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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Freshman Pearmella Carter turned in a huge 38-point, 18-rebound performance Friday night as Highland Park's girls basketball team bounced back from a loss to perennial Class 5A state champion St. Thomas Aquinas with a 66-30 Meadowlark Conference road win over Kansas City-Wyandotte.
Carter hit 18 of 27 shots from the floor and went two of three from the free throw line in the Highland Park win while also recording six steals.
Carter was backed by Angelique Gowan-Britt with 15 points, 9 assists and 6 steals while Tahtionna Broils scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Highland Park led 15-7 at the end of the opening quarter and 28-17 at the half before outscoring the Bulldogs 38-13 in the second half.
Now 7-4 on the season and undefeated in conference play, Highland Park will travel to Atchison on Monday for a Meadowlark Conference contest.
West girls take 58-21 runaway UKC decision over KC-Turner
Having lost four of its last five games at the start of the night, Topeka West's girls got back on track in a big way Friday night, taking a 58-21 home United Kansas Conference victory over Kansas City-Turner.
The Chargers started somewhat slowly, scoring seven of their 11 first-quarter points from the free throw line, but West still led 11-5 and then put the game out of reach with an 18-4 second quarter that gave West 29-9 halftime advantage.
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
TopSports.news
The Seaman Vikings boys basketball team hosted the De Soto Wildcats in a United Kansas Conference contest on Friday night, with De Soto riding a quick start to a dominating 68-37 victory.
De Soto jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game, and with 3:37 left in the opening quarter, the Wildcats led 17-2, only missing one shot up to that point.
De Soto closed out the first quarter shooting 7-12 from the field and led 20-5.
In the second quarter, De Soto extended its lead and had a commanding 44-17 advantage at the half.
“All the credit to them,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "We knew they were good offensively with David Cobin leading the way and so many other guys capable of scoring. They were on fire and we added to it with some turnovers that led to easy baskets.”
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
TopSports.news
A highly anticipated United Kansas Conference battle took place Friday night at Seaman High School, with the No. 2-ranked (Class 5A) Seaman Lady Vikings playing host to the No. 6 De Soto Wildcats.
Friday's game also had an impact on post season seeding as Seaman entered the game as the top seed in 5A East and De Soto the No. 2 seed.
In a thrilling, back-and-forth game, Seaman edged DeSoto, 50-47, improving to 13-1 overall and a perfect 10-0 in the UKC.
The game began with a quick start by the Lady Vikes, who led 7-2 with 3:38 left in the first quarter.
De Soto had to use a second timeout with 1:47 remaining in the quarter, trailing 12-2. But the Wildcats closed the quarter on a 5-2 run to close the gap to 14-7.
The second quarter started exactly the same, but the roles were reversed. De Soto’s Amanda Tower hit two 3-point baskets in the first 1:20 of the quarter to cut the Seaman lead to 14-13.
The Wildcat run continued until there was 3:53 remaining in the half, with De Soto leading 23-17. The Wildcats shot 7-10 from the field in the quarter and led 27-21 at the half.
“We knew coming into this game that it would be a battle,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "DeSoto is a good team and they can really shoot the ball. Basketball is a game of runs. We hit them with a run to start the game and then they went on a run. I want us to learn that when a team goes on a 6-0 run that we really need to be patient and run our offense. It felt like we tried to answer back too quick with guarded shots.”
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
It was a packed house for Winter Royalty at Hayden High School Friday night and the Hayden boys jumped out early to a 21-12 first- quarter lead and a 34-30 halftime advantage over Class 6A Manhattan before the Indians rallied in the second half to pull out a 68-56 win.
“We did a great job of sharing the ball early, with different guys making some big shots for us,'' Hayden coach Trey Brown said. "Dom (Ridley) and Cooper (Colboch) got off to a hot start we had a lot of energy, unselfishness and taking care of the ball and turnovers hurt us in the second half.”
The second half would be a completely different story for the Wildcats as the Indians would tie it up right away at 34 and lead the rest of the way.
“Theyre a really good team and all credit to them,'' Brown said of the Indians. "They made some good shots and we have to get better defensively. We struggle to guard at times and that's the biggest thing and credit to them, they made some big-time shots and we have to limit our turnovers whether that's taking bad shots or actually turning it over. (Turnovers) have killed us all year.
"The final score does not indicate how close the game actually was and our guys played hard,'' Brown said. "We just have to figure out how to win again and get over the hump.”
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
There was plenty to celebrate for No. 2-ranked (Class 3A) Hayden girls basketball Friday night.
It was Hayden coach Carvel Reynaldson’s birthday, and after the Wildcats survived a 57-54 Centennial League dog fight with 6A Manhattan, senior standout Lauren Sandstrom was named Hayden's Queen of Court in front of a packed house at the Bueltel Activity Center.
The game went back and forth with the Indians having the biggest lead at 28-21 three minutes before halftime and taking a 30-27 lead at the break.
But Hayden came out of halftime on fire, led by two Brylee Meier 3-pointers and five straight points from transfer Amelia Ramsey to take a 38-34 lead.
The Wildcats never trailed the rest of the way, scratching and claw their way to the three-point win.
“We came out in the second half and we didn't get beat down the court like we did in the first half,'' Reynoldson said. "We played harder and definitely played more as a team offensively.”
“Having Amelia added to our roster allows us to really spread out our offense,'' said Meier, a 6-foot junior who led Hayden with 17 points. "Spreading our offense is allowing me to get more shots on the perimeter. So, having Amelia gives us a crazy advantage.”
The Wildcats got double-figure scoring nights from four players, with juniors Norma Greco, Ramsey and Kaliya Fulton all adding 11 points.
“I love the balance of scoring tonight,'' Reynoldson said. "Brylee got loose with some 3-pointers that were really crucial in our run and balance carried us the rest of the way.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m really on a hot streak right now, I just show up for my team when they need it,'' Meier said. "We all play really good together already and they help me get open shots, too.''
“We know how to win,'' Reynoldson said. "We really struggled from the free throw line up until the fourth quarter and then when the chips were down we hit them and that's what we have done the last couple years in the fourth quarter.
"We say greatness happens in the fourth quarter and our girls stepped up tonight.”
The Wildcats have a huge week coming up with league two road games -- Tuesday night at 11-1 Emporia and Friday at Washburn Rural.
Emporia’s lone loss was a 50-45 decision to Hayden in a December tournament at White Auditorium in Emporia.
“We still are preparing for Emporia on Tuesday,'' Meier said. I think moving the ball and being more physical with them will give us a good advantage against them. We already have such good players, so we just need to be physical and we will take care of business on Tuesday.”
HAYDEN 57, MANHATTAN 54
Manhattan 17 13 11 13-- 54
Hayden 14 13 15 15-- 57
Manhattan (8-6, 2-2) – Doering 4-10 5-6 14, Larson 3-11 4-4 12, Ball 3-10 0-0 8, Hilgers 2-5 1-2 6, Peabody 3-4 0-0 6, Ruliffson 2-4 0-0 4, Busch 1-2 0-0 2, Parcell 1-1 0-0 2, Dodds 0-2 0-2 0. Totals 19-49 10-14 54.
Hayden (13-1, 4-1) – Meier 4-7 6-6 17, Ramsey 4-8 3-3 11, Greco 3-8 3-6 11, Fulton 3-4 3-6 11, Sandstrom 2-4 0-2 4, Grunert 1-6 0-0 2, Reid 0-0 1-2 1, Huscher 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-38 16-25 57.
3-Point goals– Manhattan 6 (Larson 2, Ball 2, Doering 1, Hilgers 1), Hayden 7 (Meier 3, Greco 2, Fulton 2). Total Fouls – Manhattan 20, Hayden 10.