By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West's 70-54 Centennial League win Friday night at Hayden is going to look like to anybody who wasn't at the Bueltel Activities Complex like a relatively easy 2022 debut for Rick Bloomquist's Chargers.
But for more than three quarters it was anything but easy for the Chargers, with nine ties and seven lead changes before senior Elijah Brooks and Topeka West finally put the Wildcats away with a 10-0 run to open the fourth quarter, improving to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the Centennial League.
Brooks, a 6-foot-4 senior, continued his red-hot start to the 2021-2022 season with a game-high 32 points while junior Xavier Alexander added 16 points and senior Zander Putthoff 10.
Topeka West senior star Elijah Brooks scored 32 points as the Chargers opened 2022 with a 70-54 win over a stubborn Hayden team. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka West had been scheduled to open the '22 portion of its schedule on Tuesday against Junction City but that game was postponed due to delays in repairing the gym floor in West's main gym.
"I'm not making excuses, but we haven't played in a month,'' Bloomquist said. "We were a step behind defensively and credit Hayden. They did a great job of exposing our weaknesses. Our weakness was not accelerating our feet like we normally do and getting our hands in motion.
"But it was a good opener for us, just from the fact of playing in this enviorment and those Hayden kids play hard and they're well-coached. They made us work but credit our kids because we didn't panic. We didn't panic and we stayed the course.''
Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist signals his Chargers during Friday's 70-54 win at Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Alexander and Putthoff both canned a pair of 3-pointers while Brooks led the Chargers with eight rebounds and junior Malachi Berg added seven boards as Topeka West improved to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the league.
Hayden, which fell to 1-5, 1-5, trailed by just a 16-14 margin at the end of the opening quarter and just 33-31 at the half and 50-47 at the start of the fourth quarter before the Chargers took control with a 20-7 finish.
Hayden senior Trent Duffey goes to the floor to get the ball to teammate Jake Muller in Friday's 70-54 loss to Topeka West at Hayden. Duffey led the Wildcats with 23 points. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Hayden junior Joe Otting (33) had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds in Friday's loss to Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Trent Duffey led the Wildcats with 23 points while 6-5 junior Joe Otting notched a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Sophomore Jacob Padilla added nine points on three 3-pointers.
Hayden first-year coach Dwayne Paul praised the Wildcats for their play Friday night and said Hayden just ran out of gas down the stretch.
"We got gassed in the fourth and they took control the first three minutes of the fourth,'' Paul said in a text. 'We lost that game in the first two and a half minutes of the fourth.
"But if we play that way the rest of the year we will be where we want come February.''
TOPEKA WEST BOYS 70, HAYDEN 54
Topeka West 16 17 17 20 -- 70
Hayden 14 17 16 7 -- 54
Topeka West (5-1, 4-1) -- Austin 0-3 0-0 0, Brooks 14-18 4-9 32, Berg 4-12 0-2 8, Alexander 6-11 2-4 16, Putthoff 4-9 0-0 10, Robinson 2-2 0-2 4, Foy 0-0 0-0 0, Bearman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-55 6-17 70.
Hayden (1-5, 1-5) -- Padilla 3-7 0-0 9, Muller 1-11 0-0 2, Duffey 9-15 3-3 23, Ham 1-1 0-0 3, Otting 7-10 1-3 15, Bartlett 0-1 0-0 0, Foster 1-4 0-0 2, Alfonsi 0-1 0-0 0, Gorman 0-0 0-0 0, Rice 0-1 0-0 0 . Totals 22-51 4-6 54.
3-point goals -- Topeka West 4 (Putthoff 2, Alexander 2), Hayden 6 (Padilla 3, Duffey 2, Ham). Total fouls -- Topeka West 14, Hayden 16. Fouled out -- Duffey.
