Trojan's #5 Lilly Smith drives to the basket against Washburn Rural (photo by Rex Wolf/TopSportsNews
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High's girls basketball team stared the end of its long winning streak in the face Thursday night and found a way to keep it alive.
The top-ranked Trojans trailed No. 4 Washburn Rural, which handed High its last loss in the 2019 Class 6A state championship game, by a 49-46 margin after a Emma Krueger basket with 1:53 remaining, but Topeka High ran off the final 7 points of the game over the final 1:34 to escape with a 53-49 Centennial League win at High.
The Trojans' vaunted defense turned the tide in the late going, forcing multiple turnovers that led to points en route to their 6th straight victory this season and 29th overall.
High junior NiJaree Canady scored back-to-back hoops to put the Trojans up 49-48 and then senior Lilly Smith scored the final 3 points of the game after coming up with two straight steals.
"It felt like a championship kind of game,'' Topeka High coach Hannah Alexander said. "It was just back and forth, back and forth I felt like through the whole game.
"I was very pleased with how everyone pitched in. It was a great team effort.''
Topeka High trailed at times in all four quarters, including an 8-point deficit in the second quarter, and Alexander was happy with how her team handled that adversity.
"It was nice to see some of the girls dig deeper than they have and we saw some grittiness from a few of them, so I was very impressed with that, and just composure,'' Alexander said. "Even though we were down during the game at times, I just felt like they never looked defeated out on the floor. They kept their heads up and just kept pushing and kept attacking and they probably talked more tonight than they ever have talked.''
Smith, who had struggled offensively this season, gave the Trojans a big lift when they needed it the most, hitting five 3-pointers on the night and finishing with a game-high 21 points.
"I did feel it tonight,'' Smith said. "I've been in a shooter's slump lately in all my games, but last year I did good against Washburn and I shot it out, so I just figured I could do it again this year.
"(The shooting slump) actually really was bothering me. I just prayed about it and continued to play through it. I knew one of these nights I was going to be able to get out of it, so tonight was the night. I knew I needed to make my shots tonight because I know they're a really good team.''
Canady also had a big night for the Trojans, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Krueger led Rural with 11 points and 8 rebounds while MaRyah Lutz added 10 points and Brooklyn DeLeye 9.
Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick felt like his team was in a good position to pull out the victory before the late turnovers turned the tide.
“There's no hiding that. If you're watching the game or even listening to it, we just lost our mind there at the end,” Bordewick said. “It must have been a hot potato because we’re trying to inbound it real quick and then we didn’t have kids come to the ball. You’ve got to want it a little bit more than that.”
But while Bordewick was disappointed in the loss, he knows the Junior Blues could get two more shots at the Trojans, including one in 6A sub-state competition.
“Everybody blows this up as a big game and it was a tough game, but I don’t think the sixth game of the season is a big game, I just don't,'' Bordewick said. "We’re going to learn from this and go on.”
TOPEKA HIGH GIRLS 53, WASHBURN RURAL 49
Washburn Rural 15 10 9 15 -- 49
Topeka High 12 12 13 16 -- 53
Washburn Rural (5-1, 5-1) -- Bagshaw 1-1 2-2 5, Lutz 4-9 0-0 10, Krueger 4-8 3-3 11, Hurtig 2-12 0-0 6, DeLeye 4-8 1-2 9, Canfield 3-9 0-0 8. Totals 18-47 6-7 49,
Topeka High (6-0, 6-0) -- L. Smith 7-12 2-4 21, Thomas 3-9 2-2 9, K. Smith 2-6 1-2 5, Hendricks 0-5 0-0 0, Canady 7-14 4-6 18, Lyons 0-1 0-2 0, Caryl 0- 0 0-0 0, Shields 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-47 9-16 53.
3-point goals -- Washburn Rural 7 (Lutz 2, Hurtig 2, Canfield 2, Bagshaw), Topeka High 6 (L. Smith 5, Thomas). Total fouls -- Washburn Rural 10, Topeka High 10. Fouled out -- DeLeye.
