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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
When Highland Park and Topkeka West hooked up in the championship game of the Topeka Invitational Tournament on Jan. 25, the top-ranked Class 5A Scots remained undefeated with a hard-earned 44-41 win over the sixth-ranked Chargers.
Senior Ja'Corey Robinson (23) led all scorers with 32 points in Wednesday's 67-50 Highland Park win over city rival Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But Mike Williams' normally high octane Scots came out of that game feeling like they received some undeserved criticism for their slower style of play, particularly in the closing minutes, against West.
Using that -- plus the fact that the Scots were playing at home for only the second time all season -- as motivation in Wednesday's rematch, Highland Park pulled away down the stretch for a decisive 67-50 win, improving to 14-0 on the season.
"We had a specific game plan going into that (first game) of how we wanted to play,'' Mike Williams said. "We didn't want to shoot over the top of those guys. We knew they were tall and long and we watched tape on teams in the past (against West) that were taking those type of shots ... and we didn't want that.
"We wanted to be in a grind it out, gritty game like we got in the TIT. A lot of people saw that score and were kind of like, 'Ah, it was close.' I don't care, that's what we wanted. We wanted it like that, we wanted to get after them on the defensive end. We wanted to man-to-man them all night long and we wanted to sit down.''
And though Williams admits that the Scots didn't have a great offensive game, he was proud of his team in the earlier West matchup, just like he was Wednesday night.
"We didn't make shots, we made zero 3s in the TIT. We missed 15-plus free throws, Da'Mykel Hales didn't play (illness), a lot of things worked against us, and we still found a way to win,'' Williams said. "Obviously, this night tonight was a little bit cleaner.
"Obviously, there were some things coming out (in social media after the TIT). Did we hold the ball, did we not? We were just trying find ways to win. That's all we're focused on. I was very, very pleased (tonight) with how we competed, how we took on a challenge and how we just didn't assume we were going to win because we won a week ago in the TIT.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Six days after suffering a disappointing seven-point overtime loss to Topeka West in the opening round of the Capital City Classic, Highland Park's girls basketball team got another shot at its district rival Wednesday night on the Scots' home court.
Highland Park senior Tahtionna Broils drives to the basket in Wednesday's 50-34 win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Rob Brown's Highland Park team improved to 10-3 with Wednesday's 50-34 win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
And despite being without three players who normally see varsity minutes, Rob Brown's Scots took advantage of their opportunity, improving to 10-3 with a 50-34 win over the Chargers.
"I feel relieved,'' Brown said. "It's been a long week and you could see we were missing some girls tonight. Obviously, we were missing a lot, but we had some girls step up and I have a young bunch.
"We're a young group and we're just going to keep growing.''
Highland Park never trailed after jumping out in front 14-1 late in the first quarter and the Scots took a 23-12 advantage to the locker room at halftime.
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By NICHOLAS GAINEY
Special to TopSports.news
Down by seven points midway through the third quarter in their Tuesday night non-conference matchup with Maranatha Christian, the Cair Paravel Lions girls basketball team stormed back with a 14-0 run on their way to a 39-31 home win.
Karsyn Hastert tied for game-high honors with 12 points in Tuesday's 39-31 home win over Maranatha Academy. [File photo/TSN]
The teams battled back and forth for much of the first period, with Maranatha’s Rose Baumler knocking down a three-pointer for the first field goal of the game.
The host Lions (3-11) answered with a layup from Karsyn Hastert, her first two of a 12-point night. Cair Paravel would add three-pointers from London Backman and KellyAnn Chada to take a 9-7 lead later in the period, but a late basket from Risa Johnson tied the game at 9 after the first quarter.
The Lion offense struggled in the second quarter, only scoring five points on two field goals in the period. Hastert added her second basket of the contest early in the frame before the hosts went several minutes scoreless.
Freshman Eriana Donaldson broke the drought with a layup and a foul, converting the three-point play to give Cair Paravel a 14-13 lead. The next four points belonged to the visiting Eagles (6-8), with Maranatha taking a 18-14 lead into the half following a basket from Baumler.
Cair Paravel opened the second half with a basket from Kameron Welshans to draw within two, but the Eagles’ Ava Oglesby answered with a score of her own to stretch the lead to 20-16. Quinn Sramek hit a 3-pointer to give Maranatha its largest lead of the night at 23-16, forcing a timeout from Cair Paravel coach Jaley Barkley with 4:19 to play in the third quarter.
Following the timeout, the Lions turned the tables. Cair Paravel scored the final 10 points of the quarter, including six points from Hastert.
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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.”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Topeka High girls cruised to a 65-29 home Centennial League win over Emporia Tuesday in what will be a tune-up for a rugged stretch of games.
Junior Trish Short scored 10 points to help Topeka High take a 65-29 Centennial League win over Emporia Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Trojans don’t have long to relish the blowout of the Spartans. They hit the road Wednesday for a makeup game at Manhattan, then they face Washburn Rural, the seventh-ranked team in Class 6A class, followed by Hayden, the top-ranked team in 4A.
But for one night, they can enjoy it.
The Trojans ripped off an 18-0 run to open the game, holding the Spartans scoreless for nearly six minutes. Leading Topeka High in scoring was junior Ahsieryrhuajh Rayton with 20 points. Freshman Hailey Caryl added 12 points and junior Trish Short 10.
“We played hard, and we played together,” said Short. “Usually when we blow teams out, we let off the gas a little bit. But today we played hard throughout the whole four quarters. We know that no matter who we play, we have to play to our level. We can’t lower to other people’s level.”
