- Details
By NICHOLAS GAINEY
Special to TopSports.news
The duo of junior Reianna Vega and senior Kaydence Torrez proved to be too much for the visitors as the Shawnee Heights Thunderbirds cruised to a 56-12 United Kansas Conference victory over KC-Turner on Friday night at Shawnee Heights.
Junior Reianna Vega scored a game-high 16 points in Friday's Shawnee Heights 56-12 UKC win over KC-Turner. [File photo/TSN]
Vega got things started for the T-Birds by knocking down a jump shot to open the scoring. Torrez then answered with back-to-back layups before Vega earned her second quick basket, forcing a Golden Bears timeout just over two minutes into the contest.
The two post players continued to trade baskets as Shawnee Heights opened up a 23-0 lead after the first quarter.
Sophomore KK Emmot added all five of her points on the evening in the period. A 3-pointer from senior Haley Bowers and a layup from Torrez extended the T-Birds’ lead to 28-0 before Alyasia Ollie’s jumper gave Turner its first points of the evening.
Aubrey Hamilton joined in on the scoring later in the second quarter, tallying all seven of her points in the frame as the hosts took a 43-3 lead at halftime.
Shawnee Heights opened the second half on a 9-0 run, featuring a 3-pointer from Taylor Brees and a pair of baskets from Vega.
Andrea Ruby answered by hitting Turner’s first 3-pointer of the night, while Jerzey Hanna knocked down a shot from well beyond the arc a few minutes later.
With the contest in hand for the T-Birds, the remainder of the game was played with a running clock, with both sides giving playing time to their reserves.
Vega led Shawnee Heights with 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting, while making both of her free throw attempts and adding eight rebounds. Torrez also reached double figures, scoring 14 points.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Highland Park Scots don’t have much time to celebrate Friday night’s 95-53 blitzing of Sumner Academy. They will return to their home court on Saturday to take on Atchison in a makeup game.
Senior Ja'Corey Robinson led all scorers with 30 points in Friday's 95-53 Highland Park win over KC-Sumner. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The flexibility of Mike Williams’ Scots is being tested in an odd stretch. After playing on February 10, the Scots went 11 days without a game. Weather restricted their practice time. Now, beginning with the Sumner blowout, they will play four times in an eight-day stretch.
“I think anybody who’s been coaching around Topeka or Kansas, you kind of expect with the winter months, there’s going to be some kind of shutdown sooner or later,” Williams said. “I tell our kids they’ve got to be fluid. They’ve got to flow with it.
“And I’ve got to make sure that when we get gym time, we take advantage of it. It’s causing our kids to make sure, day in and day out, that we bring it.”
The Scots brought it to Sumner Academy Friday, with a running clock the only thing that kept them from blowing past the 100-point mark.
Senior Mikey Williams scored 21 points in Friday's 95-53 Highland Park win over KC-Sumner. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Highland Park senior Isaiah Kelley scored 16 points in Friday's 95-53 win over KC-Sumner. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Jacorey Robinson tossed in 30 points while missing just five shots from the field. Mikey Williams scored 21 and Isaiah Kelley added 16.
Senior Da'Mykel Hales scored 15 points on five 3-pointers in Friday's 95-53 Highland Park win over KC-Sumner. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Dropping in five 3-pointers for 15 points was senior Da’Mykel Hales, who transferred to Highland Park after playing three seasons at Topeka High.
“I felt like (Highland Park) was a better fit and better for my career,” Hales said. “They brought me in and treated me well. They gave me a role and helped me to get better every day.”
- Details
By NICHOLAS GAINEY
Special to TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights boys basketball coach Ken Darting picked up the 600th win of his illustrious career as the Thunderbirds ran past Kansas City-Turner 85-33 on a special Friday night at Shawnee Heights.
Veteran Shawnee Heights basketball coach Ken Darting picked up his 600th career coaching win Friday night in a UKC win over KC-Turner. [Photo by Nichols Gainey/Special to TSN]
The hosts found themselves in an early hole after an opening 3-pointer from Turner’s Jaron Cheatom and a layup from Mekhi Follick, but the T-Birds rattled off 20 straight points to take control of the contest.
Shawnee Heights forced nine turnovers from the visitors in the first quarter, leading to easy baskets at the offensive end.
The T-Birds also crashed the offensive glass, with Cam Ross cleaning up a miss with a putback layup as time expired to give the hosts a 22-8 lead after eight minutes of play.
The Thunderbirds continued their offensive hot streak in the second quarter, starting the frame with a three-point play from Jaret Sanchez.
Shawnee Heights used a balanced attack, as six different players found the scoresheet in the 25-point period. After taking a 47-21 lead at half, the T-Birds put the contest out of reach in the third quarter with an offensive showcase, including an 18-point quarter from Sanchez.
The senior big man caused problems inside and out for the Golden Bears, knocking down three triples and throwing down two fastbreak dunks in the period as Shawnee Heights took a 76-28 lead after three quarters.
As the clock wound down in the fourth quarter, the crowd began to celebrate Darting’s accomplishment. With less than a minute to play, each member of the Shawnee Heights student section held up a “600” sign and chants of “600!” filled the gym.
Sanchez led the T-Birds with 31 points on 12 of 17 shooting, going a perfect 4 for 4 from the charity stripe. Ross added 16 points while Deacon Pomeroy chipped in 12 points and five rebounds. Da’Quan Lee put up 10 points off the bench.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Highland Park girls were a little slow to shake off the effects of Thursday’s 71-22 drubbing at the hands of Wichita Life Prep. But the Scots eventually got it going Friday and pulled away from Meadowlark Conference rival Sumner Academy, 57-38.
Sophomore Pearmella Carter tied for game-high scoring honors with 16 points in Friday's 57-38 Highland Park home win over KC-Sumner. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Scots stumbled out of the gate Friday, going scoreless for the first three minutes. Trailing 5-0, they got off the mat to take an 11-10 advantage at the end of the period. They used a 15-2 run to close the second quarter, leading 32-21.
From there, the Scots used defense and a dominant fourth quarter by sophomore Pearmella Carter to shut down the Sabres.
“We kind of had a slow start,” said coach Rob Brown. “But they buckled down and did what we’ve been preaching to them -- getting the ball moving from side to side, being patient with the ball, not turning it over and finding open teammates, making shots and finishing plays.”
Carter finished with 16 points to lead the Scots, followed by Tahtionna Broils with 14. Majesty Grace came off the bench to spark the Scots with three 3-pointers and 11 total points.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden took control in the fourth quarter to take a 42-33 Centennial League road win at Washburn Rural Friday night, wrapping up the league championship.
Hayden senior Millie Ramsey (left) scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in Friday's 42-33 Centennial League win over Washburn Rural while sophomore Maddie Vickery (right) led the Junior Blues with 12 points. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
No. 2-ranked (Class 4A) Hayden bounced back from a league loss at Manhattan on Monday while improving to 16-2 overall and 8-1 in the league while No. 5-ranked (6A) Washburn Rural fell to 13-5, 6-2 as the Wildcats finished off a season sweep over the Junior Blues.
"Monday when we played Manhattan, that was a really frustrating game,'' Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said. "We didn't seem to have much energy and just couldn't get over the hump. So this week in practice we just emphasized absolutel intensity defensively and on the glass and then try to get into our offense and run stuff because Manhattan was just kind of running up and down the court like we were playing a pickup game.
"Tonight we needed to get into our offense and get the ball inside and we did.''
Freshman Hailey Schmidtlein (2) scored eight points and went four for four at the free throw line in Hayden's 42-33 win over Washburn Rural. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Millie Ramsey, a 6-foot senior, posted a double-double with game-high totals of 17 points and 14 rebounds while Hailey Schmidtlein, a freshman, and senior Brylee Meier added eight points apiece for the Wildcats.
"This win was super huge,'' Ramsey said. "It was a good win and I'm proud of everybody. I'm really proud of our freshmen (Schmidtlein and Blakely Walter). They really stepped up.''
