By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Rewind to a year ago and the Hayden boys where in the same position as Topeka High found itself in Tuesday night as the Wildcats entered the game on a 12-game losing streak and would leave by beating the Trojans 57-42.
Junior Elisha Guest scored 15 points with three 3-pointers in Topeka High's 65-60 Centennial League win over Hayden. [File photo/TSN]
Fast forward to Tuesday as Topeka High would be the team needing a win and the Trojans would find just that, picking up their first win of the season with a 65-60 road Centennial League victory over Class 4A No. 4-ranked Hayden .
The start of the game would be in favor of the Wildcats as they would get off to the hot start with a 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter and take a 33-27 lead into halftime, led by junior Connor Hanika, who would have 12 of his team high 16 points at halftime.
High would come out of halftime fighting as they would be down 54-47 at the end of three with a huge momentum swing right at the buzzer when junior Elisha Guest would hit a 3 to end the third and help his team get hot going into the fourth.
The Trojans would out-score the Wildcats 18-6 in the fourth to rally for the 5-point victory.
The Trojans would get a big night from Topeka West transfer Guest, who would score 15 points.
Guest, who spent the last 2 seasons at West made the move to High over the summer and has been a huge help for coach Geo Lyons and the Trojans.
“He is a basketball junkie, he is a gym rat, he is the kid I talk to the most,'' Lyons said. "He watches a lot of film, he is a sponge and wants to absorb as much as he can. We do a lot of film sessions one on one, and he has came in and helped push the guys that where here before he got here. He has been a great spark for us coming over from West.''
“It has been crazy,'' Guest said. "The pressure, the challenge of coming in and starting, I am glad to be doing it. I love basketball.”
Junior Octavian McFadden led Topeka High with a game-high 18 points in Tuesday's 65-60 Centennial League win at Hayden. [File photo/TSN]
The Trojans also got a big night from junior Octavian McFadden, who would lead all scorers with 18 points.
“I am proud of my teammates, all my points came off of assists from my teammates,'' McFadden said. "Coach just kept telling us we were right there and remained calm and kept telling us we were right there. Every game we’ve been there and then we slipped, but this one we started slipping and big guys came in and made big plays, and defense led to offense.”
“Even though the record is bad, we're still playing for something and keeping those guys focused,'' Lyons said. "We put that up on the board every single day in the locker room to know that they're still playing for something. So we don't have a defeated group. They keep bringing their butt to practice. So it was great. This atmosphere that we played in tonight you know, the TIT, set us up actually for this game.
"We just haven't had a group of guys that have been there before and just know how to win. So we let a couple of games slip away that we played well in and then same thing with the Seaman game, because that Seaman group is a tough group. We were in that game and then the Manhattan game. Manhattan's a hard place to win and, you know, we're right there late in the fourth quarter also in that game. So it was just learning how to win and we finally got over the hump today.”
The Wildcats will be in action Friday against Emporia at Hayden while the Trojans will host Manhattan.
TOPEKA HIGH 65, HAYDEN 60
Topeka High 12 15 20 18 -- 65
Hayden 14 19 21 6 -- 60
Topeka High (1-15 1-5) -- McFadden 6-9 4-5 18, Guest 6-12 0-0 15, McComas 5-9 3-6 13, Campbell 2-2 0-0 4, Redmond 0-1 2-2 2, Aldridge 4-12 0-2 9, Trotter 1-2 0-0 2, Dingle 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-49 9-15 65.
Hayden (8-7 2-4) -- Hanika 7-11 2-2 16, Kuta 4-10 1-2 9, Deister 4-17 0-2 9, Mitchell 3-10 0-0 8, Becker 2-6 0-0 6, Compton 2-5 0-0 5, Heinen 2-5 0-0 5, Wolff 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-66 3-6 60.
3-point goals -- Topeka High 6 (Guest 3, McFadden 2, Aldridge), Hayden 7 (Becker 2, Mitchell 2, Deister, Compton, Heinen) Total fouls -- Topeka High 10, Hayden 13. Technical Foul -- Topeka High bench.