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by Rick Peterson
Top Sports News
ELIJAH BROOKS, Topeka West
A junior, Brooks returned from an injury to score 28 points, with 3 3-pointers, in 4-0 Topeka West's 78-60 home Centennial League victory over Hayden.
ZACH CLARK, Cair Paravel Latin
Clark, a junior, scored 25 points for Cair Paravel in an 83-75 road loss at Olathe Heritage Christian.
ISIAH ESQUIBEL, Topeka High
A senior, Esquibel scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Topeka High's 50-48 Centennial League loss at Seaman.
LUKE FAY, Cair Paravel Latin
Fay, a sophomore, canned 7 3-pointers and finished with 26 points in Cair Paravel's 83-75 road loss at Olathe Heritage Christian.
DANTE' HARRISON, Shawnee Heights
Harrison, a sophomore, scored a career-high 13 points, with 3 3-pointers, in Shawnee Heights' 64-51 United Kansas Conference loss at Lansing.
TY HENRY, Seaman
Henry, a junior, scored 11 points and came up with a huge blocked shot late in the game as Seaman improved to 3-3 with a 50-48 home Centennial League win over Topeka High.
MATEO HYMAN, Seaman
A junior, Hyman returned from an injury to score 18 points, including 16 in the second half, as Seaman took a 50-48 home Centennial League victory over Topeka High.
ZANDER PUTTHOFF, Topeka West
Putthoff, a junior, scored 23 points, including 7 3-pointers, as Topeka West improved to 4-0 on the season with a 78-60 home Centennial League win over Hayden.
VACARIO TRIPLETT, Hayden
A senior, Triplett scored 24 points for the Wildcats in a 78-60 Centennial League loss at undefeated Topeka West.
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by Rick Peterson
Top Sports News
JALEY BARKLEY, Cair Paravel Latin
Barkley, a junior, scored a game-high 20 points, including 3 3-pointers and a 7 of 9 performance at the free throw line, as Cair Paravel improved to 3-2 on the season with a 46-40 road win at Olathe Heritage Christian.
RHEN CALHOON, Hayden
Calhoon, a senior, scored 12 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for Hayden in the Wildcats' 65-47 home Centennial League triumph over Topeka West.
NiJAREE CANADY, Topeka High
A junior, Canady scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Topeka High, top-ranked in Class 6A, beat Centennial League rival Junction City 92-34 to improve to 4-0 on the season.
TAYLOR HAWKINS, Shawnee Heights
A senior, Hawkins paced 1-3 Shawnee Heights with 14 points in the T-Birds' 55-43 United Kansas Conference loss at Lansing.
KIKI SMITH, Topeka High
Smith, a sophomore, scored a game-high 27 points, including 23 in the first half, as top-ranked (Class 6A) Topeka High improved to 4-0 with a 92-34 Centennial League romp past Junction City.
MACY SMITH, Hayden
Smith, a junior, scored 16 points as the Wildcats improved to 4-2 on the season with a 65-47 home Centennial League victory over Topeka West.
CARLY STUKE, Hayden
The Wildcat junior scored 14 points in the first quarter on the way to a 23-point night as Hayden improved to 4-2 on the season with a 65-47 win over Topeka West. Stiuke hit 3 3-pointers and went 6 of 6 at the free throw line.
TALAYAH THOMAS, Topeka High
A junior, Thomas cracked double figures with a 14-point performance as top-ranked (Class 6A) Topeka High improved to 4-0 with a 92-34 home Centennial League victory over Junction City.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's hard to criticize any school board -- in this case the Unified School District 501 board -- for ruling on the side of safety in the age of COVID-19.
I believe the 501 board had the best interests of student-athletes in mind when it chose not to allow wrestling to begin, effectively canceling the entire 2020-21 wrestling season for Highland Park, Topeka High and Topeka West, although I sincerely wish the board could have found a way to follow the lead of more than 200 other schools across the state and allowed district teams to compete in some form this winter.
District schools in other sports have shown to be willing to do anything the board mandates -- masks, limited numbers in practice and games, etc. -- just to have a chance to play.
Whether the board's decision was a good or bad one won't be known for several months, but there's no doubt it's going to be a hard pill to swallow for those involved.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn senior Hunter Bentley started making her point that she was in for a good day before Saturday's MIAA game at Missouri Western even started.
Bentley, the former Bishop Miege star, got the chance to shoot two free throws when Western was called for an administrative technical foul and canned both charities to give the Ichabods a 2-0 advantage prior to the opening possession.
Bentley kept finding the bottom of the net throughout the contest, scoring 27 points as Washburn ended a layoff of more than three weeks with a 61-49 romp past the Griffons.
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Topeka High sophomore Kiki Smith (23) slips past several Junction City defenders for a basket during Saturday's game. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TopSports.news]
Topeka High's girls basketball team isn't used to playing games in the middle of the afternoon, particularly on a Saturday.
But it was a focused Trojan team that showed up to host Centennial League foe Junction City and the result was 19 straight points to open the game on the way to a 92-34 rout.
"I think they were ready to go, they're tired of practicing,'' said Topeka High coach Hannah Alexander, whose Trojans were making their 2021 debut. "We're trying to make sure that we execute every possession in every game and make sure that we don't take anything for granted.
"That was the thing today. It doesn't matter who we're playing, where we're playing, what day it is, what time we're playing. We just need to go out and execute and I was very proud of how they handled themselves out there. I saw a lot of good things we've been working on in practice, so I was very proud of them.''
