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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West's boys basketball team rode a 31-point third quarter to an 83-58 win at Manhattan Tuesday night, opening up a two-game lead in the Centennial League race.
Topeka West improved to 12-2 overall and 9-1 in the league and Tuesday's win, coupled with Washburn Rural's loss at Seaman, allowed West to open up a two-game advantage over Rural and Highland Park.
West held a slim 37-36 lead at the half, but exploded for 31 points in the third quarter to take a commanding 68-51 lead and outscored the Indians 15-7 the rest of the way.
Senior point guard Marque Wilkerson led the Chargers with a game-high 26 points, including 4 3-pointers, while junior Elijah Brooks added 18 points, junior Zander Putthoff 12 on 4 3-pointers and senior Trevion Alexander 11 points.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden's boys basketball team gained a measure of revenge over Junction City Tuesday night, with the Wildcats taking a 57-48 Centennial League win on the Blue Jays' home floor.
Hayden had dropped a 70-65 home overtime decision to Junction City in an earlier meeting, but the Wildcats turned the tables in the rematch, riding a 19-5 third-quarter scoring spurt to the victory.
The Wildcats, who improved to 4-10 overall and 3-8 in the league, trailed 24-22 at the half but rallied for a 41-29 lead at the end of the third quarter and held off the Blue Jays (7-8, 5-7) down the stretch.
Sophomore Joe Otting led Hayden with 14 points while junior Kaelin Rice added 11 points for the Wildcats, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
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By ANDREW GILL
TopSports.news
Topeka High's boys basketball team gave rival Highland Park a battle Tuesday night, but missed opportunites, particularly at the free throw line, allowed the Scots to extend their winning streak to seven games with a 60-49 Centennial League win at High.
High's boys were able to penetrate and draw fouls against a solid Scots defense, which forced 12 turnovers in the game, but the struggled to capitalize on opportunities at the charity stripe, making just 15 of 31 free throw attempts (48 percent).
Highland Park, meanwhile, built an early lead and was able to survive Topeka High's second-half rally to improve to 10-5 on the season, 9-3 in the league.
Highland Park spread the wealth, with seven different players finding themselves in the scoring column, led by seniors Jahi Peppers with 13 points, MuKhajhae Daniels 12 and CJ Powell with 11 points while junior Juan’Tario Roberts also had 11 points for the Scots.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There was a time Tuesday night, as brief as it might have been, where Washburn's men's basketball team looked like it might be in some trouble against visiting Lincoln.
Leading 42-31 at the half, Washburn saw Lincoln cut a 13-point deficit to a single point (48-47) with 15:07 left, but the Ichabods answered in a hurry, running off 10 straight points to build its advantage back to 11 with 12:25 remaining and Washburn cruised the rest of the way for an 87-72 MIAA win at Lee Arena, improving to 13-3 on the season.
"We didn't finish the (first) half well again and then we had a stretch there kind of towards the beginning of that second half where I thought we played a little cool,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "There's a fine line between confident and cool and then all of a sudden I looked up and (the Blue Tigers) are back in the game.
"I loved how our guys responded though and went on the run and then kind of kept them at arm's length the rest of the half. This team's explosive offensively and we can go on those runs.''
Junior Jalen Lewis led the way with 20 points as Washburn improved to 13-3 with an 87-72 MIAA win over Lincoln Tuesday night. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The quick MIAA women's basketball turnaround between Northeastern State and Washburn benefitted the RiverHawks, who pulled out a 47-44 win Tuesday in Tahlequah, Okla.
Washburn had claimed a 76-66 victory over the RiverHawks Saturday at Lee Arena and the Ichabods led much of Tuesday's rematch before Northeastern took advantage of the Ichabods' fourth-quarter offensive woes to improve to 5-12 overall and in the MIAA.
Washburn led 24-20 at the half and 38-33 at the start of the fourth quarter after leading by 7, but Northeastern ended the game on an 11-2 run over the final 5:18 to drop the Ichabods to 7-9 on the season.
