By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Senior night for the No. 2-ranked Topeka West boys basketball began with a celebration of seniors before the game that did not stop as the Chargers played host to Emporia.
The quintet of seniors' final home game would be an 81-33 rout of the Spartans, after which coach Rick Bloomquist reflected on the group of seniors headlined by all-time leading scorer Elijah Brooks.
“Obviously we have a special player in Elijah, he is a great leader by example whether it be on campus, off campus or in the gym,” Bloomquist said. “They believe in each other, these seniors they are glue … it’s just the characteristic of the whole senior class, they don’t give up.”
Topeka West's boys basketball team celebrates Senior Night Friday at West. The Chargers rolled to an 81-33 win over Emporia. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/TSN]
Seven players finished with at least six points in the game, encapsulating the unselfishness that the seniors try to lead the team with.
“Nobody is selfish, everybody wants to see everybody win. You know like (Nathan) Bearman started the first half but then Malachi started the second half and there was no animosity or nothing like that, we just kept playing,” Brooks said.
Eighty-one points is a season-high for the Chargers, who moved to 17-1 on the season with the win and maintained a one-game lead in the Centennial League race..
“You know you have a collective bunch of kids with chemistry if they react collectively and not individually and we sure did tonight. I thought we really played well,” Bloomquist said. “No disrespect to Emporia but they caught us on a night that we needed to change and we made a nice change.”
Four early points from Emporia junior Parker Leeds had the Spartans in front, 8-7. The Chargers responded with a 8-0 run to close out the quarter leading 15-8. Senior Zander Putthoff knocked down two 3-pointers in the quarter to pace all scorers.
An and-one from Brooks began a fast-paced second quarter and put Topeka West up by double figures.
The Chargers used a 14-0 run in the middle of the quarter to blow the game open, leading 34-13 at the 3:01 mark. A 3-pointer from Brooks put them up by as many as 25.
“The movement (was key), we started pushing the ball. That is something we went away from and coach was on us. It’s just the constant movement, playing together and the chemistry,” Brooks said.
Four late points from Spartans freshman River Peters made it a 42-19 game at halftime.
Topeka West picked up its defensive pressure to begin the third quarter, growing the lead to 32 on a fast-break dunk from junior Malachi Berg.
Two driving layups inside of the final minute of the quarter from junior Sincere Austin made it a 65-25 game at the end of the third quarter.
Austin continued his run into the fourth quarter, with three layups on the first three possessions, knocking down one free throw in the process.
The next trip down the court junior Xavier Alexander knocked down his fourth 3-pointer of the game to end the day for the starters.
Both teams subbed in bench lineups to close the game. That included seniors Nathan Bearman and Antonio Robinson who each scored six points for the Chargers in what would be an 81-33 win.
“Hayden played us very well but I think the Hayden game also us up a little bit because we were being very lethargic and taking things for granted,” Bloomquist said. “I challenged them pretty hard the last couple of days and they reacted.”
Austin led the way with 20 points on 9-14 shooting. Brooks added 15 and both Berg and Alexander had 12 for Topeka West to wrap up the final regular-season home game.
“I tried to enjoy it the most because it might be my last home game, you know with sub-state so I hope it’s not my last home game,” Brooks said. “It was great and it was fun … it was a real great team win.”
Leeds nine points paced Emporia while Peters finished with eight.
The win moved the Chargers to 17-1 on the year and 13-1 in league play.
Next Topeka West will be on the road to face Highland Park Tuesday.
TOPEKA WEST BOYS 81, EMPORIA 33
Topeka West: 15 27 23 16 -- 81
Emporia: 8 11 6 8 -- 33
Topeka West (16-1, 12-1) – Austin 9-14 1-1 20, Robinson 3-7 0-1 6, C. Foy 1-1 0-0 2, Brooks 6-12 2-3 15, Alexander 4-7 0-0 12, Berg 6-7 0-4, Putthoff 2-5 0-0 6, Reimer 1-1 0-0 2, Bearman 3-4 0-0 6, J. Foy 0-1 0-0 0, Chambers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-56 3-9 81.
Emporia (3-14, 2-11) – Stewart 2-8 0-0 4, Leeds 4-9 1-2 9, Templeton 0-2 2-2 2, Spellman 0-0 0-0 0, Rech 1-7 0-0 2, Hess 1-3 1-2 3, Seeley 0-0 2-4 2, Ortega 1-2 0-0 3, Peters 4-16 0-0 8, Rios 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-47 6-10 33.
3-point goals – Topeka West 8 (Alexander 4, Putthoff 2, Brooks 1, Austin 1). Emporia 1 (Ortega). Total fouls – Topeka West 11, Emporia 11. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
