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Jones powers Highland Park to 62-11 Senior Night rout over Sumner
By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Senior Night at Highland Park Friday belonged to Koralee Jones.
Senior Koralee Jones scored 30 points in Friday's 62-11 Highland Park Senior Night win over Kansas City-Sumner. [File photo/TSN]
With three seniors playing their final home game against Meadowlark Conference foe Kansas City-Sumner and the Lady Scots riding a three-game losing streak, the message was clear.
“This is my final home game and we are going to win,” Jones, known as CoCo, said before tipoff.
Highland Park took control early against the Sabres and went on to post a 62-11 victory as Jones poured in 30 points.
KC-Sumner struck first, but that would be its only early highlight as Highland Park responded with a dominant 22-5 run to close the first quarter, sparked by Jones’ 11 points.
Feeding off the energy in the gym, the senior guard set the tone on both ends of the floor.
“It being Senior Night, I had a lot of family coming out tonight,” said Jones. “With it being the last home game of the season, I wanted to play my hardest for everybody.''
The second quarter was even more lopsided.
Highland Park’s defense completely overwhelmed Sumner, holding the Sabres scoreless in the period.
The Lady Scots combined relentless pressure with disciplined play, never allowing KC Sumner to find a rhythm.
“It was big, just the girls responding,” said Highland Park coach Rob Brown. “We had a couple rough ones coming into this game. We’ve been on the other end of that situation. But it’s about coming in locked in and not getting loosey-goosey and playing bad basketball.
"I commend them for coming out, especially in the second quarter, and playing defense the right way without fouling.”
Meanwhile, Jones kept attacking. She poured in 13 more points in the second quarter alone, giving her 24 by halftime and pushing the Scots to a commanding 47-5 lead at the break.
“CoCo, I’ve been saying the whole year — she’s an athlete,” Brown said. “When she’s going in for those layups, you think she’s about to dunk that thing. She’s just an athlete. I’m happy to be able to coach her. I wish I had her longer. Three years went by fast with her.”
The Lady Scots maintained control in the second half, outscoring Sumner 10-4 in the third quarter to trigger a running clock in the fourth. Highland Park added a 5-2 edge in the final period to secure the 51-point victory.
Seaman girls can’t snap losing streak, fall to league rival Basehor-Linwood, 57-48
By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
It’s been tough sledding for Seaman girls basketball as of late, with the Vikings losing five straight and seven of their last eight after dropping a 57-48 United Kansas Conference home decision to Basehor-Linwood Friday night.
“Sometimes it's hard when you keep score to see progress,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "We played them a month ago and they ran us out of the gym and here we are, we played so much better. We see that growth but the scoreboard doesn’t show that when you look at wins and losses.
"We battled, we didn’t lose that game because we didn’t have gas left in the tank, we gave them everything we had. If we get a couple of 50/50 balls or a couple of things bounce our way, it’s a different ball game. They just made a few more plays than we did.''
Senior Maddie Gragg got Seaman on the board first with a triple but Basehor-Linwood was hot from three in the first quarter, taking a 10-7 lead. Junior Cara Beaton helped the Lady Vikes reclaim the lead at 11-10, but that was the last time Seaman would lead in the first half.
Seaman had it tied at 14 until Sarah McKnight drilled a trey in the right corner at the buzzer to take a 17-14 lead into the second quarter.
The Bobcats grew their lead to 21-14, which was trimmed to four off a Brynn Spencer three and got it down to three from another Gragg triple (23-20), but then Basehor-Linwood’s full court press gave Seaman fits.
A last-second layup from Gragg had the Lady Vikes down seven (30-23) heading into halftime.
“We went from a team that handed teams Christmas presents to taking care of the ball and that gives us a chance,” Tinsley said. “I told the girls after the game, 'I’ve seen this movie before.' We had a team in 2021, kind of the same thing -- struggled a little bit, had to fight a little bit, scratch and claw -- but we got better as the season went on and they call it March Madness for a reason.
"I still believe we haven’t reached our peak yet and we’re going to get there.”
Seaman boys ride 3-point shooting past Basehor-Linwood, 60-43
By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Seaman's boys basketball team bounced back from a Tuesday night loss Friday on their home floor, with seniors KaeVon Bonner and Landon Wiltz combining for 41 points in the Vikings' 60-43 United Kansas Conference win over Basehor-Linwood.
“It was really nice to see Landon knock down some shots,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "As soon as he hit the first his confidence just built and it was game on for him. KaeVon did what he does, goes and gets you baskets. I was really pleased with that part and our defense was outstanding in the first half. To give up just 14 points was very solid.''
Fifteen of the Vikings' first 21 points came from 3-pointers as Wiltz had three threes in the first quarter, helping Seaman build a 15-6 advantage and lead 15-8 after the quarter. Wiltz finished with 15 points.
“Finally started to hit them. I’ve struggled a little bit from three the last couple of games, so seeing one go down actually felt pretty good,” Wiltz said.
Then Bonner caught fire, hitting two 3-pointers back-to-back as the Vikings led 21-10, forcing the Bobcats into a timeout.
Bonner then had a beautiful turnaround jumper fall and followed that up with a one-handed slam off a steal later in the quarter.
Seaman had a 15-point lead heading into halftime, 31-14.
In the third quarter, Bonner helped stretch Seaman’s lead to 20 (37-17) after a slow-moving quarter, but then the Bobcats cut it to 12 (37-25) forcing Cox to call a timeout. Seaman led 41-28 after three.
“When you have a big lead at the half, it’s trying not to give into getting comfortable and relaxed instead of staying focused, making the extra pass, making the better shot,'' Cox said. "We got a little loose with our passing and a little loose with our shot selection, but then they pulled it back together.''
In the fourth, Seaman would not relinquish the lead or let it fall within 10 points.
Senior Griffin Zuniga provided eight points and Bonner scored five straight, increasing the lead back to 18.
The Seaman advantage got to 20 (57-37), tied for its biggest lead of the night, as the Vikings nabbed win number 17.
Wiltz said as the playoffs approach, the Vikings have two things to focus on.
“Value possessions and not turn the ball over. We got to keep our defense up because we’ve been doing pretty well on that,” Wiltz said.
Bonner led all scorers with 26 points.
SEAMAN 69, BASEHOR-LINWOOD 43
Basehor-Linwood 8 6 14 15 – 43
Seaman 15 16 10 19 – 60
Basehor-Linwood (12-10) – Brown 3 3-4 9, Morrison 4 0-0 8, Elliot 1 0-1 2, Hutchinson 1 0-0 3, Young 5 2-2 14, Nixon 2 0-0 5, Peck 1 0-0 2
Seaman (17-4) – Wiltz 6 0-0 15, McConnaughey 1 1-2 3, Zuniga 3 2-2 8, Brain 1 1-2 3, Scholes 1 0-0 3, Esser 1 0-0 2, Bonner 11 0-0 26
3-point goals – Basehor-Linwood 4 (Young 2, Hutchinson 1, Nixon 1), Seaman 8 (Bonner 4, Wiltz 3, Scholes 1). Total fouls – Basehor-Linwood 6, Seaman 10. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
