By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
OK, so two wins in a row isn't much to brag about for a lot of basketball teams across the city and the Centennial League.
But for a Highland Park girls team that suffered through a winless campaign a year ago while barely having enough players to field a team, the Scots will take that modest streak as a big step forward.
After losing its first 13 Centennial League games of the season, Highland Park ended that drought with a win over Junction City last Friday and followed that up with a 47-36 Senior Night decision over Topeka West Tuesday night.
Highland Park's girls basketball team celebrates at the end of Tuesday's 47-36 Centennial League win over Topeka West on Senior Night at Hi Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"I'm loving it, it can never be better than right now, being with my team and having a full set of players and even getting a water break now and then,'' said Scots senior standout Aisya Taylor, who led all scorers with 15 points. "It feels good having that team, having that bonding, having that chemistry that we can have not only on the court, but outside.''
Highland Park senior Aisya Taylor scored a game-high 15 points in the Scots' 47-36 Centennial League win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"Getting these two league wins for these (three) seniors was big, especially Aisya Taylor,'' Highland Park coach Rob Brown said. "She's been through a lot these last four years, so it was big for us to get that win for her.''
Highland Park, which improved to 4-15 overall and 2-13 in the league, led most of the night and took control with an 18-9 second quarter, building a 28-16 halftime advantage.
The Scots still led by 12 (35-23) at the start of the fourth quarter, but had to fight through a Topeka West rally before regaining control.
Five straight points by Topeka West sophomore Zoe Clark but the Chargers' deficit to 35-30 with 6:42 remaining, but Highland Park answered with a five-point run of its own to build its lead back to double-digits.
The Scots went on to take a13-point lead (45-32) on a Taylor 3-pointer with 1:35 left and West (2-17, 2-13) got no closer than nine the rest of the way.
Sophomore Victoria Reed added 11 points, freshman Amelia Ramsey 10 points and senior Atiya Gonzales eight for Highland Park.
"I think we played well,'' Brown said. "We came out and did everything we worked on practice -- taking care of the ball, finishing quarters the right way and holding a team to single-digit quarters again and trying to get double-digit quarters outselves and get points up. We did all that.''
Junior Azaryah Duncan and Clark both scored 11 points for Topeka West while freshman Rebecca Bearman added eight points.
Highland Park will host Washburn Rural on Friday in its regular-season finale while West will play at Topeka High.
HIGHLAND PARK GIRLS 47, TOPEKA WEST 36
Topeka West 7 9 7 13 -- 36
Highland Park 10 18 7 12-- 47
Topeka West (2-17, 2-13) -- Sanchez 1 0-2 3, Duncan 4 2-2 11, Clark 3 3-4 11, Ford 0 1-2 1, Bearman 3 2-2 8, Mays 1 0-0 2, Foster 0 0-0 0, Benson 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 8-12 36.
Highland Park (4-15, 2-13) -- Gonzales 3 0-0 8, Reed 4 3-6 11, Nunez 0 0-2 0, Taylor 6 1-2 15, Ramsey 4 0-0 10, Parker-Brown 0 1-3 1, White 0-0 0-0 0, Sanders 1 0-0 2, White 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 5-13 47.
3-point goals -- Topeka West 2 (Hatcher 2), Highland Park 6 (Gonzales 2, Taylor 2, Ramsey 2). Total fouls -- Topeka West 19, Highland Park 12. Fouled out – none.
