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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

By his own admission, Topeka High's Elisha Guest has been struggling with his 3-point shooting recently, and the 5-foot-7 senior guard got off to another tough start Tuesday night at Washburn Rural.

Topeka High celebrates Tuesday's 56-55 win at Washburn Rural. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]

But after that game-opening miss, Guest caught fire, scoring a game-high 25 points with seven 3s to lead Topeka High to a 56-55 win over the Junior Blues while High was able to clinch a winning regular-season record.

"My first shot was an air ball as everybody saw, but then I think I hit two or three in a row and I got rolling after that,'' Guest said.

"It's great to get it back. I've been struggling from the 3-point line but the rest of the team, they've kept my head up so I was able to hit a lot this evening.''

Topeka High's win was not secure until Rural senior John Hoytal's potential game-winning shot at the buzzer bounced around and out, but all that mattered to first-year High coach Robbie Sanders was that the Trojans found a way to pull out the victory after a five-point home loss to city rival Topeka West a night earlier.

"I told these boys that just look at my face and look at me from the beginning of the season until now, I've got a lot more gray hair and a lot less hair, but I'm happy we were able to find a way,'' Sanders said. "I think last night, even though we lost there were a lot more positives than negatives and just competing the way we did against Topeka West gave us a lot of confidence going into today.

"We started off strong and we had some lapses, but we were able to make enough plays in the end.''

Topeka High, now 12-11 overall and 5-5 in the league after winning just one game last season, led much of Tuesday's game, including an 18-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter and a 21-11 edge early in the second stanza.

But Washburn Rural (11-10, 4-5) battled back to take a 30-29 lead on a Brooks Ballard 3-pointer to end the first half and the game was tied 43-all at the start of the fourth.

Rural led 49-46 with five minutes remaining after a Zach Wright basket, but Topeka High scored seven straight points to go up 53-49 on a Jalen Aldridge trey and went in front 56-52 on a Guest 3.

Hoytal hit a 3-pointer to pull Rural within a point with 43.2 seconds left and Dominic Nimz came up with a steal with 20 seconds remaining to give the Junior Blues a change to pull out the win.

Washburn Rural missed a shot with 2.7 seconds on the clock, but Topeka High turned the ball over with two ticks left and Hoytal got a good look on his last-second miss.

Topeka High senior Bryson McComas backed Guest with 15 points while Aldridge had nine.

"It was a must win and 'E' really stepped up today, Bryson made some plays, Ajalon (Ross) got us started off hot after not being able to play yesterday because of illness,'' Sanders said. "I'm just happy with the guys.''

Washburn Rural senior John Hoytal scored 20 points in Tuesday's 56-55 loss to Topeka High. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Hoytal led Rural with 20 points while Ballard added 11.

Washburn Rural will close out its regular season Friday at home against Manhattan while Topeka High will await the postseason pairings.

 "We could potentially have a home game if things shake our way tonight and Friday,'' Sanders said. "If not we could potentially go to Wichita, but I think all the games and the teams that we could face will be pretty good competition but winnable games for us.''

TOPEKA HIGH BOYS 56, WASHBURN RURAL 55

Topeka High       18 11 14 13 -- 56

Washburn Rural   9 21 13 12 -- 55

Topeka High (12-11, 5-5) – Aldridge 2-6 3-4 9, Guest 9-14 0-0 25, McComas 5-12 3-4 15, Ross 2-4 0-0 5, McFadden 0-2 0-0 0, Carter 0-0 0-0 0, Wilkerson 0-0 0-0 0, Redmond 1-1 0-0 0, Luarks 0-1 0-0 0, Campbell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-40 6-8 56. 

Washburn Rural (?-?, ?-?) – Nimz 1-1 2-2 4, Ballard 5-11 0-0 11, Hoytal 7-11 4-5 20, Chooncharoen 1-3 0-0 2, Schmidt 2-5 0-0 4, Wright 3-5 0-1 6, O'Connor 3-6 1-1 8, Bradley 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-44 7-9 55.

3-point goals – Topeka High 12 (Guest 7, Aldridge 2, McComas 2, Ross), Washburn Rural 4 (Hoytal, Ballard O'Connor). Total fouls – Topeka High 10, Washburn Rural 10. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

With Topeka High's girls trailing Washburn Rural by eight points with six remaining Tuesday night, the Trojans' chance at a victory and any shot at a Centennial League championship looked pretty bleak.

Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton, shooting over Washburn Rural's Maddie Vickery (5), came up big down the stretch in Tuesday's 59-55 Topeka High win over Washburn Rural. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

But a 15-3 game-ending run, including the final seven points, turned things around in a hurry, with the Trojans rallying for a 59-55 win to earn at least a share of the league title while stretching their winning streak to nine games. 

"Defense,'' Topeka High coach Ron Slaymaker said. "We got a couple of interceptions there at a crucial time and we got the ball back and made the free throws and wow!

"From the get go we have emphasized defense. Defense is your offense and I think it maybe finally kicked in that we can score a lot of points if we're playing really good defense and the nine in a row here that's what's kicked in, that they've really bought in. We've been shooting high percentages, but a lot of it's been interceptions and layups and stuff like that.''

With Tuesday's come-from-behind victory, the Trojans, 15-8 overall and 8-2 in the Centennial League, now have a chance to win the league title if outright if Washburn Rural beats Manhattan Friday night at Rural.

"How about that?'' Slaymaker said. "This is not your chump change league and now we're yelling for Washburn Rural on Friday and that should be a good game.''

Tuesday's Rural-Topeka High game was close throughout, with Washburn Rural (15-7, 5-4) leading by two points after each of the first three quarters.

The Junior Blues opened the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run, taking a 52-44 lead with 6:23 remaining on a hoop from senior Hallie Walker.

But the Trojans fought back to tie the game at 52 on a Trish Short free throw with 4:23 left.

Then, after a 3-pointer from Washburn Rural junior Brooklyn Rutherford, Topeka High answered with a huge 3-pointer from junior star Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton to knot the game at 55 before senior Sasha Gotru put the Trojans ahead to stay with 1:29 left and Rayton clinched the win with two free throws.

Read more …

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.