By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Despite playing short-handed, the Topeka West girls picked up their sixth win of the season by racing past Turner 63-30 Tuesday.
Junior Sydney VanDyke scored a game-high 25 points in Topeka West's 63-30 win over Turner Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Patience Allen scored 14 points in Topeka West's 63-30 win over Turner Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Charger coach Angie Ketterman dug even deeper into her program for players Tuesday as two injured seniors played to be recognized on Senior Night and others missed the game entirely.
Senior Breonnah Keeling made her first appearance for the Chargers since the season opener, in which she injured her knee. Wearing a brace, she received a pass off the opening tip and laid it in to get in the scorebook in her final game.
Addaline Hall, one of the team’s most productive players all season, also started the game to be recognized on Senior Night, then promptly checked out. Keeling said Hall has an injury that may prevent her from playing the rest of the season.
“It was good to get a win, but we have so many players injured right now,” Ketterman said. “We could only play with six tonight.
“It was good to see (Keeling) back on the floor tonight. She played two minutes against Highland Park and tore her ACL. So, it was nice to get her back out there to be recognized.”
The Chargers were led by junior Sydney VanDyke’s 25 points. Fellow junior Patience Allen added 14 on 7-11 shooting.
Freshman Aniyah Perkins scored 13 points in Topeka West's 63-30 win over Turner Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Kettering praised Aniyah Perkins, a freshman who stepped in and scored 13 points.
“She’s got great moves around the basket,” Kettering said of Perkins. “She’s aggressive and plays hard and she’s got a lot of speed.”
Kettering said she thought the players who played increased minutes Tuesday responded well. She expects to rely on the same mix of players in the regular-season finale Friday at Lansing.
“If we’re going to have to play these young kids (in the playoffs), it’s good to have one more game,” Kettering said. “Playing these young girls is only going to help us for the future. They’re great players. They’ve just got to get used to playing that fast-paced game.”
Allen said that although the team is digging deep for players, the Chargers expect to play hard and compete.
“We were just playing aggressive and playing as a team tonight,” Allen said. “It changes things a little bit (to be using new players), but we all practice together. I think they are a little bit nervous, but they know what they’re doing and they’re going to do good.”
TOPEKA WEST GIRLS 63, TURNER 30
Turner 8 11 9 2 -- 30
Topeka West 25 12 15 11 -- 63
Turner (3-18, 0-15) – Chavez 2-13 1-2 3, Olsen 1-6 0-0 2, Henderson 0-3 0-0 0, Benson 1-5 1-4 3, Ollie 4-11 2-6 10, Beery 1-1 0-0 2, High 0-0 0-0 0, Pollard 2-3 4-4 8. Totals 11-42 8-18 30.
Topeka West (6-16, 3-12) – Gonzales 2-15 0-0 5, VanDyke 9-13 7-13 25, Keeling 1-1 0-0 2, Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Kutina 1-7 0-0 2, Allen 7-11 0-3 14, Perkins 6-14 0-2 13, Traylor 1-4 0-0 2, Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-66 7-18 63.
3-point goals – Turner 0, Topeka West 2 (Gonzales, Perkins 1). Total fouls – Turner 12, Topeka West 12. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
