By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Even though Washburn Rural's boys entered Friday's home game as the Centennial League leader against a Topeka High team that was still looking for its first win, Junior Blues coach Alex Hutchins, whose team was coming off a 22-point non-league loss, had concerns.
Junior Simon Rowley scored a game-high 21 points Friday night as Washburn Rural improved to 10-4 with a 79-41 win over Topeka High. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
But the Junior Blues quickly put their coach's worries at ease, scoring the first seven points of the night and building a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter on the way to a 79-41 rout over the Trojans.
"We had the winter crowning ceremony and the pep rally and kind of a spirit week and you kind of combine that with the taste that we had in our mouths Tuesday (after a 70-48 loss to Blue Valley), there was some concern coming in, but we really just thought it was going to come down to defense and guarding,'' Hutchins said.
"We felt like if we let them be comfortable offensively and just traded baskets all night that's when they could get pretty dangerous, so I thought our guys did a pretty good job on the defensive end of kind of holding them down and taking control.''
Rural, now 10-4 overall and 4-0 in the league, opened up a 21-10 first-quarter advantage after leading by as many as 13 points and never looked back.
The Junior Blues took a 19-point advantage (43-24) to the locker room at the half, led 62-33 after three periods and forced a running clock early in the fourth en route to the 38-point decision.
Senior Kaden Ballard scored 11 points Friday as Washburn Rural rolled to a 79-41 Centennial League win over Topeka High. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Junior Simon Rowley paced Rural with a game-high 21 points and senior Kaden Ballard added 11 as Hutchins used all 12 players on his bench and all 12 cracked the scoring column.
"We have kind of a top six or seven and then we have another group of guys, including a couple of guys that aren't even suited up tonight, that any given day they're kind of the best looking guy in that group and kind of chomping at the bit,'' Hutchins said.
"We saw a lot of guys do some good things tonight. It's not often that all 12 you put in score, so we were pretty excited about that.''
Topeka High (0-15, 0-5) got 12 points from junior Bryson McComas, who was the lone player to crack double figures for the Trojans.
Washburn Rural will be back at home Tuesday to host Manhattan in a Centennial League contest while Topeka High will play a league game at Hayden.
WASHBURN RURAL BOYS 79, TOPEKA HIGH 41
Topeka High 10 14 9 8 -- 41
Washburn Rural 21 22 19 17 -- 79
Topeka High (0-15, 0-5) – Guest 2-6 0-0 5, McFadden 3-5 0-0 6, Aldridge 1-8 3-4 5, McComas 4-8 4-4 12, Trotter 0-1 1-4 1, Redmond 3-6 2-2 8, Dingle 0-0 0-0 0, Campbell 0-1 0-0 0, Mallory 0-2 0-0 0, Carter 2-5 0-0 4, Villegas 0-1 0-0 0, Arnold 0-0 0-0 0, Caddell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-43 10-14 41.
Washburn Rural (10-4, 4-0) -- Jones 3-8 1-1 7, Leonard 4-5 0-0 8, K. Ballard 4-8 2-2 11, Rowley 10-14 0-0 21, Hoytal 1-3 0-0 3, Schwinn 3-4 0-0 6, Chooncharoen 1-3 2-4 4, Wright 2-2 0-0 4, B. Ballard 2-2 1-2 6, Schmidt 1-1 0-0 2, O'Connor 2-2 0-0 5, Nimz 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 34-55 6-9 79.
3-point goals – Topeka High 1 (Guest), Washburn Rural 5 (K. Ballard, Rowley, Hoytal, B. Ballard, O'Connor). Total fouls – Topeka High 11, Washburn Rural 14. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
