By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Veteran Topeka West boys basketball coach Rick Bloomquist was not happy after Tuesday's loss at Seaman -- not so much because of the loss to a good Viking team, but because of how the Chargers played in that loss.
Bloomquist's smile was back Friday night, however, after West bounced back with a 68-41 Centennial League romp over rival Topeka High on the Chargers' home court.
"That's what I expected and it was a good recovery game for us,'' Bloomquist said. "I thought they reacted well to the loss. I think that was the key to this game, that they reacted to the beating they took at Seaman.
"That's what you want to see out of your kids, what kind of character they're going to have. I'm very happy about how they approached this game.''
Topeka West senior Elijah Brooks had 29 points and five dunks in Friday's 68-41 win over Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High, which fell to 0-4 overall and 0-3 in the league, led four times in the early going, the last time at 9-8, but Charger senior Elijah Brooks put West ahead to stay with a bucket at the 2:38 mark and added back-to-back breakaway dunks at the end of the quarter to put his team in command, 19-9.
Brooks started the second quarter with another slam and added yet another dunk later in the quarter as part of a 21-point first-half scoring burst as Topeka West (2-1, 2-1) opened up a huge 42-25 halftime advantage.
Brooks registered his fifth dunk of the night at the start of the second half and finished his night with game-high totals of 29 points and seven rebounds.
Topeka West continued to pour it on the Trojans with a 24-9 third quarter to take a 66-34 lead and a running clock was used throughout the fourth quarter.
Juniors Xavier Alexander and Sincere Austin joined Brooks in double figures for the Chargers, adding 12 and 11 points.
Topeka High senior Matt Flenoy (15) scored 10 points in the Trojans' 68-41 loss at Topeka West Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Matt Flenoy led Topeka High with 10 points, the lone Trojans with more than six points.
The Trojans struggled with West's pressure all night, committing 21 turnovers.
Topeka West will return to action next Tuesday, traveling to Shawnee Heights to face the 3-0 T-Birds in a non-league contest, while Topeka High will play at Emporia.
TOPEKA WEST BOYS 68, TOPEKA HIGH 41
Topeka High 9 16 9 7 -- 41
Topeka West 19 23 24 2 -- 68
Topeka High (0-4, 0-4) -- Thrasher 1-2 0-0 2, Lyons 1-5 0-1 2, Nolte 2-4 0-0 5, Flenoy 5-7 0-3 10, Canady 1-8 3-4 5, Mays 0-0 0-0 0, Cameron 2-2 1-2 5, Ambrose 0-1 0-0 0, Morales 3-3 0-0 6, Gomez 2-6 0-0 6. Totals 17-38 4-10 41.
Topeka West (1-0) -- Austin 4-11 2-2 11, Brooks 14-21 1-2 29, Berg 1-1 0-0 2, Alexander 5-12 0-0 12, Putthoff 2-7 5-8 9, Reimer 0-1 0-0 0, Bearman 1-1 0-0 2, C Foy 1-1 0-0 3, Sowell 0-1 0-0 0, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Noonoo 0-0 0-0 0, J. Foy 0-0 0-0 0, Wilkerson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-56 8-10 68.
3-point goals -- Topeka High 3 (Gomez 2, Nolte), Topeka West 4 (Alexander 2, Austin, C. Foy) Total fouls -- Topeka High 17, Topeka West 16. Fouled out -- none.
