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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
Looking at a game’s final score can be deceiving.
Clas 5A No. 1 Highland Park beating Sumner Academy 76-61 looks like business as usual for the Runnin’ Scots, but Highland Park coach Michael Williams will be the first to say that wasn’t the case, and that he’s happier it was so.
“(It was) for our own good … to have a test of character and see a couple of quarters where we are down,” Williams said. “To look them in the eye and get them thinking, doubting and worrying a little bit but also figuring out some character in some guys, too.”
Friday night was not the last home game of the season for Highland Park but it was Senior Night for the Scots’ senior class, which meant extra recognition for a group that has them at 17-0 heading into the final week of the regular season.
“They are program changers. We have been trending up and moving in the right direction over the last four to five years and this group of seniors took us to the next level, we leveled up this year,” Williams said. “They don’t only level up a team, they level up a school and a community and you get people behind us.”
The Scots will begin a busy final week at home against Harmon next Tuesday as coach Williams expects his roster to be back at full strength in time for sub-state.
“The beautiful part of the team is that we suit up 12 guys for a reason,” Williams said. “Other guys are able to step in and the show is able to go on and it has been good for growth and development of individual and group pieces overall.”
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Seaman completed its regular-season sweep over United Kansas Conference foe Basehor-Linwood on Friday night, edging the Bobcats, 43-42.
Although offensively, it wasn't Seaman's best performance the defense keyed the victory on the Vikings' home court.
In the fourth quarter, with a little over a minute to go, the defense didn't panic, holding its one-point lead.
The Vikings' defense did the job and held Basehor-Linwood standout Tyson Ruud without the game-winning hoop with 4.2 seconds remaining in the conference matchup.
"They got that opportunity in the end with their best player having a good look," Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "We got lucky that the last possession didn't go their way. (Ruud) only scored nine points against us the first time, so we tried to use that same gameplan of making him catch it a little further out, not letting him catch in rhythm, not letting him get a bunch of his back-cut dunk plays that he's capable of doing."
Luckily for Seaman (11-7, 8-6), they had its standout senior duo of Kaeden Bonner and Aron Davis on the court. Kaeden Bonner and Davis have battled their fair share of injuries and adversity this season, so having their production on the court means a lot to Cox and the Vikings.
"We've got to rely on them tremendously," Cox said. "They are combined averaging 31 points a game while as a team, we only average 54. So they are a large percentage of what we do, and when teams really start focusing on them, they are able to make the other guys better. They are both good passers, both unselfish, and they also understand that they have the responsibility to go get points for us."
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
The speculation going into Friday night's United Kansas Conference girls basketball matchup was that the contest between top-ranked (Class 5A) Seaman and Basehor-Linwood would be close due to this season's brief history.
But the result on Friday was the opposite, with Seaman rolling through Basehor-Linwood, 68-34.
Seaman's only loss of the 2022-2023 campaign was to Basehor-Linwood on Jan. 10, with the Bobcats prevailing in double overtime on its home court, 74-71.
"We came into this game a lot more focused," Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "The first time we played them, they outplayed us. They outhustled and outcoached us last game, too. I thought we played a focused game this time from the get-go. The unselfish play of our girls, making the extra pass and cranking it up defensively, helped us win."
Despite its overwhelmingly young core, Tinsley and the Vikings have been nothing short of impressive.
In the last two seasons, Seaman has only lost to 5A opponents twice in the regular season.
"I know it sounds cliche, but we are truly focused on one game at a time," Tinsley said. "We realize that there is a lot ahead of us. At this time of the year, you want to play your best. We want to be that team that is hot down the stretch. We are playing good team basketball, but we have more work to do, and that starts in practice."
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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
For a team without any seniors, Senior Night might lose its importance.
But for the Highland Park girls (14-3 overall, 9-0 league), they spent Friday night celebrating something else -- the Meadowlark Conference title.
The Lady Scots rolled past second-place Kansas City-Sumner Academy 68-38 to take the crown in their inaugural season in the conference.
“It was one of our goals coming into the year to win the league championship, so they did that and they are in the locker room partying and celebrating a little bit, but our main goal is to get to sub-state playing the right way when we get there,” said Highland Park coach Rob Brown.
Highland Park was led by sophomore Amelia Ramsey’s 22 points, but the young team got contributions up and down the lineup en route to an eighth straight victory.
“In that first five everybody was getting each other looks and we did a good job of doing that,” Brown said.
“It’s a good feeling (having a young team). I’m kind of bragging when I say that I have no seniors. I feel like people are surprised,” Brown said. “The future looks bright and we are going to get this thing rolling the right way.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Even though his Hayden boys basketball team had already beaten Topeka High twice by a total of 27 points, Wildcat coach Dwayne Paul reminded his players that they couldn't afford to take the Trojans lightly in Hayden vs. High Part III Friday night.
And except for a short stretch in the second half, Paul's Wildcats took that advice to heart, turning in a solid performance in a 55-44 Centennial League win on the Trojans' home court.
"That's a good team,'' Paul said of the Trojans. "I tell people all the time and I told the guys, 'Their record is not indicative of the kind of team they are.' Credit to coach (Geo) Lyons and those boys over there, they keep fighting, there's no quit in them.
"They have all my respect in the world.''
The Wildcats, who improved to 10-8 overall and 4-5 in the league, was locked in a 12-12 tie at the end of the first quarter but hit the Trojans (3-16, 0-9) with a 16-4 second quarter to take a 28-16 advantage into halftime.
Hayden boosted its lead to 15 points (35-20) on two Joe Otting free throws with 3:45 left in the third quarter, but Topeka High ended the stanza with a 14-4 run to cut its deficit to 39-34 at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Trojans continued to surge at the start of the final period, eventually getting within two points at 41-39 on two Mason Gomez free throws with 4:14 left.
Hayden righted its ship at that point, however, with senior Jake Muller scoring four straight points and junior Cooper Colboch draining his third 3-pointer of the night to push the Wildcats' lead back to 48-39.
"When you play a good team, a team that shoots the ball like they do, they're bound to make a run,'' Paul said. "You just hope that when they make a run that you can, (No.) 1 be ahead far enough or 2, weather the storm.
"We got back to playing great defense and making them make tough shots and, with the exception of probably that three and a half, four-minute spurt, I thought we played really good basketball.'' .
Muller, who scored all eight of his points over the final four minutes, went six of six from the free throw line over the last 3:31, including two charities with 25.4 seconds left to push Hayden's lead back to 13 points.
Otting was a force inside throughout the game, hitting 10 of 13 shots from the field and three of five free throws to finish with a game-high 23 points. The Notre Dame football signee also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Junior Isaiah Lyons led Topeka High with 18 points and junior Bryson Thrasher added 11 points but Hayden did a good job of keeping the Trojans' 3-point shooters in check, with High hitting just one trey on the night.
HAYDEN BOYS 55, TOPEKA HIGH 44
Hayden 12 16 11 16 -- 55
Topeka High 12 4 18 10 -- 44
Hayden (10-8, 4-5) -- Padilla 2-7 2-2 7, Muller 1-8 6-6 8, Cameron 1-2 1-2 3, Ham 1-1 1-4 3, Otting 10-13 3-5 23, Colboch 3-6 0-0 9, McGibboney 1-1 0-0 2, Deister 0-0 0-0 0, Charvat 0-0 0-0 0, Ridley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-39 13-19 55.
Topeka High (3-16, 0-9) -- Lyons 6-14 5-6 18, Thrasher 5-8 1-2 11, Hales 3-3 0-0 6, Gomez 0-4 3-4 3, Votaw 1-3 2-2 4, Norman 1-3 0-0 2, Villegas 0-0 0-0 0, Mosqueda 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 16-38 11-14 44.
3-point goals -- Hayden 4 (Colboch 3, Padilla), Topeka High 1 (Lyons). Total fouls -- Hayden 15, Topeka High 16. Fouled out – Cameron. Technical fouls -- none.