By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Topeka West and Topeka High boys basketball faced off Friday night as the Trojans honored their class of three departing seniors in the team’s final home game of the season.
On the other side, having already wrapped up a Centennial League title, the Chargers played free in both team’s final game before sub-state action.
Topeka High senior Matt Flenoy scored 33 but it was not enough as the Trojans fell 73-46 to Topeka West, which extended its winning streak to 18 games.
Topeka West junior Xavier Alexander led a balanced Charger attack with 22 points in Friday's 73-46 Centennial League win over Topeka High. [File photo/TSN]
Topeka High senior Matt Flenoy scored a game and career-high 33 points in the Trojans' 73-46 Senior Night loss to Topeka West Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
“Obviously it is tough because it is Senior Night and it’s the last game they will play at Topeka High in their own gym but it’s not the last game of their career yet,” said Topeka High coach Ty Baumgardner. “(They are) good kids and worked hard, but we've still got the post-season.”
With the loss, the Trojans dropped to 4-16 on the year and 4-12 in league play while the Chargers move to 19-1 overall and 15-1 in the league.
After Topeka High quickly went up 4-3 Topeka West responded with a 17-0 run, with all of the points coming from senior Elijah Brooks and juniors Sincere Austin and Xavier Alexander.
“They got great awareness, their basketball IQs are really high,” Bloomquist said. “Obviously Elijah gets a lot of attention, but I've got a lot of pieces that go with him that play well.”
Flenoy scored six first-quarter points to pace the Trojans, though High still trailed 26-13 after one quarter.
Good ball movement from the Chargers continued in the second quarter with another strong offensive performance, led by Brooks and Alexander who had 15 and 11 first-half points, respectively.
“X, Xavier, he is just the quiet assassin,'' Bloomquist said. "You don’t know he is there and he just kills you. He played a great game.”
Topeka High had success offensively inside playing through Flenoy, who had 15 in the first half. Still Topeka West’s lead grew to as many as 22 before it went into halftime with a 44-25 lead.
“We had 11 turnovers in the first half and that led to I guarantee you at least 22 points if not more and we are down 19 at the half. So eliminate the turnovers and … we are not down by as big as we were” Baumgardner said.
In the third quarter, junior Malachi Berg scored seven quick points for the Chargers as the lead continued to grow. On the other end, Flenoy scored the first seven points for the Trojans to eclipse 20 for the game.
“That’s back-to-back games that we saw the Matt Flenoy we were hoping to see all year, but unfortunately injuries have kind of sidelined him his whole career,” Baumgardner said. “These last two games were pretty impressive and hopefully he can carry it into next week.”
Two steals and two scores in the final seconds, one each from Brooks and Austin, extended the West lead to 30 after three quarters.
Both sides took out most starters quickly in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach. Flenoy did stay in for Topeka High, finishing his final home game with a career-high in the 26-point West victoryas .
Scoring was even for the Chargers, with Alexander leading the way with 22 points and Austin not far behind with 20, as both players had four 3-pointers. Brooks finished with 17 and Berg added 10.
“This is why you coach, for games like this and the things that these guys are doing. I am happy for them and they work really hard,” Bloomquist said.
Flenoy’s 33 points came on an uber-efficient 14-17 shooting.
Both teams will await official assignments Saturday for the Class 6A and 5A sub-state tournaments beginning March 1.
TOPEKA WEST BOYS 73, TOPEKA HIGH 46
Topeka West 26 18 22 7 -- 73
Topeka High 13 12 11 10 – 46
Topeka High (4-16, 4-12) – Lyons 0-4 0-0 0, Mays 2-6 1-2 5, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Baumgardner 1-4 0-0 3, Norman 0-0 0-0 0, Ambrose 0-0 0-0 0, Thrasher 1-6 0-0 2, Flenoy 14-17 5-7 33, Derster 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Gomez 1-2 0-0 3, Kincade 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-41 6-9 46.
Topeka West (19-1, 15-1) – Austin 8-11 0-0 20, Robinson 0-0 2-2 2, C. Foy 0-1 0-0 0, Brooks 8-10 1-5 17, Sowell 0-2 0-0 0, Alexander 8-12 2-2 22, J. Foy 0-1 0-0 0, Berg 3-5 4-5 10, Putthoff 0-4 0-0 0, Noonoo 0-0 0-0 0, Reimer 0-0 0-0 0, Wilkerson 0-1 0-0 0, Bearman 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 28-48 9-14 73.
3-point goals – Topeka High 2 (Gomez 1, Baumgardner 1). Topeka West 8 (Alexander 4, Austin 4). Total fouls – Topeka High 13, Topeka West 12. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
