By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's girls basketball ended last week with a disappointing loss to Shawnee Heights in the championship game of the Capital City Classic, with the Junior Blues letting a 16-point lead get away.
Sophomore Maddie Vickery led Washburn Rural with 22 points in Friday's 65-44 Centennial League win over Topeka High. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
But, fortunately for the seventh-ranked (Class 6A) Junior Blues, they had three opportunities this week to wipe that bad taste out of their mouths and took full advantage, posting three double-digit wins, capped by a 65-44 Centennial League romp past No. 10-ranked Topeka High Friday at Rural.
"I thought it was (good) for us,'' Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said of the busy week, "because I thought every game we saw a little bit of improvement, culminating in tonight because T-High's really good.
"I thought defensively we were more locked in on what we should do, especially in the first half, and offensively I know everything looks better when you're hitting shots, but we were moving, we were more in a rhythm and even when we were shooting from outside it was comfortable, we weren't forcing anything. Everything was just a little more fluid.''
Washburn Rural, now 10-4 overall and 3-1 in the league, was never seriously threatened after scoring the first 16 points of the night and leading 23-2 before ending the first quarter with a 23-6 advantage.
The Junior Blues continued to pour it on the Trojans in the second quarter, using a 26-15 scoring edge to take a commanding 49-21 advantage to the locker room at the half.
Rural increased its lead to as many as 35 in the third stanza and finished the quarter with a 63-32 lead to force a running clock throughout the fourth quarter.
Sophomore Maddie Vickery led three double-figure scorers for Washburn Rural with 22 points while senior Kate Hinck added 16 and senior Tenly Bunck 12 points.
Senior Kate Hinck scored 16 points with three 3-pointers in Friday's 65-44 Centennial League win over Topeka High. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Senior Tenly Bunck scored 12 points with three 3-pointers in Friday's 65-44 Centennial League win over Topeka High. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural hit 11 3-pointers as a team, with Hinck and Bunck canning three 3-pointers apiece while Vickery and sophomore Gracie Hayes hit a pair of treys and junior Josie Carlgren also had a 3.
Sophomore Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton scored a game-high 26 points, including six 3-pointers, with all of her points coming over the final three quarters.
Washburn Rural will host Manhattan in a Centennial League game on Tuesday while Topeka High will play a league contest at No. 1-ranked (4A) Hayden.
WASHBURN RURAL GIRLS 65, TOPEKA HIGH 44
Topeka High 6 15 11 12 -- 44
Washburn Rural 23 26 14 2 -- 65
Topeka High (9-6, 2-3) – Short 1-5 0-2 2, Marshall 4-8 0-0 8, Rayton 8-24 4-6 26, Caryl 2-4 0-0 4, Benning 1-2 0-2 2, Triplett 0-3 0-0 0, Gotru 1-2 0-0 2, Mathews 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 4-8 44.
Washburn Rural (10-4, 3-1) -- Hinck 6-6 1-2 16, Rutherford 1-4 0-0 2, Vickery 8-18 4-4 22, Lemke 1-2 0-0 2, Bunck 4-7 1-3 12, Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Hirschi 1-2 0-0 2, Hayes 2-3 0-0 6, Walker 0-1 0-0 0, Simpson 0-0 0-0 0, Carlgren 1-4 0-0 3, Petersen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-47 6-9 65.
3-point goals – Topeka High 6 (Rayton 6), Washburn Rural 11 (Hinck 3, Bunck 3, Hayes 2, Vickery 2, Carlgren). Total fouls – Topeka High 11, Washburn Rural 14. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
