By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Topeka High boys remain on the hunt for win number one of the season. They battled Emporia at Topeka High Tuesday night, but came up short, falling 65-42.
Junior Bryson McComas led Topeka High with 15 points in Tuesday's 65-42 loss to Emporia. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Trojans stuck around, even cutting the Spartans’ lead to just five points early in the third period. But the visitors eventually pulled away, outscoring Topeka High 32-17 in the second half.
The outcome was a disappointment after the Trojans’ arrow was trending up for a couple of weeks.
The Trojans battled valiantly in the Topeka Invitational Tournament, losing two of the three games in overtime. They hung close to Seaman, the eighth-ranked team in Class 5A.
But every time they tried to make a run at Emporia Tuesday, the Spartans responded.
“I think we took a step back today, and I don’t know why,” Topeka High coach Geo Lyons said. “We played some great ball in those three games in the TIT. Our guys really felt like they let three games get away. Then we faced a tough Seaman team and, if you take the second quarter away, we win the other three quarters.
“So, I thought we had a great couple of days of practice coming into this matchup. But for whatever reason we didn’t play to the best of our ability. We ran into a buzz saw in that Emporia team.”
The Spartans were led by Nolan Jacob’s 21 points. Rylan Crowell added 14.
Topeka High was paced by Bryson McComas with 15 and Jalen Aldridge with 13.
The Trojans fell to 0-12 on the year. They now embark on a challenging tour of Centennial League opponents.
“I didn’t talk about tonight’s game when we went in the locker room,” Lyons said. “I told the guys that essentially this is another tournament week for us. We’re right back on the road tomorrow at Manhattan and then close the week Friday at Washburn Rural.”
EMPORIA BOYS 65, TOPEKA HIGH 42
Emporia 18 15 15 17 -- 65
Topeka High 12 13 11 6 -- 42
Emporia (9-4 2-1) – Trelc 3-9 1-2 8, Jacob 8-15 2-4 21, Rios 3-4 2-2 8, Crowell 6-14 2-2 14, Franklin 0-6 1-2 1, Shivley 1-4 1-2 3, M. Seidl 3-5 0-0 6, Harrington 1-2 2-2 4, T. Seidl 0-1 0-0 0, Kirk 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-61 11-16 65.
Topeka High (0-12 0-3) – Guest 2-10 1-1 6, McFadden 1-2 0-0 2, Aldridge 5-12 0-2 13, Campbell 0-1 0-0 0, McComas 4-13 6-7 15, Dingle 0-2 1-2 1, Carter 0-0 0-0 0, Mallory 0-0 0-0 0, Redmond 0-6 3-4 3, Trotter 1-1 0-0 2, Villegas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-47 11-16 42.
3-point goals – Emporia 4 (Jacob 3, Trelc 1), Topeka High 5 (Aldridge 3, Guest 1, McComas 1). Total fouls – Emporia 20, Topeka High 17. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
