By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The gauntlet that is the United Kansas Conference forced the Topeka West girls into another matchup against a Top 10 team Friday. The Piper girls, ranked fifth in the 5A class by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, came to Topeka and earned a 66-20 win over the Chargers.
Junior Imani McGlory puts up a shot in Friday's 66-20 UKC loss to Piper. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Sydney VanDyke tied for team-high honors with 5 points in Friday's 66-20 UKC loss to state-ranked Piper. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The tempo and athleticism of the Pirates overwhelmed Topeka West out of the gate. The Chargers were held scoreless until Imani McGlory dropped in a 3-pointer at the first period buzzer. But by that time, Piper had already reeled off 20 points to start the contest.
“Their speed just got us,” Topeka West coach Angie Ketterman said. “They are very good. Very quick. They are probably one of the best teams, that could very well be playing for a state title. They have that.”
The Pirates’ Faith McCallop put up 21 points while her sister Grace added 13.
The Chargers were led in scoring by McGlory and Sydney VanDyke, who each tallied five points.
The Piper girls are just one of three teams in the conference ranked in theTop 10. Seaman is ranked at the top of 5A while De Soto currently sits in the seventh spot. The Chargers have struggled in the league, but Ketterman believes the team has weathered the storm.
“We started out this year playing all the top teams, and now we’re starting to go back through those top teams,” Ketterman said. “We’ve gotten better. Our defense is better. The last couple of games our shots have been just off. Hopefully that gets back on a roll because we’ve got some teams coming up now that are not among the top in state. We hopefully have got some wins coming up.”
PIPER GIRLS 66, TOPEKA WEST 20
Piper 20 19 19 9 -- 66
Topeka West 3 6 5 6 -- 20
Piper (12-2, 8-1) – Vallejo 3-9 0-0 6, Roth 3-7 0-0 7, G. McCallop 4-12 5-6 13, F. McCallop 9-19 0-0 21, Gerber 4-7 3-5 11, Ochs 2-4 2-2 6, Benedetto 0-2 0-0 0, Hollinshed 1-1 0-0 2, Lightfoot 0-2 0-0 0, McPherson 0-1 0-0 0, H. McCallup 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 26-65 10-13 66.
Topeka West (3-11, 1-10) – Allen 1-3 0-0 2, I. McGlory 2-8 0-0 5, VanDyke 2-8 1-3 5, Gonzales 0-9 0-0 0, A. McGlory 1-4 0-0 2, Hall 1-4 0-2 2, Keeling 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 9-38 1-5 20.
3-point goals – Piper 4 (F. McCallop 3, Roth 1), Topeka West 1 (I. McGlory 1). Total fouls – Piper 8, Topeka West 11. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
