- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park's boys basketball team maintained its share of the Centennial League lead with a 71-45 home romp past Topeka High Tuesday night.
The Scots, who improved to 14-2 overall and 11-1 in the league, steadily built their lead over the Trojans, including a 34-21 advantage at the half and a 48-32 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Highland Park singed the net at a 59 percent clip (30 of 51) and hit six of nine 3-point attempts while committing just seven turnovers.
Junior Jahmir Kingcannon had 21 points with five 3-pointers in Highland Park's 71-45 win over Topeka High Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Jahmir Kingcannon scored 21 points with five 3-pointers while junior Ketraleus Aldridge added 18 points with five dunks and senior Juan'Tario Roberts 10 points.
Sophomore BJ Canady led Topeka High (4-12, 3-8) with 15 points, 11 in the fourth quarter, while Germane Mays added 12 points.
Senior Tae Thomas (15) led Topeka High with a game-high 22 points and five 3-pointers in Tuesday's 61-38 road win at Highland Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
TOPEKA HIGH GIRLS 61, HIGHLAND PARK 38 -- Undefeated and second-ranked Topeka High took control with a 21-5 first quarter and led 37-20 at the half and 47-28 after three quarters.
The Trojans (15-0, 12-0) rolled to the win despite shooting just 37 percent from the field and 44 percent from the tree throw line while hitting seven of 32 3-point attempts.
Senior Tae Thomas paced Topeka High with a game-high 22 points and five 3-pointers while junior Kiki Smith added 16 points (two 3-pointers) and junior Adisyn Caryl eight points.
Freshman Amelia Ramsey led Highland Park (2-14, 0-12) with 15 points while Aisya Taylor added nine points and Atiya Gonzales eight.
Topeka High will host No. 3-ranked Washburn Rural in a Centennial League showdown Friday night.
- Details
By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
A turnover-ridden night haunted Topeka West's girls basketball team in the Charger' 53-34 home Centennial League loss to Manhattan Tuesday night.
The youthful Lady Chargers had a difficult time making shots and handling the basketball for the entire course of the game.
Topeka West turned the ball over 24 times and made just 12 field goals on the night.
Manhattan keyed in on forcing as many turnovers as possible against Topeka West according to Manhattan coach Scott Mall.
“In the full court, we did what we really wanted to,” said Mall. “We kept pressure on (Topeka West) and forced turnovers. I thought we did a pretty good job of that.”
Topeka West kept the game within reach for the first two quarters.
The Lady Chargers only trailed by three points by the end of the first quarter and faced a nine-point deficit going into the halftime break.
Topeka West had a difficult time making shots in the second half. The Lady Chargers were outscored 17-7 in the third quarter, and 12 of those 17 points from Manhattan came off West turnovers.
Topeka West girls basketball coach Jeff Skar saw some positive signs in Tuesday's 53-34 loss to Manhattan. [File photo/TSN]
- Details
By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
All eyes were on the slick performances of Topeka West’s Sincere Austin and Elijah Brooks on Tuesday night at West.
Brooks and Austin accounted for 69 percent of the Chargers' 77 points in a 77-48 Centennial League win against Manhattan. The tandem hit a combined six 3-point shots, went five of seven from the free throw line and converted 15 of West's 21 made field goals.
Elijah Brooks
Sincere Austin
Sensational scoring nights from Brooks are something that Topeka West is quite used to and despite sitting out some of the third and fourth quarters, Brooks was able to put up 28 points on the night.
“Things were good for three quarters,” Brooks said. “We started picking up the pace in the second quarter. From there, we started running the court well. I thought we played pretty good tonight.”
That second quarter, as Brooks mentioned, was what separated Topeka West from Manhattan as the Chargers outscored the Indians, 22-11.
All 22 of those points were provided by Brooks and Austin.
Austin’s 25 points looked effortless. The junior hit a team-high five three-point shots against Manhattan.
“Tonight felt (good),” Austin said. “We are finally pulling together. The coaches are letting me be myself and play my game. I’ve noticed myself and the team passing and shooting the ball more. We are looking better.”
Despite Manhattan’s 4-11, 3-8 record, the Indians have played quality basketball at times this season.
Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist was worried about what kind of matchup problems the Indians presented coming into Tuesday night’s contest.
“Manhattan is a high-quality basketball team,” said Bloomquist. “I think (Manhattan) showed you how good they are when they beat one of the most athletic teams in the Centennial League (Junction City). Personally, it was a scary game for me. I know how well Manhattan plays, how they’re coached, and how good (Manhattan) is in the 3-2 zone.
“I thought we read and reacted well to Manhattan’s zone defense. I thought we moved the ball well. I thought that we had Manhattan moving a lot faster than they probably wanted to. I think tonight worked to our benefit.”
- Details
By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
A pair of ranked teams on the Centennial League girls side faced off on Tuesday evening, with Washburn Rural, No. 3 in 6A, playing host to Seaman, No. 8 in 5A.
It was the Junior Blues who came out on top as defense powered them to a second win in as many nights, a 42-20 victory over the Vikings.
“Defensively, there were very few times that we didn’t understand where their players were … I thought we were pretty zeroed in probably from about the two-minute point of the first quarter on especially,” Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said.
Jada Ingram
Emma Krueger
Washburn Rural suffered its lone loss back on Jan. 4 to Topeka High, who the Junior Blues will take on in their next game.
“That’s one thing we try to preach is that we got to take care of the here and now. That will be there, we got to do this right here. And I thought we did a really good job of walking into that,” Bordewick said.
The win moved the Junior Blues to 15-1 on the year while Seaman fell to 10-5 after winning its previous three.
- Details
By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Washburn Rural and Seaman's boys basketball team faced off Tuesday night in a matchup between two teams battling for position in the middle of the Centennial League.
The Vikings would build on the slight lead they had in league play with a 60-50 road win over the Junior Blues to sweep the season series.
“I thought our guys played with a lot of energy, I have a lot of respect for Washburn Rural and what they are capable of,” said Seaman coach Craig Cox. “We were really good in the first half but had to kind of hold on a little bit in the second half.”
The win moved Seaman above .500 to 8-7 on the year while Washburn Rural fell to 7-9 overall in the second night back-to-back game.
“If we want to play we need to play better than we did tonight,” Washburn Rural coach Kevin Muff said. “It was like sitting there December 21st, the last time we played them as kind of a re-run of the same game.”
Seaman senior Gavin Wilhelm scored 21 points on seven 3-pointers in the Vikings' 60-50 Centennial League win over Washburn Rural Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman came out of the gate firing, knocking down three 3-pointers in the first five minutes with two coming from senior Gavin Wilhelm. The burst of offense coupled with turnovers by Washburn Rural gave the Vikings a double-digit lead in the first quarter.
“They get out on us early and hit shots and we don’t respond. And we got to find better ways defensively to respond. They exploited our weaknesses and put the ball where it needed to and made shots,” Muff said.
The Junior Blues would close out the first on a 5-0 run to cut the lead in half and make it 16-11 after one.
The second quarter was high-scoring, with each side hitting shots from the outside. Senior Quincey Kidd knocked down two 3-pointers and scored eight in the first four minutes.
Seaman was still able to build its lead on three 3-pointers by Wilhelm, taking a 10-point advantage into the final four minutes.
“They (teammates) did a great job of recognizing that Gavin Wilhelm had the hot hand, and kept feeding him which led to an outstanding shooting performance on his part,” Cox said of Wilhelm who shot 7-9 from deep in the game.
