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No. 4-ranked Chargers ride dominant first three quarters to 71-57 win over No. 2 Vikings
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West boys basketball coach Christian Ulsaker wasn't happy that his team was outscored 23-6 by Seaman in the fourth quarter of Friday's United Kansas Conference game.
Topeka West senior Keimani Paul scored 15 first-half points in the Chargers' 71-57 UKC road win over No. 2-ranked Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"I told them that fourth quarter's going to give me nightmares tonight,'' Ulsaker said. "I wasn't overly pleased with it and I said, 'Guys, when you come off the bench you guys are not just role players you're part of this team and we've got to make sure we finish the game where we started.'
"But I was pretty happy with the game other than that.''
And thanks to a dominant performance by the Chargers over the first three quarters, the finish was little more than a coaching talking point as No. 4-ranked Topeka West stayed unbeaten with a decisive 71-57 road win over No. 2-ranked Seaman.
Topeka West, now 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the UKC, never trailed on the night after exploding out of the gate with a 30-point opening quarter to take command at 30-11.
The Chargers hit about everything they put up over the first eight minutes, including four 3-pointers.
"We were shooting about 70 percent from the field over the first two games and I said, 'That's pretty unrealistic to maintain,' but I think after watching the film we might still be shooting 70 percent from the field,'' Ulsaker said.
The Chargers' pace slowed down somewhat in the second quarter, but West outscored the Vikings 15-10 to take a huge 45-21 advantage to the locker room at the half as seniors Keimani Paul and Malakyah Duncan combined for 25 points.
West continued to pour it on in the third quarter, leading by as many as 33 points and forcing a running clock over the final eight minutes with a 65-34 advantage.
Gragg powers No. 7-ranked Viking girls to 45-26 UKC win over Chargers
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
As a three-time All-Shawnee County first-teamer and by far Seaman's most experienced player, a lot is expected out of Maddie Gragg.
And the senior star delivered in a big way Friday night, posting game-high totals of 24 points and 16 rebounds to power the No. 7-ranked Vikings to a home 45-26 United Kansas Conference victory over Topeka West.
Seaman senior Maddie Gragg scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in Friday's 45-26 UKC win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"I had a talk with her about what a senior leader needs to do and that's what she needs to do,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "I told her after the game, she played hard on both ends of the floor. She played a full game today, and other girls stepped up, too.''
Topeka West, 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the UKC, jumped out to an 8-5 first-quarter lead, but the Vikings used a 12-2 second quarter to take a 17-10 halftime advantage and continued to pad their advantage in the second half en route to improving to 2-1 overall and in the conference.
Seaman opened up an 11-point advantage (29-18) lead at the end of the third stanza and led by as many as 24 points in the fourth on the way to the 19-point win.
Tinsley said the Viking were trying to play at too frantic of a pace offensively in the first half, but got things under control as the game wore on.
"The first half, I told the girls on a scale of one to 10 our offensive pace was 12 out of 10,'' Tinsley said. "We were highway driving in the city. We were running stop signs, we were hitting parked cars, we were all over the place.
"I threw out that we needed to play at a six or seven out of 10 and slow down the pace down a little bit and be strong with it and you saw that in the second half. We were more in control and our defense and rebounding, that was 12 out of 10. We got after it, and I was really proud of that.''
Cair Paravel girls roll to 39-12 win over Heritage Christian
By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The Cair Paravel girls matched their win total for all of last season Friday, following up their Waverly Tournament title with a 39-12 romp past Heritage Christian School.
Sophomore London Backman led Cair Paravel with 18 points in Friday's 39-12 win over Heritage Christian. [Photo by Barry Benteman/Special to TSN]
The Lions defeated Waverly and Northeast Kansas Homeschool in the last weekend’s tournament, falling to Burlingame, but winning the event based on defensive points allowed.
“It was a great way to start the year. It got us all pumped and we’re holding that to keep us going,” said sophomore London Backman, who led the Lions with 18 points against Heritage. “I’m so excited for this season to keep on growing.”
The tournament championship was a big accomplishment for a team that didn’t have enough players to practice five-on-five a year ago. The Lions’ roster now consists of 14 players, seven of whom are freshmen.
“Last year we only had six, maybe eight girls, and we were still a strong team. We just struggled with (not having) many people on the bench,” said Backman. “Now it really helps with all that support.”
Backman dropped four three-pointers and directed the offense from the point. Nine Lions got into the scoring column Friday.
“Having the numbers on the bench is so helpful, just having more voices, cheering each other on, just that camaraderie,” said Cair Paravel coach Jayley Barkley. “We have a lot of freshmen, so it is super cool to see almost all of those freshmen got in tonight. It’s just fun to see the joy on their faces. Even when they don’t get in, the encouragement they give on the bench is huge.”
