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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
TopSports.news
Entering the final two weeks of the regular season, teams are beginning to get prepared for the second season -- the state playoffs.
Seaman senior Anna Becker scored a game-high 16 points in Tuesday's 59-22 UKC win over Leavenworth Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
Sophomore Maddie Gragg scored 14 points Tuesday night in Seaman's 59-22 UKC win over Leavenworth. [File photo/TSN]
That was apparent in Tuesday night’s game between the Seaman girls, ranked second in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, and Leavenworth, with the Vikings played a very unselfish, team game in defeating the Pioneers in a home United Kansas Conference contest, 59-22.
The Lady Vikings jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the first four minutes and extended the lead to 18-6 at the end of the first quarter. Seaman shot 7-14 from the field, with sophomore Maddie Gragg hitting 4-5 shots and totaling nine points.
Seaman’s shooting improved in the second quarter with the team shooting 8-12 and holding Leavenworth to only one point -- a free throw with 3:42 remaining in the quarter - to take a commanding 36-7 lead to the halftime break.
The second half saw both teams play zone defense for the majority of the time and Seaman outscored Leavenworth 23-15, cruising to the 37-point win.
“They play basketball the way you should play and that is unselfish,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "Our ball movement was the best it’s been all year.”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
Highland Park's boys took down Meadowlark Conference rival Atchison for the second time this season, putting the Scots in the driver’s seat for the league title.
Junior Ja'Corey Robinson goes in for two of his 19 points in Highland Park's 63-45 win over Atchison Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Tamir Anderson scored 13 points with three 3-pointers in Highland Park's 63-45 win over Atchison Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Playing at Topeka West while the Highland Park court undergoes repairs, the Scots held off the Phoenix – one of the top-ranked teams in the 4A classification – to win 63-45. The win lifted Highland Park to 9-0 in the conference while Atchison fell back to 7-2.
“These two teams have been consistently towards the top of the league,” said coach Mike Williams. “The football matchup has been good. The basketball matchup has been good for the last couple of years. We’re searching for good matchups on our schedule.”
Both periods of the first half followed the same script. Atchison allowed the Scots to pull away to a double-digit lead, only to come roaring back. The Phoenix closed out the second period on a 10-0 run to tie the game at 30-30 at halftime.
“We kept going up 10 but then we would make a couple of mistakes,” said junior Ja'Corey Robinson. “We weren’t scared or anything. We just knew that we had to keep turning it up and stop making the little mistakes.”
The Scots’ defense locked in after the break. They held Atchison to just nine points in the third period, and six in the fourth. Senior Bryson Thrasher led the Scots with 12 points in the second half, and Highland Park outscored the visitors 33-15 after halftime.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Highland Park girls gained revenge on visiting Atchison for a defeat just eight days ago and took a big step toward a league title in the process Tuesday, winning 60-30.
Junior Tahtionna Broils led Highland Park with 16 points in Tuesday's 60-30 Meadowlark Conference win over Atchison Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Freshman Pearmella Carter scored 15 points in Tuesday's 60-30 Highland Park team over Atchison. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Both Highland Park and Atchison entered the contest with one loss in the Meadowlark Conference. The Scots' defense stifled the Phoenix in the revenge match, with Atchison held to single-digit scoring in each of the first three periods.
After losing by eight at Atchison, Highland Park steamrolled the Phoenix in Topeka West’s gym, where the Scots are playing multiple home games while their court undergoes repairs.
“Since coming into the Meadowlark league, Atchison has been kind of our league rival, “Highland Park coach Rob Brown said. “They beat us last Monday, so we talked about it all week, that we needed to get that ‘get-back’ win to secure the conference title.
“The main difference tonight was we were a few players short last time we played. We had a few players down. But this time we came out with better energy, we were more focused, and we just made shots.”
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's boys basketball team still has goals ahead, but Tuesday night marked a noteworthy accomplishment in its own right for Alex Hutchins' Junior Blues.
Junior Amare Jones came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points in Washburn Rural's 61-48 win at Topeka High Tuesday night. {Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
Sophomore John Hoytal scored 16 points for Washburn Rural in Tuesday's 61-48 road win over Topeka High. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
After starting the season 0-6, Washburn Rural has reeled off wins in nine of its past 12 games, reaching the .500 mark on the season with Tuesday's 61-48 Centennial League win at Topeka High.
"We never felt like an 0-6 team,'' Hutchins said. "Our schedule was good, we were injured and we knew that. We were still learning about ourselves, too, but I don't think there was ever any waver of confidence or anything like that. We know who we are, we know what we're capable of and that never changed.
"We've been healthier and that's really all it is, I think. It's definitely not coaching. It's definitely not any decisions I'm making, it's just the fact that we've been able to put our best players out on the court.''
Rural, now 9-9 overall and 6-2 in the league, fell behind 6-0 after back-to-back 3-pointers from Topeka High senior Isaiah Lyons and trailed much of the first half before rallying for a 24-21 halftime advantage.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
After opening February with a disheartening 21-point loss to Emporia while scoring just 22 points, Washburn Rural's girls basketball team knew it needed to turn things around in a hurry if it was going to put together a strong late-season run.
Washburn Rural senior Destiny Ochs scored 18 points in the Junior Blues' 65-36 win at Topeka High Tuesday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
Washburn Rural freshman Maddie Vickery, who had 14 points and 14 rebounds, drives to the hoop against Topeka High's Keimara Marshall in Tuesday's 65-36 Junior Blue win over the Trojans. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
Kevin Bordewick's Junior Blues have done just that, reeling off four straight wins, including a 65-36 Centennial League romp at Topeka High Tuesday night.
"We have seen a lot of improvement since Emporia, and I think a lot of it is the mental aspect,'' Bordewick said. "We had to get some confidence back because that was a rough one and it kind of shook us a little bit. It shook me a little bit.
"I feel like we're getting it back but I know that we still have a high ceiling. I know that we've got to get so much better on defense. We have to get so much more fluid and continuity on offense. We've just got to get more solid.''
Rural opened Tuesday's game with a Tenly Bunck 3-pointer and went wire to wire for the win, improving to 12-5 overall and 6-2 in the league.
