By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
When Highland Park and Topkeka West hooked up in the championship game of the Topeka Invitational Tournament on Jan. 25, the top-ranked Class 5A Scots remained undefeated with a hard-earned 44-41 win over the sixth-ranked Chargers.
Senior Ja'Corey Robinson (23) led all scorers with 32 points in Wednesday's 67-50 Highland Park win over city rival Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But Mike Williams' normally high octane Scots came out of that game feeling like they received some undeserved criticism for their slower style of play, particularly in the closing minutes, against West.
Using that -- plus the fact that the Scots were playing at home for only the second time all season -- as motivation in Wednesday's rematch, Highland Park pulled away down the stretch for a decisive 67-50 win, improving to 14-0 on the season.
"We had a specific game plan going into that (first game) of how we wanted to play,'' Mike Williams said. "We didn't want to shoot over the top of those guys. We knew they were tall and long and we watched tape on teams in the past (against West) that were taking those type of shots ... and we didn't want that.
"We wanted to be in a grind it out, gritty game like we got in the TIT. A lot of people saw that score and were kind of like, 'Ah, it was close.' I don't care, that's what we wanted. We wanted it like that, we wanted to get after them on the defensive end. We wanted to man-to-man them all night long and we wanted to sit down.''
And though Williams admits that the Scots didn't have a great offensive game, he was proud of his team in the earlier West matchup, just like he was Wednesday night.
"We didn't make shots, we made zero 3s in the TIT. We missed 15-plus free throws, Da'Mykel Hales didn't play (illness), a lot of things worked against us, and we still found a way to win,'' Williams said. "Obviously, this night tonight was a little bit cleaner.
"Obviously, there were some things coming out (in social media after the TIT). Did we hold the ball, did we not? We were just trying find ways to win. That's all we're focused on. I was very, very pleased (tonight) with how we competed, how we took on a challenge and how we just didn't assume we were going to win because we won a week ago in the TIT.''
Topeka West, which fell to 8-5 on the season, led 11-9 at the end of the first quarter and was within five (29-24) at the half and seven (43-36) at the start of the fourth before Highland Park closed with a dominating 24-14 run as senior Ja'Corey Robinson scored 13 of his game-high 32 points in the quarter.
Senior Mikey Williams (5) scored 15 points Wednesday as Highland Park improved to 14-0 with a 67-50 win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Isaiah Kelley puts in 2 of his 13 points in Wednesday's 67-50 Highland Park win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Highland Park also got 15 and 13 points, respectively, from seniors Mikey Williams and Isaiah Kelley.
Topeka West junior Jay'veon Traylor shared team-high honors with 12 points in Wednesday's 67-50 road loss at Highland Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka West, which dropped its third straight game to state-ranked teams (two to Highland Park, one to Shawnee Heights), got 12 points apiece from senior Javian Chambers and junior Jay'veon Traylor while junior Malakyah Duncan added nine points.
Highland Park will play its third game of the week on Friday at Kansas City-Wyandotte while Topeka West will be home Friday to host No. 2-ranked Piper, who the Chargers handed a 59-58 loss back on Dec. 17.
HIGHLAND PARK 67, TOPEKA WEST 50
Topeka West 11 13 12 14 -- 50
Highland Park 9 20 14 24 -- 67
Topeka West (8-5) – Ford 1-3 0-0 2, Traylor 4-8 2-4 12, Duncan 2-5, 5-6 9, Paul 1-5 0-0 3, Chambers 5-7 2-4 12, Foy 1-4 0-0 2, Mudganga 1-2 1-2 3, Webb 0-0 0-0 0, Ross 1-4 0-0 3, Lassiter 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 18-39 10-16 50.
Highland Park (14-0) – Wilson 1-3 2-2 4, Hales 0-6 1-2 1, Kelley 5-10 3-5 13, Williams 6-15 3-5 15, Robinson 12-15 5-6 32, Brown 1-1 0-0 2, Montgomery 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 25-52 14-20 67.
3-point goals – Topeka West 4 (Traylor 2, Paul, Ross), Highland Park 3 (Robinson 3). Total fouls – Topeka West 16, Highland Park 16. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – Brown.
