, Adler 5-10 2-4 12, Neal 0-0 0-0 0, Archibald 0-0 0-0 0, Balke 1-5 0-0 2, Stupka 3-7 0-0 7, Inslee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 6-12 56.
Highland Park (23-0) -- Wilson 0-4 1-2 1, Hales 0-2 0-0 0, Kelley 7-9 0-1 14, Williams 12-14 2-6 33, Robinson 1-5 5-6 7, Brown 0-0 2-2 2, Jones 1-2 0-1 2, Kingcannon 3-4 0-0 6, Montgomery 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-40 10-18 65.
3-point shots -- Andover Central 10-21 (Brown 4-8, Jefferson 4-6, Degarmo 1-1, Stupka 1-3, Balke 0-3), Highland Park 7-10 (Williams 7-7, Robinson 0-2, Hales 0-1). Total fouls -- Andover Central 21, Highland Park 17. Fouled out -- Degarmo, Adler. Technical fouls -- Robinson.
Shawnee Heights senior Jaret Sanchez led the T-Birds with 16 points in Thursday's 70-52 Class 5A state tournament loss to Piper. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
PIPER BOYS 70, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 52 -- After spotting Piper a 13-point halftime advantage, Shawnee Heights gave itself a chance to win Thursday's first-round game before a disasterous start to the fourth quarter ended the T-Birds' hopes.
No. 5 seed Piper, now 20-3, opened up a 21-12 first-quarter advantage and boosted its lead to 39-26 at the halftime break.
But Shawnee Heights (19-4) came to life in the third quarter, outscoring the Pirates 22-11 to get within two points (50-48) at the beginning of the fourth period.
The T-Birds then had an opportunity to take the lead, but missed back-to-back 3-pointers and turned the ball over on its next possession as the Pirates scored the first 15 points of the quarter to put Shawnee Heights away.
"We went out and we fought and 'O' (Ontarius Emmot) was shooting a wide open three to go ahead and misses it and gets a rebound and shoots it again and gets it blocked and they go down and hit a three, so instead of being up one, we're down five,'' Heights coach Ken Darting said. "And when you've played that hard to get back in it ... we just got emotionally drained and tired, physically tired.
"But you can't spot a good team that much and come back.''
Heights went scoreless over the first five minutes of the quarter and was outscored 22-4 over the final eight minutes as Piper took its third straight win over the T-Birds this season and fourth straight dating back to last year's first-round state game.
Phillip Moore led Piper with 18 points while Isaiah Sayles added 16 points and Derrick Jackson 10 as the Pirates shot 60.9 percent from the field, including a nine of 15 performance from 3-point range.
Senior Jaret Sanchez led Heights with 16 points before fouling out while juniors Ontarius Emmot and Da'Quan Lee added 10 points apiece.
PIPER BOYS 70, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 52
Piper 21 18 11 20 -- 70
Shawnee Heights 12 14 22 4 -- 52
Piper (20-3) -- Moore 8-14 1-3 18, Vogel 3-4 0-0 9, Brooks 3-5 0-0 7, Jackson 3-7 2-2 10, Sayles 7-8 2-3 16, Walton 3-6 0-0 8, Mack 0-0 0-0 0, Crawford 0-1 0-0 0, Labat 1-1 0-0 2, Barnes 0-0 0-0 0, Seigal 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-46 5-8 70.
Shawnee Heights (19-4) -- Cook 1-6 0-0 2, Pomeroy 2-9 3-3 7, Sanchez 5-5 6-8 16, Alston 1-2 0-2 3, Emmot 4-12 0-0 10, Ross 2-4 0-0 4, Parker 0-1 0-0 0, Lee 3-5 3-4 10, Ledell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-54 12-17 52.
3-point shots -- Piper 9-15 (Vogel 3-4, Walton 2-3, Jackson 2-4, Moore 1-2, Brooks 1-1, Crawford 0-1), Shawnee Heights 4-20 (Emmot 2-8, Alston 1-1, Lee 1-1, Pomeroy 0-4, Sanchez 0-4, Cook 0-2). Total fouls -- Piper 16, Shawnee Heights 15. Fouled out -- Sanchez. Technical fouls -- Moore.
Junior Malakyah Duncan led Topeka West with 17 points in Thursday's 64-50 Class 5A state tournament loss to Kapaun Mt. Carmel. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
KAPAUN MT. CARMEL 64, TOPEKA WEST 50 -- No. 7 seed Topeka West outscored No. 2 seed and defending state champion Kapaun Mt. Carmel 45-42 over the final three quarters in Thursday's first-round game, but that wasn't enough to overcome a 17-point first-quarter deficit.
Kapaun Mt. Carmel, now 20-3 on the season, built a 22-5 advantage in a dominating opening quarter and the Chargers never fully recovered.
"We came out a little flat and you can't do that against a team like Kapaun,'' West coach Christian Ulsaker said. "They've been here before and they're coached by Steve Eck, who is a heck of a coach and a hall of famer in my book, so that's tough.
"But we battled. We cut it down to seven or eight a few times ... but they know how to make plays to win games and that's exactly what they did.''
West (14-9) outscored the Crusaders 18-12 in the second quarter to cut its halftime deficit to 11 points (34-23).
The Chargers got within eight late in the third quarter and within seven (50-43) with 4:36 left after a Malakyah Duncan three-point play, but the Crusaders pulled away down the stretch.
Duncan led West with 17 points while Keimani Paul added 12.
Kapaun's Corbin Johnson led all scorers with 22 points, including four 3-pointers, while Rocco Keller added 13 points and Corey Daniels 10.
The Crusaders advanced to an 8 p.m. semifinal Friday to take on Andover (20-3), a 76-60 winner over Bonner Springs in Thursday's late game.
KAPAUN MT. CARMEL BOYS 64, TOPEKA WEST 50
Topeka West 5 18 14 13 -- 50
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 22 12 14 16 -- 64
Topeka West (14-9) -- Ford 2-4 0-0 6, Duncan 6-14 3-3 17, Paul 4-12 2-2 12, Chambers 1-1 0-0 2, Foy 2-8 0-0 5, Munganga 0-2 0-0 0, Traylor 1-4 0-0 2, Lassiter 3-3 0-0 6. Totals 19-48 5-5 50.
Kapaun Mt. Carmel (20-3) -- Keller 6-11 1-2 13, Daniels 4-4 2-4 10, Herlocker 4-10 0-0 8, Dalian 1-3 1-2 3, Johnson 6-14 6-8 22, Maingu 0-1 2-2 2, Porter 3-5 0-1 6, Stuhlsatz 0-0 0-0 0, Rapp 0-0 0-0 0, Barrier 0-0 0-0 0, Gosch 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-48 12-19 64.
3-point shots -- Topeka West 7-21 (Ford 2-3, Duncan 2-5, Paul 2-6, Foy 1-4, Munganga 0-2, Traylor 0-1), Kapaun Mt. Carmel 4-12 (Johnson 4-7, Herlocker 0-3, Porter 0-2). Total fouls -- Topeka West 18, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 11. Fouled out -- Foy. Technical fouls -- none.
CLASS 5A STATE BASKETBALL
Thursday's results
Highland Park 65, Andover Central 56
Piper 70, Shawnee Heights 52
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 64, Topeka West 50
Andover 76, Bonner Springs 60
Friday's games
2 p.m. -- St. Thomas Aquinas girls (16-7) vs. Spring Hill (20-3)
4 -- Highland Park boys (23-0) vs. Piper (19-4)
6 -- Seaman girls (23-0) vs. Andover (22-1)
8 -- Kapaun Mt. Carmel boys (20-3) vs. Andover (20-3)
