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By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Topeka High girls basketball dropped a 67-55 home Centennial League contest Friday night after a hot shooting night from Manhattan.
The first half had 75 combined points as both teams were trading basket after basket, but Manhattan pulled away down the stretch in the second half for the win.
“When you get in that desperation mode, you have to do something almost every trip down the court,” Topeka High coach Ron Slaymaker said. “I thought the first half was one hell of a basketball game, wow.
"They have a nice team, they shoot well. We played pretty good defense and they still shot well. I’m disappointed that we lost, but I’m not disappointed with the way we played.”
Topeka High senior Keimara Marshall started the scoring for both teams with a 3-pointer and sophomore Hailey Caryl would convert an and-one opportunity making it 6-2 early on.
Junior Ahsieryrhuajh Rayton earned an and-one opportunity but before her free throw, the Indians called a timeout with 4:51 left in the quarter. Rayton missed the free throw, but .
would put the Trojans back up 13-7 the very next possession with a triple after a MHS and-one.
After MHS started pressing to create turnovers from Topeka High, Slaymaker called a timeout to draw up a play on the inbounds. It worked as Rayton found space down the floor and kissed it off the glass for two, and Topeka High led 20-18 after one quarter.
The game would change leads several times in the second stanza, as one team would hit a three, and the other would hit a three.
Trojan sophomore Hailey Caryl knotted the game at 28-28, knocking down three threes in the quarter.
Topeka High would push its lead back to six, but Manhattan kept scoring. Evie Banks was hot from downtown in the game, making it 34-31, but Caryl hit another from distance, as the Trojans went back up six, 37-31.
Manhattan would take the lead into halftime after Ansley Beckett hit two free throws with 50 seconds left, 38-37.
Out of halftime MHS would go up six after another three and then eventually went up nine at 47-38, forcing Topeka High into a timeout with 5:13 left in the third quarter.
Topeka High struggled to find a rhythm in the third quarter until Rayton scored four straight points.
Manhattan would end the third quarter up five (53-48) after Jelena Depusoir scored in the paint.
In the fourth quarter, Manhattan played keep away most of the quarter as the shot clock wasn’t functional for the night.
Manhattan would push its advantage to 59-52, forcing Slaymaker to call a timeout at the 4:44 mark to try to find some momentum, but MHS wasn’t having any of that
.
Bailey Busch got fouled for Manhattan, missed the and-one chance but MHS got the rebound and then Busch nailed a trey to make it 64-53, ending any chance for the Trojans.
“We only get better from that,” Slaymaker said. “We played 32 minutes with great effort, but you have to put that with some execution. The first half the execution was there for both teams but power to them. They had the edge on us, we couldn’t get back in the third quarter to gain control like we did, they had it all.”
Kat Ball led Manhattan (6-2 overall, 1-0 Centennial) with 13 points while Busch and Banks added 12 apiece.
Rayton scored a game-high 21 points for High, while Caryl added 17.
MANHATTAN 67, TOPEKA HIGH 55
Manhattan 18 20 15 14 -- 67
Topeka High 20 17 11 7 -- 55
Manhattan (6-2) – Larson 3 0-0 6, Becket 2 2-2 4, Depusior 5 0-0 10, Hall 1 0-0 2, Ingram 1 0-0 3, Ball 2 8-9 13, Busch 5 3-4 12, Banks 4 1-2 12.
Topeka High (3-5) – Triplett 1 0-0 2, Marshall 3 0-0 7, Rayton 8 3-5 21, Caryl 5 4-5 17, Gotru 3 2-2 8.
3-point goals – Manhattan 7 (Ingram 1, Ball 1, Busch 2, Banks 3), Topeka High 6 (Marshall 1, Rayton 2, Caryl 3,). Total fouls – Manhattan 13, Topeka High 16. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights was just fine offensively in Friday's United Kansas Conference home boys game against Leavenworth, with three T-Birds scoring at least 13 points and seven cracking the scoring column.
Shawnee Heights freshman Quincy Dixon (22) scored a game-high 19 points in Friday's 60-24 UKC win over Leavenworth. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior Cam Ross scored 18 points in Shawnee Heights' 60-24 UKC win over Leavenworth Friday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But make no mistake about it, defense was the story for Heights in its 60-24 romp past the Pioneers on King and Queen of Courts night.
Shawnee Heights, now 4-4 overall and 3-3 in the UKC, limited Leavenworth (2-5, 1-4) to just five points in a dominating 35-5 first half and never looked back, forcing a running clock throughout the fourth quarter.
"We're not deceived, that's not the Los Angeles Lakers, but they got five points,'' Darting said about the first half. "They're a high school team of really good athletes, so it was great and we were playing so hard.
"We're shooting as a team 52 percent for the year, but you see why, it's coming from the defensive end. They've bought in and they believe it. I've sold from Day 1 that if we're going to get anything better than average you've got to be really good defensively.''
Heights led 11-3 at the end of the opening quarter and then hit Leavenworth with a 24-2 second quarter to take command. The T-Birds held the Pioneers scoreless until the 2:15 mark of the quarter.
The pace slowed drastically in the second half as Darting emptied his bench, but the T-Birds still outscored the Pioneers, 25-19, while forcing 29 Leavenworth turnovers on the night.
Freshman Quincy Dixon scored a game-high 19 points for Shawnee Heights with a pair of 3-pointers and a 7 of 10 performance at the free throw line while junior Cam Ross had 18 points (7 of 9 at the line) and senior Ja'Veon Alston 13.
Junior Adrian Brantley led Leavenworth with 7 points.
Shawnee Heights will be back in action Tuesday, hosting Piper in a UKC game.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS BOYS 60, LEAVENWORTH 24
Leavenworth 3 2 12 7 -- 24
Shawnee Heights 11 24 14 11 -- 60
Leavenworth (2-5, 1-4) – Cheatham 2-4 2-6 6, King 1-3 0-0 2, Clark 1-3 0-0 2, Brantley 2-7 1-2 7, Alonzon 1-5 2-2 4, Jefferson 0-4 0-0 0, Aizaiah Rookwood 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 0-1 3-4 3, Tolbert 0-1 0-0 0, Lobina 0-0 0-0 0, Flanders 0-0 0-0 0, Butter 0-1 0-0 0, Ayden Rookwood 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 7-29 9-14 24.
Shawnee Heights (4-4, 3-3) – Alston 5-9 2-2 13, Cook 0-8 2-2 2, Ross 5-9 7-9 18, Scott 2-5 0-2 4, Dixon 5-15 7-10 19, Lee 0-0 0-0 0, Becker 1-2 0-0 2, Terrell 1-1 0-0 2, Vega 0-0 0-0 0, Halloran 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 18-25 60.
3-point goals – Leavenworth 2 (Brantley 2), Shawnee Heights 4 (Dixon 2, Alston, Ross). Total fouls – Leavenworth 18, Shawnee Heights 16. Fouled out – Ross. Technical fouls -- none.
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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The Washburn Rural boys blasted out of the gate Friday versus Hayden, compiling an early lead that led to a 79-62 win, the Junior Blues’ second in Centennial League play.
Sophomore Brooks Ballard drilled a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter to help give Washburn Rural a 22-9 advantage in the opening period.
Sophomore Brooks Ballard scored a game-high 24 points with six 3-pointers in Washburn Rural's 79-62 Centennial League win over Hayden Friday night at Rural. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
“I thought we did a really good job early,” said Washburn Rural coach Alex Hutchins. “Hayden has had some games where they’ve struggled early. So, we thought it was really important to get off to a good start and try to take control of the game. So, I was pleased with that.”
Washburn Rural senior Draden Chooncharoen scored 10 points in Friday's 79-62 Centennial League win over Hayden. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Senior John Hoytal scored 16 points in Friday's 79-62 Washburn Rural win over Hayden. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Ballard went on to tally 24 points to lead the home team. John Hoytal, Simon Rowley and Draden Chooncharoen each broke double figures, and eight Junior Blues got in the scoring column on a very efficient offensive night. Washburn Rural hit 28 of 49 shots from the field.
“This feels like a good team win,” said Chooncharoen. “Our coach says we can really play 12 guys. That’s how deep we are. So, it just feels good getting a good win for our team with everyone contributing.”
The Junior Blues picked up their sixth victory in a row to improve to 7-2
“We just want to keep our momentum going,” Chooncharoen said. “Every day at practice, just keep working hard. Just keep going game by game. I feel like our senior class is really keeping everyone composed. We got a lot of young guys contributing and our team chemistry is pretty good. We all get along pretty well. We have fun at practice, but also get stuff done. So, it’s a lot of fun.”
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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
When Hayden’s usually high-scoring Hailey Schmidtlein was slowed in the second half Friday at Washburn Rural, the Wildcats got a burst of production from the rest of the team to gain a 38-35 Centennial League victory over the Junior Blues.
Hayden sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein (center) led Hayden with a game-high 17 points in Friday's 38-35 Centennial League win over Washburn Rural. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Schmidtlein scored 14 of Hayden’s 17 points in the first half, and it looked like the Wildcats might ride the sophomore to the win. But Washburn Rural held Schmidtlein to just three points on five shot attempts in the second half. Points had to come from the rest of the Wildcats if they were to get the win.
Hayden senior Ella Foster capped the group effort with a 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining to extend Hayden’s 1-point lead. The Junior Blues got a couple of chances at the buzzer but couldn’t overcome the deficit.
“(Coach Carvel) Reynoldson always tells me to shoot the ball,'' Foster said. "I pass up a lot of shots I probably should shoot. But I saw the shot clock was at one and I knew it had to go up and it was just amazing to see it go in.”
Hayden got 18 second-half points from Foster and company, just the lift the Wildcats needed with Schmidtlein focusing on rebounding, defending, and distributing the ball.
“(Schmidtlein) can really put up big numbers and she was on her way to doing that,” Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said. “I don’t know if (Washburn Rural) changed too much of what they were doing to her. But she just trusted her teammates a little bit more. She made some tough shots in the first half, and she got other people involved in the second half for easier shots, and it worked out for us.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Not everything went Shawnee Heights' way early in Friday's United Kansas Conference girls game against Leavenworth, with the T-Birds missing some easy shots, turning the ball over and getting in foul trouble right out of the gate.
But Heights' defense kept the hosts in the hunt early and then the T-Birds turned a single-digit halftime advantage into a running clock late as Shawnee Heights stretched its winning streak to five games with a 53-22 home rout over the Pioneers.
Senior Imani McGlory scored a game-high 18 points with four 3-pointers in Friday's 53-22 Shawnee Heights win over Leavenworth. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"In the first half we were getting some great shots and they were either rolling around the rim or hitting the bottom of the rim,'' Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. "You put those shots in and all of a sudden the first half is a whole lot different and we feel a whole lot better.
"But the girls did a good job of coming out in the second half and establishing themselves and did a good job of penetrating and making the defense collapse and getting those shots from the perimeter to fall.''
Shawnee Heights, now 6-3 overall and 5-1 in the UKC, fell behind 5-0 early and trailed for most of the opening quarter before scoring the final six points of the quarter to take a 14-10 lead.
The T-Birds led 21-14 at the half after a second quarter that included a total of 11 points for both teams.
But Shawnee Heights left no doubt after the break, outscoring the Pioneers 18-6 in the third stanza to build a 39-20 cushion before closing out things with a 14-2 fourth quarter and forcing a running clock over the final 3:29.
Senior Imani McGlory led the T-Birds with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, while junior Pearmella Carter scored all of her 12 points in the second half after missing the bulk of the first half with two fouls.
Shawnee Heights junior Pearmella Carter scored all 12 of her points in the second half in Friday's 53-22 UKC win over Leavenworth. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior KK Emmot scored eight of her 10 points in the second half, with a pair of 3-pointers.
Sophomore Layla Brown led Leavenworth (4-3, 2-3) with 13 points.
Shawnee Heights will be back at home Tuesday, hosting Piper in a UKC contest.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS GIRLS 53, LEAVENWORTH 22
Leavenworth 10 4 6 2 -- 22
Shawnee Heights 14 7 18 14 -- 53
Leavenworth (4-3, 2-3) – Walker 1-4 0-0 3, Huewitt 2-7 1-4 6, Brown 4-15 3-7 13, Allen 0-3 0-0 0, M. McIntyre 0-2 0-0 0, Graham 0-2 0-0 0, McCann 0-2 0-0 0, Lovejoy 0-2 0-0 0, P. McIntyre 0-3 0-0 0, Noell 0-0 0-2 0, Tolber 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 7-40 4-13 22.
Shawnee Heights (6-3, 5-1) – Emmot 3-8 2-2 10, McGlory 5-11 4-4 18, Carter 4-5 4-6 12, Baum 1-4 1-2 3, Vega 2-5 0-0 4, Brees 1-1 0-0 2, Hamilton 2-4 0-2 4, Schmidt 0-2 0-2 0, Karlyle 0-0 0-0 0, Moeder 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-40 11-18 53.
3-point goals – Leavenworth 4 (Brown 2, Walker, Huewitt), Shawnee Heights 6 (McGlory 4, Emmot 2). Total fouls – Leavenworth 16, Shawnee Heights 15. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
