- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A good indication of how high Rick Bloomquist's expectations are for this year's Topeka West boys basketball team was the veteran coach's mood after Tuesday night's home Centennial League game against Emporia.
The Chargers had just rolled to a 76-50 victory over the Spartans to improve to 6-0 overall and 5-0 in the league, but Bloomquist, by his own admission, wasn't exactly pleased.
"I'm not real happy,'' Bloomquist said with a chuckle. "We expect to win right now. I'm not going to be bashful about it, I'm not going to get into any old cliches about one at a time. I believe all of that, yes, but I don't do this to expect not to win. It's been a hard build to get this place to where it's at right now and we feel very fortunate that we've got the kids we have because I've got some very talented players that work hard for us, but the bar is higher and we're trying to get there too fast.
"We've got to be a little bit more patient, a little bit more poised and it's got to start from the top. That means me, so I'm going in the locker room and I'm going to be patient and poised and tell them how unhappy I am.''
- Details
by Rick Peterson
Top Sports News
JALEY BARKLEY, Cair Paravel Latin
A junior, Barkley scored 20 points, with 3 3-pointers and a 7 of 9 performance at the free throw line, as Cair Paravel took a 46-40 road win at Olathe Heritage Christian to improve to 3-2 on the season.
MARANDA BELL, Shawnee Heights
A junior, Bell won the 191-pound championship at Saturday's Blue Valley Southwest Invitational, recording four straight pins. Ranked No. 2 in Division I, Bell improved to improve to 12-0 this season with 12 pins.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After scoring the first 19 points in Saturday's 92-34 romp past Junction City, Topeka High's girls basketball team got off to a bit of a slow start Monday night, trailing early at Hayden.
But the Trojans got cranked up over the final three quarters, increasing itheir win streak to 28 games with a 72-33 Centennial League win over the Wildcats.
NiJaree Canady
After trailing 8-5 and 10-8, the Trojans (5-0 overall and in the league) scored the final 4 points of the first quarter to take a 16-12 lead before using a 24-7 second quarter to take control, 40-19.
- Details
Cair Paravel's Noah Hastert goes in the paint for a basket against Kansas City Christian in the Lions' 75-65 win over the Panthers. [Photo by Rex Wolf]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Cair Paravel Latin boys basketball coach Mike Malloy didn't go into detail about his message to his team at halftime of Monday's home contest against Kansas City Christian.
But Malloy apparently got his point across, with the Lions storming back after trailing by 15 points in the first half to take a 75-65 victory over the Panthers.
"Halftime was one of those deals where we just had to light them up a little bit on taking some pride in their defense,'' said Malloy, whose team improved to 4-3 on the season. "We stunk it up because they had 37 points at halftime and we weren't playing a lick of defense. It didn't matter what we played, we just weren't guarding anybody.
"I guess it was just kind of the threat of what running was going to be like tomorrow that got them going.''
- Details
By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
In days when he could maintain enough business to at least break even on the enterprise, Rick Peterson stocked a makeshift snack bar fellow journalists affectionately called, “Pistol’s Pantry.”
The Pantry had standards. I remember bringing some discounted (expired, in case you follow pesky health regulations) treats I found at a Mennonite grocery. Pistol carefully considered all merits before deciding he better not sell stale product.
“Really I ought to,” he said, “or Rickie will eat away all my profits.”
Frankly, Pistol didn’t start his Sam Drucker enterprise at The Topeka Capital-Journal to get rich. I’m not even sure he broke even. Deep down, Rick loved to provide his newsroom pals a price break that sportswriters relished as much as seamless internet access.
And Rickie? He made up for any reconciling discrepancies at the Pantry register by retracing his father’s footsteps and becoming a tireless workhorse who rose to join Rick as two of the best in the business.
In June, at ceremonies in North Carolina sponsored by the National Sports Media Association, Father and Son will be honored as the 2020 co-recipients of the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year Award. Rick will also receive his 2019 award as a five-time Kansas winner. The honor will be the first for Rickie, who is in his third year at the Hays Daily News.
Rick Peterson (left) and his son, Rick Jr., will be honored in June in North Carolina by the National Sports Media Association as the co-Kansas Sportswriters of the Year for 2020. [Photograph by Phil Anderson]
