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By NICHOLAS GAINEY
Special to TopSports.news
The Topeka West girls basketball team earned its first win of the 2024-2025 season with a 67-37 United Kansas Conference victory over Kansas City-Turner on Friday at West.
Junior Imani McGlory scored 16 points Friday in Topeka West's 67-337 UKC win over KC-Turner, pacing four Chargers in double figures. [File photo/TSN]
The Chargers jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, using defensive pressure to force turnovers from the Golden Bears.
Imani McGlory earned the first points of the contest by knocking down a shot from beyond the 33-point arc, while Addaline Hall added two layups to force a Turner timeout.
The strong Charger defense held the Golden Bears at bay for most of the first quarter, with the visitors only mustering one made field goal in the frame, giving Topeka West a 14-3 lead.
The Turner offense improved in the second quarter, scoring the first basket of the period on their way to a 10-point frame, but the Chargers’ Breonnah Keeling scored eight of her 13 points in the quarter to give the hosts a 28-13 halftime advantage.
Topeka West opened up the contest in the third quarter, out-scoring the Golden Bears 23-10 in the period.
McGlory started the second-half, scoring with a layup off an assist from Hall, while Teairra Gonzales knocked down two 3-pointers to extend the Charger lead.
Turner put together its best eight minutes of offense in the fourth quarter, with Kahlis Jones giving the Golden Bears the first field goal of the period.
Jones would go on to knock down a pair of 3-pointers in the quarter, but McGlory and Hall would add long-range shots of their own to help prevent a comeback attempt from the visitors.
Izzy Kutina chipped in a pair of free throws in the final seconds to secure the victory for the Chargers.
McGlory led Topeka West with 16 points on 6-11 shooting.
Gonzales added 15 points, while Hall and Keeling reached double figures with 13 points each.
Jerzey Hanna paced Turner with 16 points on 3-9 shooting, while going 9-18 from the free-throw line. Jones added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Golden Bears.
Topeka West returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 21 with a trip to Basehor-Linwood.
TOPEKA WEST GIRLS 67, KC-TURNER 37
Turner 3 10 10 14 -- 37
Topeka West 14 14 23 16 -- 67
Turner (0-6, 0-5) -- Boyd 1-3 0-0 3, Chavez 0-0 0-0 0, Henderson 0-0 0-0 0, Lopez 2-4 0-2 4, Ollie 2-7 0-0 4, Hanna 3-9 9-18 16, Jones 4-13 0-0 10, Mitchell 0-1 0-0 0, Rhodes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-37 9-20 37.
Topeka West (1-6, 1-6) -- Allen 0-2 0-2 0, Traylor 0-0 0-0 0, I. McGlory 6-11 0-0 16, VanDyke 1-4 1-4 3, Keeling 6-11 1-2 13, Hall 5-15 2-6 13, Gonzales 6-13 1-2 15, A. McGlory 2-8 0-0 5, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Kutina 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 26-65 7-18 67.
3-point goals -- Turner 4 (Jones 2, Boyd, Hanna), Topeka West 8 (I. McGlory 4, Gonzales 2, Hall, A. McGlory). Total fouls -- Turner 14, Topeka West 14. Fouled out -- VanDyke. Technical fouls - none.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Cair Paravel Latin boys withstood a furious fourth quarter rally by West Franklin Friday to hold off the Falcons to win on the Lions’ home floor, 71-67.
Senior Jase Pavlik scored 18 points to lead the way as Cair Paravel topped West Franklin 71-67 Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Cair Paravel coach Chip Kueffer and the Lions' bench react to a big play in Friday's 71-67 win over West Franklin. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Lions led by 17 with five minutes remaining, but had to hit free throws in the final couple of minutes to stave off the comeback.
The Lions improved to 4-5 on the season, 2-3 in the Flint Hills League. Cair Paravel had to replace eight players from last year’s squad and coach Chip Kueffer said the learning process is ongoing.
“It helped tonight that we were at home, for sure,” Kueffer said. “The way the game played out says a lot about our youth, because we were playing a lot of young guys, and it says a lot about our leadership. So, we were able to hold onto it. Ideally, you’d like to win that game by 20. But I think we learned more from it because we were able to win a close one.”
Providing leadership, as well as 18 points, Friday was senior guard Jase Pavlik. Juniors Caleb Cleverdon and Lucas Marichal added 12 and 10 points respectively.
Coming off the bench to combine for 20 points were freshmen Chase Hastert with 13 and Blaine Durbin with seven.
“These new guys, they’ve been in the system and they’re very skilled,” Pavlik said. “The thing I like about our team is we’re smart. But we’ve got to learn to play in pressure situations. Coach said we had four turnovers at half, and I think we ended up with like 18. After the game we discussed that we haven’t been in that scenario yet.”
“To lose eight guys at a small school, that’s tough,” the Lions’ second-year coach said. “It kind of feels like my first year again because of the new league, the new schedule, playing a lot of the teams for the first time.
“The kids love each other and that makes it easier, but we’re not playing well yet. Once we get it figured out, I think we can be good.”
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
OK, so Washburn Rural's 42-28 home Centennial League win over Emporia Friday night was far from pretty.
But it was exactly what Alex Hutchins' Junior Blues needed coming off a tough six-point loss to Blue Valley West on Tuesday.
Junior Simon Rowley (facing) scored 13 points to lead Washburn Rural in Friday's 42-28 Centennial League win over Emporia. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"We felt like we lost Tuesday because we let their physicality get the best of us,'' Hutchins said. "And this was quite the back-to-back test playing an Emporia team that kind of prides itself on being physical. So we really thought that this was kind of a judgement game for our guys.
"Were they going to respond to the challenge and step up and match the physicality or was it going to be an issue again? It wasn't pretty, but Emporia doesn't let anybody beat them pretty. We've got some guys who like to make shots and take pride in scoring but we can't have a bad taste in our mouth after an ugly win against a team that forces you to play ugly.''
Washburn Rural, which improved to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the league, never trailed on the night (there was one tie at 5-5) and didn't allow more than 10 points in a quarter and limited Emporia (4-3, 0-1) to eight or fewer points in three of the four periods.
Rural took a 14-10 first-quarter lead on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from senior Amare Jones and outscored the Spartans 12-4 in the second period to go up 26-14 at the half.
Back-to-back hoops from junior Simon Rowley and Jones to open the second half boosted Rural's lead to 30-14 and the Junior Blues went on to lead by 18 points twice in the quarter before taking a 38-22 advantage into the final eight minutes.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Looking at Friday's 55-24 final score it would appear that the fourth-ranked Washburn Rural girls had an easy time with Emporia.
But the winless Spartans got Rural's attention with a solid first-half performance and Junior Blues coach Kevin Bordewick got his team's attention by putting four starters on the bench for the bulk of the first quarter before the hosts took control over the final 17 minutes to improve to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the Centennial League.
Washburn Rural sophomore Maddie Vickery scored a game-high 17 points in Friday's 55-24 win over Emporia. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Kate Hinck scored 16 points and led Washburn Rural's defense in Friday's 55-24 win over Emporia. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Emporia, which fell to 0-7 and 0-2, jumped out to an 8-0 lead, including six early points in Friday's opening quarter, prompting Bordewick to make mass substitutions about two minutes into the game, with sophomore Brooklyn Rutherford the lone Junior Blue starter to stay in the game.
"They know better and we've talked about it,'' Bordewick said of the slow start. "We got off to a zero to eight start against Hayden on Friday and we talked all week about being the aggressor, being smarter with the ball, running your offense and we did none of what we had worked on in practice.
"I did think Brooklyn did what she was supposed to do and that's why she stayed and it was just the little things that she was doing that I didn't feel like the other four were. Above all, we're kind of known as a team that plays hard and we get that from how hard we work in practice. I thought we had really good practices this week and then it doesn't show up and that drives me insane, so obviously I'm the link that's not connecting the two and somehow I've got to figure out how to get that message across from the start.''
Emporia led 10-6 at the end of the first quarter and was still tied at 16-all with 1:06 left in the half before sophomore Maddie Vickery scored on a follow shot and junior Ella Hirchi hit a 3-pointer to give Rural a 21-16 halftime advantage.
The Junior Blues then scored the first 14 points of the second half and outscored the Spartans 22-5 in the third to take a commanding 43-21 advantage into the final stanza.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park sophomore girls basketball standout Pearmella Carter and Topeka West junior basketball standout Malakyah Duncan have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2024-2025 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Carter and Duncan over the past week:
Highland Park sophomore Pearmella Carter is the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency female Rising Star of the Week. [File photo/TSN]
PEARMELLA CARTER, Highland Park
Carter had 28 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals in a 70-22 Meadowlark Conference win over Kansas City-Schlagle on Monday and scored 23 points and grabbed 20 rebounds (13 offensive), with 3 assists and 3 steals in a 54-42 conference win over KC-Sumner on Tuesday as Highland Park remained unbeaten on the season.
Topeka West junior Malakyah Duncan has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency male Rising Star of the Week. [File photo/TSN]
MALAKYAH DUNCAN, Topeka West
Duncan had 14 points and hit the game-winning free throws in Tuesday's 59-57 come-from-behind 59-57 United Kansas Conference win at Seaman. Duncan had 7 points in a 71-38 win over Leavenworth on Monday for the Chargers, who are 4-2 on the season and eighth-ranked in Class 5A by the KBCA.
