59-53 By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
After not losing a single game in 16 consecutive contests, the Topeka High Lady Trojans dropped their second game in their last three contests Tuesday night at High.
But Tuesday's non-league battle against perennial power Bishop Miege could prove to be a benefit for the Trojans heading into Class 6A postseason.
Tuesday night’s matchup between 4A No. 2-ranked Miege and 6A No. 2-ranked Topeka High was a physical contest marked by solid defense and timely offense.
The game wouldn’t favor either team until the last 35.5 seconds, when Miege would pull away for the 59-53 win.
“I loved the game tonight,” Topeka High coach Hannah Alexander said. “(Bishop Miege) challenged us. We will be able to watch the film and grow from this. Those are the kind of games that we learn from. We of course wanted to win, but seeing the fight in our girls, I was proud of them.
“We need to be ready to respond (on Friday).”
Topeka High senior Tae Thomas (15) passes the ball to teammate Adisyn Caryl during Tuesday's 59-53 loss to state power Bishop Miege. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN\
Miege would make a statement early in the first quarter with an 8-2 run over the Trojans. Topeka High would claw back from the early deficit with outstanding team basketball. Everyone on High’s starting five scored the basketball before the quarter ended.
Topeka High junior guard Kiki Smith didn’t see the floor for the first 5:15 of the second quarter due to being “overworked” and the Stags took advantage of Smith’s absence by going on a strong 12-2 run.
Smith’s return sparked the Trojans' offense with a converted 3-point shot just eight seconds after checking in and Topeka High went on a 13-4 run.
Senior Tae Thomas would lead Topeka High in points in the quarter with six and she would go on to lead the team in points with 17 on the night.
Coming out of the locker room at halftime, Alexander emphatically wanted the Lady Trojans to speed up the tempo.
“We were just trying to get the ball rolling,” Alexander said. “We wanted to get some fast points in transition. We wanted to push the tempo.”
Topeka High came out of the halftime break firey. The half-court press defense forced Miege to make some uncomfortable passes in the third quarter, turning the ball over a few times. Topeka High was able to hold powerhouse, Bishop Miege, to a slim nine points in the quarter.
The fourth quarter would be dictated by the performances of Miege freshman Kirston Verhulst and senior Allie Burns. The duo would combine for 13 out of the 18 points scored in the final quarter of regulation. Nine of the 13 points tallied were from the free throw line.
Burns was the epitome of a momentum-shifting player for the entire game. Burns hit two buzzer-beating, near the halfcourt Trojan logo 3-point shots to end the second and third quarters. The second-quarter shot gave Miege the lead, while the last-second shot in the third quarter tied the game.
Burns would make the key clutch shots for Miege down the final stretch of the game. Burns would hit a tough contested shot with 1:08 to go in the game to tie the highly-contested game. Burns would then be fouled two times after that. The most important foul was with 35.5 to go. Burns would knock down both of her free throws, giving Miege the six-point lead that would lead them to victory.
“(Allie Burns) is a leader for us and has played in a lot of big games in her four years with (Bishop Miege),” Bishop Miege coach Jeff English said. “We push our team to play against the best players, best teams in the state and the best teams in other states around us. She’s well-equipped to be put in that position and she showed that tonight.”
When these two teams last met, Bishop Miege won 70-52. Alexander wasn’t thrilled about Tuesday's loss but was proud of the performance tonight compared to last year’s romp.
“We need to bring it every possession,” Alexander said. “We need to work on our offense, defense and subbing in key situations. It’s something that we coaches, mainly me, need to work on. I probably should’ve called timeouts near the end.”
“I think there are a lot of things to take away from this game.”
Miege was thrilled with Tuesday night’s victory and was able to take away some lessons from the hard-fought, physically demanding match.
“We’re coming off of a huge and emotional win over our rival, St. Thomas Aquinas, and our kids carried it over into tonight by playing hard,” English said. “Topeka (High) is great. They presented a lot of matchup issues for us. Luckily the ball bounced our way a couple of times down the stretch.
“We are glad that we were able to come away with the win.”
Topeka High (17-2) will end the 2021-2022 regular season by hosting city rival Topeka West (2-18) on Friday night.
BISHOP MIEGE 59, TOPEKA HIGH 53
Bishop Miege 16 16 9 18 – 59
Topeka High 15 14 16 8 – 53
Topeka High (17-2) – Wiley 4 3-5 11, Caryl 3 3-4 9, Thomas 5 4-6 17, Shields 3 0-0 8, Smith 3 0-2 8.
Bishop Miege (17-2) – Burns 6 5-6 19, Verhulst 5 4-7 16, G. McCallop 4 1-1 9, An. Smith 1 0-0 2, Ad. Smith 5 3-5 13.
3-point goals – Topeka High 7 (Shields 2, Smith 2, Thomas), Bishop Miege 4 (Burns 2, Verhulst 2). Team fouls – Topeka High 15, Bishop Miege 13. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
