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Topeka High girls roll early, avenge double-digit loss to Wildcats with 59-47 romp
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High girls basketball took control early Tuesday night and never looked back, avenging an earlier 11-point Centennial League loss to Hayden with a 59-46 league romp past the Wildcats at The Dungeon.
Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton scored a game-high 23 points in Tuesday's 59-47 Topeka High win over Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Trojans, who topped the .500 mark for the first time this season, only trailed once on the night, at 3-2, and there was just one tie, at 6-6, before Topeka High, now 9-8 overall and 4-2 in the league, scored the final eight points of the opening quarter to go up 14-6.
Topeka High went on to open up a 14-point advantage (27-13) before Hayden (13-5, 4-2) scored the final seven points of the half to cut its deficit to 27-20.
But the Trojans scored the first four points of the third quarter to got back in front by double-digits and led by 14 twice before taking an 11-point (45-34) advantage at the end of the third quarter and led by as many as 17 early in the fourth.
"It's always nice to get a good start,'' Topeka High coach Ron Slaymaker said. "Every coach would say that, but if you don't you don't fold your tent, but it's nice to get it and I thought we played with energy and all the things you want to play with in any game.
"And we just kept it going, pretty much through the whole game.''
Sophomore Hailey Caryl (40) scored 15 points Tuesday as Topeka High improved to 9-8 with a 59-47 win over Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton paced the Trojans with a game-high 23 points while sophomore Hailey Caryl added 15 points as all seven Topeka High players that saw action cracked the scoring column as High won its third straight game.
"They're playing really well right now,'' Slaymaker said.
Sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein led Hayden with 14 points in Tuesday's 59-47 loss at Topeka High. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein overcame a slow start to lead the Wildcats with 14 points while senior Ella Foster and sophomore Blakely Walter added 11 each.
Foster helped keep the Wildcats in the hunt with three 3-pointers while Schmidtlein and Walter both connected on two treys.
Topeka High will go on the road Thursday for a non-league game against Seaman, which handed the Trojans a 75-60 loss in the final round of the Capital City Classic on Jan. 31.
Hayden will return to action Friday with a Centennial League game at Emporia.
TOPEKA HIGH GIRLS 59, HAYDEN 47
Hayden 6 14 14 13 -- 47
Topeka High 14 13 18 14 -- 59
Hayden (13-5, 4-2) – Walter 4-9 1-2 11, Schmidtlein 5-12 2-2 14, Foster 3-5 2-2 11, Huscher 0-2 0-0 0, Watts 0-1 0-0 0, Wichman 1-1 0-0 2, Mitchell 0-4 1-2 1, Borjon 1-3 0-0 3, Connell 2-7 1-2 5. Totals 16-44 7-10 47.
Topeka High (9-8, 4-2) – Short 3-4 0-0 6, Marshall 1-3 0-0 2, Rayton 8-21 6-7 23, Caryl 6-7 2-4 15, Gotru 2-3 2-2 6, Triplett 1-2 1-1 3, Whayne 1-2 1-2 4. Totals 22-42 12-16 59.
3-point goals – Hayden 2 ( ), Topeka High 4 (Rayton 2, Marshall, Short). Total fouls – Hayden 6, Topeka High 9. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
Hayden boys hold off Topeka High late for 64-59 Centennial League road win
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For three quarters Tuesday night at Topeka High, Hayden's boys basketball team played as well as it has in Dwayne Anthony's two seasons at the school.
Senior Connor Hanika scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Hayden's 64-59 Centennial League win at Topeka High Tuesday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And over the final seven minutes or so, the Wildcats gave their coach plenty of things to address when they return to practice.
But after letting a 21-point advantage early in the fourth quarter get down to a one-possession game in the closing seconds, Hayden escaped with a 64-59 Centennial League sweep over Topeka High, with the Wildcats completing a season sweep over the Trojans.
"It got crazy, thank God for timeouts,'' Anthony said. "My guys are just learning how to play basketball, and I mean at a level that we want to play. And it doesn't always look pretty.
"We did good for the first three quarters and then that fourth quarter we get a little shaky, then the intensity comes up, and we've got to go back and talk about it tomorrow and just to continue to level up.''
Hayden, which had taken a 16-point win over the High earlier in the season, took it to the Trojans again in the rematch, with the Wildcats never trailing en route to improving to 9-9 overall and 2-4 in the league.
But after using a 20-9 second quarter to open up a 29-17 halftime behind a big 14-point, eight-rebound first half from senior Connor Hanika, Hayden boosted its lead to 21 points late in the third quarter and led 48-29 at the start of the final period.
"The guys came out and executed what we planned,'' Anthony said. "I tell the guys that it's a simple game, and when they embrace that and give their energy, it's a lot of fun for us.
"But sometimes the energy wanes or the though process wanes and that's where we have to get better.''
T-Bird girls dominate fourth quarter for 60-42 UKC win over Seaman
By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Trailing 37-36 after three periods, the Shawnee Heights girls exploded for a 17-0 run to pull away from guest Seaman 60-42 Tuesday. It was just the T-Birds’ second win over Seaman in the last 13 meetings.
Shawnee Heights junior Pearmella Carter scored 12 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter Tuesday as the T-Birds pulled away for a 60-42 UKC win over Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Fueling the decisive run was Shawnee Heights junior Pearmella Carter, who scored 12 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter. Carter hit all six shots she attempted in the crucial final period.
“We made a few slight adjustments on some things we were doing, and it opened some passing lanes and some driving lanes,” said Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells. “And then, all of a sudden, we were feeling a lot better about moving and catching and shooting, getting the ball inside to Pearmella. She did a great job. when she couldn’t muscle it up there, she kicked it out and then we started hitting some threes.
“You know how momentum goes. One person hits them. Then they all started smiling, and they all started hitting.”
The Vikings led by as much as seven points in the second period. The T-Birds clawed back to take the lead briefly in the third period, but Seaman clung to a lead going into the fourth quarter, thanks in large part to seven third-quarter points by Cara Beaton, who led the Vikings with 12.
Junior KK Emmot (1) scored 14 points in Shawnee Heights' 60-42 home UKC win over Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman has thoroughly dominated the rivalry for the past decade, a fact that made the win all the more enjoyable for the T-Birds.
“It’s huge,” Wells said. “I told the girls we could not take Seaman for granted no matter what their record was. They can really shoot the ball. You let them hit some threes and start feeling good about themselves. It took us a little fortitude to come back and really change things and make the game go a different way.”
Shawnee Heights juniors Pearmella Carter and KK Emmot both reached the 1,000-point milestone for their careers Tuesday at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
Carter’s huge fourth quarter led her past a milestone. Carter and fellow junior KK Emmot both eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for their careers Tuesday.
