By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High boys basketball was faced with two tests in Friday night's Centennial League home matchup with city rival Washburn Rural.
Senior Elisha Guest scored 14 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter as Topeka High edged Washburn Rural, 68-67. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Trojans' first test was finding a way to rally from a double-digit deficit late in the first half to get back in the hunt.
Then, after battling all the way back to lead by six points late in the game, the task facing the Trojans was holding off the Junior Blues down the stretch.
Robbie Sanders' Topeka High team passed both those tests, holding on for a hard-fought 68-67 win at "The Dungeon.''
"It's a resilient bunch of guys,'' Sanders said. "Like I told them in the locker room, I'm just so proud of them. We had every opportunity to quit when things weren't going our way. I wasn't happy with the body language or the effort in the first half. I challenged them at halftime and they really responded.
"These kids are starting to believe they can beat anybody. And that's all I've been waiting on because I believe in their talent, I believe in the work we've put in, and we have good players so if they just keep believing and keep trusting each other we can keep this streak going.''
Now 10-6 overall and 3-2 in the league, Topeka High trailed by 11 points (29-18) late in the first half and eight points (29-21) at the break and still faced an eight-point deficit (38-30) with two and a half minutes left in the third stanza and by six (46-40) in the fourth before rallying to take a 64-58 advantage inside the final two minutes.
But the game still went down to the final seconds, with the Junior Blues, trailing by three points, forcing a Topeka High turnover to give themselves an opportunity to force overtime, but Rural ran out of time as the Trojans were able to run out the clock after a Simon Rowley driving layup that cut the Blues' deficit to the final margin.
Senior Bryson McComas (4) scored a game-high 22 points Friday as Topeka High edged Washburn Rural, 68-67. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seniors Bryson McComas, Jalen Aldridge and Elisha Guest combined for 59 of the Trojans 68 points, with McComas scoring a game-high 22 points, Aldridge 19 and Guest 18 for High.
Guest came up huge in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 of his 18 points in the final 7:41 of the game, including three 3-pointers and a five of five performance at the free throw line.
"I've been battling a sickness for awhile,'' Guest said. "I've been coughing and my coughing's messing with me, so I just had to push through it.
"My teammates believed in me, so I was able to help us come in clutch and win the game.''
Senior Simon Rowley led Washburn Rural with 19 points in Friday's 68-67 loss to Topeka High. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Rowley, who returned for the Junior Blues after missing multiple games with an injury, led Rural (9-7, 2-2) with 19 points off the bench while 6-foot-10 junior Cooper Schmidt had a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, sophomore Brooks Ballard 12 points and senior Kieffer O'Connor and junior Zach Wright 10 apiece.
Washburn Rural suffered its second one-point heartbreaker in three nights, dropping a 55-54 home loss to Blue Valley on Wednesday.
The Junior Blues will travel to Manhattan on Tuesday while Topeka High will be back at home to face Hayden.
TOPEKA BOYS 68, WASHBURN RURAL 67
Washburn Rural 15 14 11 27 -- 67
Topeka High 12 9 17 30 -- 68
Washburn Rural (9-7, 2-2) – Ballard 3-7 5-7 12, Wright 5-8 0-0 10, O'Connor 3-6 4-4 10, Chooncharoen 0-2 0-0 0, Schmidt 7-11 0-0 14, Rowley 7-15 4-4 19, Nimz 1-2 0-0 2, Bradley 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 26-55 13-15 67.
Topeka High (10-6, 3-2) -- Aldridge 6-10 5-8 19, Guest 5-12 5-5 18, McComas 9-17 2-2 22, Ross 2-3 2-2 7, McFadden 0-3 0-0 0, Carter 1-3 0-0 2, Redmond 0-0 0-0 0, Luarks 0-2 0-0 0, Campbell 0-4 0-0 0, Villegas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 14-16 68.
3-point goals – Washburn Rural 2 (Ballard, Rowley), Topeka High 8 (Guest 3, Aldridge 2, McComas 2, Ross). Total fouls – Washburn Rural 14, Topeka High 15. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- McComas.
