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By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

It took three periods, but Shawnee Heights and Hayden finally shook off the rust accumulated over the holiday break, turning a snoozer into a thriller that the T-Birds won in the final seconds, 38-36, at Shawnee Heights Friday.

Junior KK Emmot scored a game-high 18 points in Friday's 38-36 win over Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Just one day after New Years, the Wildcats and T-Birds came out looking like they needed more practice, or more sleep. They struggled to a 20-20 tie after three quarters. But then the offenses got in gear. Hayden led 31-26 with 2:25 remaining. But then the T-Birds went on a 10-2 run to lead 36-33 with just seconds remaining.

Hayden sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein, frustrated into an inefficient shooting night, let fly a 3-pointer from about 25 feet that tied the game with 6.2 seconds remaining.

Shawnee Heights junior KK Emmot was not intimidated by the moment, however, but rather seized command of the game. Knowing the T-Birds were in the bonus, she took the inbounds pass and drove the length of the floor, drawing a foul with 2.9 seconds on the clock. Emmot calmly stepped to the line and sank both free throws, as she had twice earlier in the period. She scored nine of her 18 points in the final quarter to lead the T-Birds to their fourth victory of the season.

“Lucky enough for us, we hit some shots coming down the stretch,” Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. “Then (Schmidtlein) hit a big shot coming down the stretch when she hadn’t (shot well) from the perimeter all game. Kudos to her for stepping up and hitting that.”

Wells drew up a play to give Emmot a chance to decide the game.

“I thought we did a good job getting the ball where we wanted to get the ball, finding a way to get it into KK’s hands. She was definitely the first option,” Wells said. “She was just gonna take it and go do what she does.”

Emmot hit six of six free throws down the stretch and accounted for seven of the T-Birds’ final eight points. She said pressure does not bother her.

“I work good with pressure and stress. I don’t really care,” Emmot said. “I just know that if I start hustling, everyone else (takes) their energy from me. In the fourth quarter we just had to get going. I was screaming at everyone, ‘We have to get hyped!’ And then we just started hitting shots.”

“She works her tail off. I’m super proud of her,” Wells said of Emmot. “And all the girls, at some point in time, stepped up and hit shots, and that’s what we needed to happen. We just need to get where everybody is rolling at the same time. This is a fun group to watch.”

Hayden, ranked second in Class 4A in the most recent poll by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, struggled to get its offense in gear. Schmidtlein hit just 4-19 attempts from the field and finished with 16. Lauren Borjon added 11.

Wells said playing a game so early in January, with so little time to practice, contributed to the ragged performance by both teams.

“When you have four days to practice, where you’re trying to get your legs back and get your shot back, you can’t have both,” Wells said. “I think you saw that from both teams.”

“I think there’s some sickness going around,” Emmot added. “And you could tell (Hayden) was not in super great shape either. I think both of us were just playing with the same amount of hustle and everything. It was just no one could score. We were both pretty gassed.”

SHAWNEE HEIGHTS GIRLS 38, HAYDEN 36

Hayden                 8 8 4 16 -- 36

Shawnee Heights 5 9 6 18 -- 38

Hayden (6-2) – Schmidtlein 4-19 6-10 16, Foster 0-2 0-0 0, Huscher 0-0 0-0 0, Borjon 4-10 1-2 11, Watts 2-5 2-5 6, Walter 0-3 0-2 0, Connell 0-1 0-0 0, Mitchell 1-2 0-0 3, Wichman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-32 9-19 36.

Shawnee Heights (4-3) – Emmot 4-18 8-11 18, Schmidt 0-5 1-2 1, Carter 2-3 0-2 4, Baum 1-5 4-6 7, Vega 3-9 0-2 7, Brees 0-2 0-0 0, Hamilton 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 10-43 14-25 38.

3-point goals – Hayden 5 (Schmidtlein 2, Borjon 2, Mitchell 1), Shawnee Heights 4 (Emmot 2, Baum 1, Vega 1). Total fouls – Hayden 15, Shawnee Heights 15. Fouled out – Schmidt. Technical fouls – None. 

By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

Shawnee Heights' boys came out of the holiday break hitting on all cylinders, knocking off Hayden 79-60 at Shawnee Heights Friday.

Junior Cam Ross led all scorers with 28 points in Friday's 79-60 Shawnee Heights boys win over Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

A game between two teams looking to improve their fortunes in the new year went the way of the T-Birds, who got 30 first-half points from the high-scoring tandem of junior Cam Ross and senior Ja’Veon Alston. The T-Birds jumped out to a 19-5 lead in the first four minutes. By halftime, Shawnee Heights had an 18-point lead, which it stretched to 23 points early in the third period.

“I feel like we came out pretty strong,” Ross said. “We were coming out after a loss (to Topeka West) and I feel like we played a little harder, rebounded a little more. We’re not a very tall team, so we’ve got to get to the rebound more and be team players instead of individuals. When everybody’s contributing, the team just plays well.”

Shawnee Heights got 28 points from Ross and 19 from Alston. JaiMarion Cook and Aiden Scott each contributed nine points, and Quincey Dixon added seven. The T-Birds hit 27-53 field goals and 15-19 free throws. But they scuffled enough in the second half to give coach Ken Darting plenty to work on.

“Anytime you talk about negatives, there’s a thousand positives,” Darting said. “As a coach, what I see is what needs fixin’. So, no matter what happens, I’m not totally happy. But all I’m saying is, if we don’t get it fixed, we won’t be as good as we can be.”

The T-Birds evened their record at 3-3. Each of the three losses – to Piper, Manhattan and Topeka West – was by a margin of five points or fewer.

“We’re doing things hard enough and good enough that we’ve gotta stop ‘almost’ beating (our opponents),” Darting said. “We’ve got to beat them. We’ve got ourselves in position (to win against good teams) and that’s quite an accomplishment. So, we’ve got a bunch of kids playing their rears off, but our margin of error is a lot smaller than a (Topeka) West or a Piper or a Seaman.”

Hayden dropped to 3-5 on the season. The Wildcats were led by Connor Hanika with 20 points, Mason Becker with 17 and Carter Compton with 11.

SHAWNEE HEIGHTS BOYS 79, HAYDEN 60

Hayden                 13 13 13 21 -- 60

Shawnee Heights 26 18 16 19 -- 79

Hayden (3-5) – Mitchell 1-7 5-7 7, Hanika 8-13 4-10 20, Mason Becker 5-9 4-5 17, Kidd 1-3 0-2 2, Compton 3-8 4-4 11, E. Tourtillott 0-3 0-0 0, Wolff 1-2 0-0 3, Masqueda 0-0 0-0 0, Anthony 0-0 0-0 0, Max Becker 0-0 0-0 0, B. Tourtillott 0-1 0-0 0, McDonald 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-45 17-28 60.

Shawnee Heights (3-3) – Alston 8-13 1-1 19, Cook 3-8 0-0 9, Ross 11-18 2-2 28, Scott 3-4 2-2 9, Dixon 0-5 7-11 7, Campbell 1-3 0-0 2, Lee 0-1 2-2 2, Doby 0-1 0-0 0, Halloran 1-1 1-1 3, Vega 0-0 0-0 0, Terrell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-53 15-19 79.

3-point goals – Hayden 5 (Becker 3, Compton 1, Wolff 1), Shawnee Heights 10 (Ross 4, Cook 3, Alston 2, Scott 1). Total fouls – Hayden 17, Shawnee Heights 21. Fouled out – Campbell. Technical fouls – None.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

With the eight Topeka high schools now spread out over four different leagues, traditional city rivals don't get as many opportunities to play each other.

Robbie Sanders' Topeka High team got that chance Friday night at Highland Park and the Trojans took full advantage, riding a hot start to a 74-55 non-league win over the Scots.

Topeka High senior Bryson McComas had a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds in the Trojans' 74-55 win at Highland Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN] 

Topeka High senior Elisha Guest scored 15 points with three 3-pointers in Friday's 74-55 win over Highland Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

"I'm proud of these guys,'' said Sanders, a former Topeka High star. "This game means a lot to them and it means a lot to the community and it means a lot to the alumni of both schools and it means a lot to me and it means a lot to Nate (Wallace, Highland Park coach).

"I'm just really, really happy to get a win.''

Topeka High, now 3-3 on the season, blasted out of the gate for a 23-10 first-quarter advantage and never looked back.

The Trojans built a 42-23 halftime advantate and led 64-35 after three quarters before Highland Park (1-4) cut into its deficit with a 20-10 fourth quarter.

Senior Bryson McComas registered a double-double for the Trojans with 22 points and 10 rebounds while senior Elisha Guest added 15 points with three 3-pointers and freshman Jaxon Luarks chipped in with 10 points.

"I think we're making progress every day,'' Sanders said. "As long as we just keep chopping wood and we keep believing in each other and trusting each other, the sky's the limit for this team.

"We've got some talent, we've got some hungry guys and we're shooting the ball a lot better than I thought we would at this point. People had their eyes on this game and they wanted to see what we could do and they wanted to see what Highland Park could do. I'm just glad we played well.''

Junior JoJo Kingcannon paced Highland Park with 17 points while sophomore Davion Anderson added 10 points with three 3-pointers.

TOPEKA HIGH BOYS 74, HIGHLAND PARK 55

Topeka High    23 19 22 10  -- 74

Highland Park 10  13 12 20  -- 55

Topeka High (3-3) – Aldridge 3-11 0-1 8, Guest 4-8 4-4 15, McComas 9-14 4-4 22, McFadden 3 0-1 7, Ross 1-4 0-0 2, Arnold 0-1 0-0 0, Luarks 4-6 1-1 10, Villegas 0-0 0-0 0, Carter 4-6 0-0 8, Redmond 0-3 2-2 2, Ramirez 0-1 0-0 0, Humphrey 0-1 0-0 0, Harris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-64 11-13 74.

Highland Park (1-4) – Montgomery 1-6 0-0 3, Drew 3-8 1-2 8, Kingcannon 6-8 5-9 17, Anderson 3-12 1-4 10, Mitchell 1-3 0-0 2, L. McMillon 1-4 0-0 2, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Z. McMillon 6-6 1-2 13. Totals 21-47 8-17 55.

3-point goals – Topeka High 7 (Guest 3, Aldridge 2, McFadden, Luarks), Highland Park 5 (Anderson 3, Montgomery, Drew). Total fouls – Topeka High 18, Highland Park 16. Fouled out – Villegas.