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Senior Isiah Johnson returned with a bang for Shawnee Heights boys basketball team Thursday night in the McPherson Invitational, scoring a game-high 22 points as the T-Birds knocked off host McPherson in overtime, 60-54.
Johnson, who had been sidelined for four games due to COVID-19, went 8 of 15 from the field with 3-pointers to lead the T-Birds, who improved to 4-3 on the season.
Isiah Johnson
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park gave itself a chance at the end of Thursday's Topeka Invitational Tournament first-round game against Wichita Southeast, but the Scots game up just short, falling 55-54 to the Buffalos at Topeka High.
Highland Park, which fell to 3-4, trailed Southeast 17-8 at the end of the first quarter, 33-24 at the half and 45-34 through three quarter, but the Scots outscored the Buffs 20-10 the rest of the way to get back in the hunt.
The Scots had an opportunity to tie the game with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation, but a missed free throw allowed Southeast to escape with the victory.
Sophomore Kobe Smith led Wichita Southeast with 22 points.
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Former Topeka High coach Pat Denney leads Shawnee Mission North past Topeka West in the Topeka Invitational Tournament
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West's boys basketball team enjoyed a lot of early success this season, and Rick Bloomquist is concerned that his Chargers might have let that success go to their heads.
After opening the 2020-21 season with six straight victories, West has suddenly hit a roadblock, with the Chargers losing in overtime to Highland Park last Friday before falling 60-59 to Shawnee Mission North in Thursday's opening round of the Topeka Invitational Tournament at Topeka High.
"We've got some individual issues that we need to address, that we're going to address,'' Bloomquist said. "We've got changes we need to make because we've gotten fat and sassy and they've got to understand that you can't play with a big head.
"I think we're just a little pig-headed and big-headed.''
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Hayden's Joe Otting gets under the basket against Topeka High's Jalen Smith during Fridays game at the Topeka Invitational Tournament Photo by Rex Wolf TSNBy RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Playing without its top two scorers, seniors Geivonnii Williams and Vacario Triplett, Hayden put up a fight against Class 6A Wichita East, but the Blue Aces outscored the Wildcats 30-14 over the middle two quarters en route to a 52-37 victory in Thursday's first round of the Topeka Invitational Tournament at Topeka High.
Hayden led 5-2 and 11-9 early on and trailed by just a 13-11 margin at the end of the opening quarter, but the Blue Aces used a 16-8 second quarter to open up a 29-19 halftime advantage and then pushed their lead to 43-25 with a 14-6 third quarter.
Sophomore Joe Otting paced Hayden (2-6) with 13 points while sophomore Jake Muller added 7 points for the Wildcats, who dropped their sixth straight game.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
From almost the time she learned how to walk, Erika Lane Yoder was in a gym, tagging along with her mom, longtime Washburn Rural athletic director Penny Lane, and grabbing a basketball whenever she could to practice her skills.
And Lane Yoder, in her second season as an assistant coach for the Washburn University women’s basketball team, realized early on that athletics were going to be a major part of her life, first as a multi-sport athlete and then as a coach.
“I think I knew when I was little, honestly,’’ Lane Yoder said of her coaching aspirations. “It’s really just been something I’ve always liked doing. When I watched basketball on TV, even when I was little, I would draw things up or if I saw something on TV I would write it down on a sticky note and save it, so I think I’ve always really known I’ve wanted to do that.
“And when I came to the college level and just saw the excitement of it and really putting everything towards basketball, I loved that, so it just kind of reassured that post-athlete life.’’
Former Washburn Rural and Washburn standout Erika Lane Yoder is currently an assistant women's basketball coach for the Ichabods. [Photograph by Rex Wolf]
