By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After a promising start by Topeka High in the opening half, perennial Class 6A state contender Blue Valley Northwest dominated the second half on the way to an 88-40 rout Wednesday night at High.
But first-year Trojan coach Geo Lyons saw some positives out of his team, now 1-5, that Topeka High can build off of moving forward.
Topeka High boys basketball coach Geo Lyons talks to his team during Wednesday's non-league loss to state power Blue Valley Northwest. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I think we played with great energy and effort,'' Lyons said. "The two things you don't want to coach is attitude and effort and I don't think we had to coach those tonight.''
Topeka High took a 12-11 lead on a Da'Mykel Hales 3-pointer at the 4:36 mark of the first quarter and led 15-14 after a Mason Gomez trey but the Huskies (4-2) would answer with a 6-0 run and never trailed again.
After trailing 27-19 at the end of the first quarter, junior Isaiah Lyons nailed a 3-pointer to get the Trojans back to within five points but Northwest scored seven straight points to regain control and went on to take a 40-28 halftime advantage.
"I really think we made them at halftime go in that locker room and dig deep and get to another level,'' Geo Lyons said. "I think we took them out of their comfort zone in the first half and really made them step their game up at halftime.''
Northwest, which won three straight 6A titles from 2017-2019 and finished second last season, put the Trojans away with a 29-12 third quarter and the Huskies outscored High 19-0 in the fourth, with a running clock used after Northwest went up by 31 points early in the final period.
"We talked going into this game that this was a good measuring stick game,'' Lyons said. "The team of the last decade in 6A is probably them or Wichita Heights so that's the standard. And after today, even though it looks like a big lopsided win for them, I don't think the gap's that big and I think it's great for our boys to see that as we talk about the level of play we need to be at to take a trip down to state.
"OK, we get to see it early and now we understand and we did some great things today so we'll build on those.''
Senior Grant Stubblefield and junior Joey Matteoni combined for 50 points to lead Northwest, with Stubblefield scoring a game-high 27 points and Matteoni adding 23.
Northwest senior Landon Braun also cracked double figures, finishing with 13 points.
I. Lyons led Topeka High with 14 points, including three 3-pointers, but no other Trojans scored more than six points.
Topeka High will be back at The Dungeon on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. Centennial League game against Emporia.
The Spartans improved to 6-1 with a 59-52 win over Hayden on Tuesday in Emporia.
BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST BOYS 88, TOPEKA HIGH 40
BV Nothwest 27 13 29 19 -- 88
Topeka High 19 9 12 0 -- 40
Blue Valley Northwest (4-2) -- Stubblefield 11-18 2-2 27, Huffman 2-9 0-0 4, Fritz 2-4 1-2 5, Braun 5-8 3-4 13, J. Matteoni 8-12 7-10 23, Garlington 2-2 0-0 4, Behmyer 0-1 4-4 4, D. Matteoni 1-3 0-0 3, Rauter 0-0 0-0 0, Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Bonder 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 32-58 19-24 88.
Topeka HIgh (1-5) -- Lyons 4-9 3-4 14, Hales 2-7 0-0 5, Norman 1-1 1-2 3, Gomez 2-5 0-0 5, Votaw 3-3 0-2 6, Thrasher 2-8 1-2 5, Storrer 1-1 0-0 2, Mosqueda 0-0 0-0 0, Groves 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-35 5-10 40.
3-point goals -- Blue Valley Northwest 5 (Stubblefield 3, D. Matteoni, Martin), Topeka High 5 (Lyons 3, Hales, Gomez). Total fouls -- Blue Valley Northwest 10, Topeka High 12. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
