By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's boys basketball team still has goals ahead, but Tuesday night marked a noteworthy accomplishment in its own right for Alex Hutchins' Junior Blues.
Junior Amare Jones came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points in Washburn Rural's 61-48 win at Topeka High Tuesday night. {Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
Sophomore John Hoytal scored 16 points for Washburn Rural in Tuesday's 61-48 road win over Topeka High. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
After starting the season 0-6, Washburn Rural has reeled off wins in nine of its past 12 games, reaching the .500 mark on the season with Tuesday's 61-48 Centennial League win at Topeka High.
"We never felt like an 0-6 team,'' Hutchins said. "Our schedule was good, we were injured and we knew that. We were still learning about ourselves, too, but I don't think there was ever any waver of confidence or anything like that. We know who we are, we know what we're capable of and that never changed.
"We've been healthier and that's really all it is, I think. It's definitely not coaching. It's definitely not any decisions I'm making, it's just the fact that we've been able to put our best players out on the court.''
Rural, now 9-9 overall and 6-2 in the league, fell behind 6-0 after back-to-back 3-pointers from Topeka High senior Isaiah Lyons and trailed much of the first half before rallying for a 24-21 halftime advantage.
Topeka High (5-13, 1-7) battled back to take a 28-26 lead with 5:40 led in the third stanza but the Junior Blues responded with a 12-1 run to open up a a 38-29 lead on a hoop from sophomore John Hoytal with 2:10 left in the period.
The Trojans cut their deficit to three points (40-37) at the start of the fourth quarter but Washburn Rural junior Amare Jones took control of the game at that point, scoring 10 straight points for the Junior Blues as Rural opened up a 50-39 advantage midway through the period.
High got back within six points (50-44) on a Lyons 3-pointer but Rural put the Trojans away with an 11-0 run, opening up a 17-point advantage with less than a minute remaining.
Jones came off the bench to lead all scorers with 21 points and recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds while Hoytal added 16 points.
"I thought Amare and John both did a good job of being strong and finishing inside,'' Hutchins said. "I think Amare and John did a really good job of finding a way offensively to put some points on the board for us despite the fact that we didn't shoot it great.''
Lyons paced Topeka High with 18 points while junior Da'Mykel Hales added 13.
Topeka High will return to action Friday with a Centennial League contest at Hayden while Washburn Rural will be at home to face Manhattan in a league game.
WASHBURN RURAL BOYS 61, TOPEKA HIGH 48
Washburn Rural 7 17 16 21 -- 61
Topeka High 11 10 16 11 -- 48
Washburn Rural (9-9, 6-2) -- Leonard 2-8 1-2 5, Ballard 0-3 2-4 2, Hoytal 8-10 0-0 16, Durst 3-10 0-0 6, Heim 4-8 1-2 9, Jones 6-10 8-9 21, Chooncharoen 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 24-52 12-17 61.
Topeka High (5-13, 1-7) -- Lyons 6-9 3-3 18, Freeman 2-6 1-2 5, Hales 5-9 2-2 13, Groves 0-1 1-2 1, Villegas 1-4 0-0 3, Norman 3-6 0-0 6, Woods 0-0 2-4 2, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, McFadden 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-36 9-13 48.
3-point goals -- Washburn Rural 1 (Jones), Topeka High 5 (Lyons 3, Hales, Villegas). Total fouls -- Washburn Rural 13, Topeka High 15. Fouled out -- none. Technical foul -- none.
