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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
TopSports.news
Seaman's boys basketball faced Piper Tuesday night in a United Kansas Conference matchup, with the Vikings rallying down the stretch for a 76-74 win at Seaman.
Sophomore KaeVon Bonner (13) scored 27 points, including the game-winning free throws, in Seaman's 76-74 UKC win over Piper. [File photo/TSN]
In an offensive shootout, the first half was a back-and-forth affair with Seaman leading 43-42 at the break. Sophomore KaeVon Bonner led the Vikings with 12 first-half points and junior Bryer Finley had 11. Piper was led by PJ Moore with 12 and Lantz Walton with nine.
The shootout continued in the third quarter, with Piper outscoring the Vikings 25-18 to take a 67-61 lead into the fourth quarter.
“We were fortunate, but give our guys credit for hanging in there,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "When they (the Pirates) got hot in the third quarter, it could have gotten away from us, but we had some poise, hung in there, battled back and made some big shots and free throws.”
In the fourth quarter Seaman’s defense tightened and only allowed Piper to score seven points. With a little over four minutes left in the game, Piper led 74-68, but went scoreless for the remainder of the game.
The Vikings tied the game at 74 with about two minutes left. After exchanging empty possessions, Bonner was fouled with 12 seconds left and made both free throws. Piper attempted a 3-point shot at the buzzer that fell short.
“We stepped up defensively and it was a good team win,” Cox said.
Seaman was led by Bonner with 27 points, followed by B. Finley with 20 and senior Holden Finley 12. B. Finley also pulled down eight rebounds. Piper was led by Walton with 20, while Moore and Derrick Jackson tallied 16 apiece and Devin Kerr chipped in with 10 points.
The Vikings will travel to DeSoto on Friday night for their final game before the Christmas break.
SEAMAN BOYS 76, PIPER 74
Piper 24 18 25 7 -- 74
Seaman 17 26 18 15 -- 76
Piper (2-1) -- Walton 7-11 2-2 20, Moore 7-12 1-3 16, Vogel 0-1 0-0 0, Brooks 3-4 1-3 7, Kerr 5-10 0-0 10, Jackson 6-9 0-0 15, Thomas 1-5 1-2 3, Davis 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 30-53 5-10 74.
Seaman (2-1) -- B. Finley 9-16 0-1 20, H. Finley 5-8 0-0 12, Wiltz 1-3 0-0 2, Phillips 3-6 0-0 7, Bonner 7-15 9-10 27, Chapman 1-3 0-0 2, Unruh 2-6 0-0 6. Totals 28-57 9-11 76.
3-point goals - Piper 9 (Walton 4, Jackson 4, Moore), Seaman 11 (Bonner 4, B. Finley 2, H. Finley 2, Unruh 2, Phillips). Total Fouls -- Piper 15, Seaman 8. Fouled out - none.
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
TopSports.news
The Seaman Lady Vikings, ranked No. 3 in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, topped Piper 69-45 in a United Kansas Conference clash on Tuesday night at Seaman.
Junior Anna Backer (23) scored 15 points to lead Seaman in Tuesday's 69-45 UKC win over Piper. [File photo/TSN]
In a high-scoring first quarter, Piper shot 50 percent from the field while the Lady Vikes shot a blistering 80 percent on the way to a 19-14 first-quarter lead.
“We were scoring the ball pretty good in the first quarter,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "Against a zone, we want to swing it and play, not swing it and stand.”
Both teams cooled off in the second quarter with Seaman heading into halftime with a 31-20 lead.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Topeka High girls, with almost all new players from last season, were taught some rough lessons by Manhattan Tuesday night, losing at home, 56-29.
Freshman Ahsieryrhuajh Rayton led Topeka High with 11 points in Tuesday's Centennial League loss to Manhattan. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Indians applied withering full-court pressure to the young Trojans from the jump, harassing them into turnovers and rushed shots. Manhattan capitalized with transition buckets and layups.
Topeka High fell quickly behind 18-6 in the first period, and that lead widened to 36-13 by halftime.
“Watching film, I think I (prepared the team) that, ‘That pressure’s going to be there. We’ve got to be ready for it,’ ” said Topeka High coach Brittney Redmond. “I don’t think we responded. I think it took us maybe a quarter to respond to that pressure. But by then, we’d already dug a hole for ourselves.”
All seven players who got in the game for Topeka High are either freshmen or sophomores.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Topeka High boys found themselves short-handed against Centennial League foe Manhattan and were unable to keep pace, falling 68-35 to the Indians at home Tuesday.
Topeka High junior Da'Mykel Hales (3) scored 11 points to lead the Trojans in Tuesday's loss to Manhattan. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Trojans were forced to go without senior point guard Isaiah Lyons, who suffered a high-ankle sprain the previous week. They were also working fellow senior guard Jalen Freeman back into the rotation following a leg injury.
“Being down Isaiah changes some things. He’s our primary ball handler, our best perimeter scorer,” said Trojan coach Geo Lyons. “We’re asking some guys to fill some roles that we haven’t prepared them to do. As a coaching staff, we’ve got to do our best to help them get ready.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West's boys had a lot of things go wrong in Tuesday's home United Kansas Conference game against Lansing.
But despite commiting 20 turnovers and hitting just 11 of 27 free throws, the Chargers rode a stifling defensive performance to a 52-41 win over the Lions.
Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist talks to his team during Tuesday's 52-41 UKC win over Lansing at West. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"You have to win ugly basketball games,'' Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist said. "That's about the only positive thought I have -- you have to win ugly basketball games. You have to win when you're not playing well. You usually don't win when all five people aren't playing well, and we won. That's the bottom line.
"We've got things to work out, but the thing about these kids is that they're coachable. They want to be coached, they want to do the right thing. We just have too much slippage from a practice to a game and that's what's hurt us right now. We're trying to do too many drama plays instead of just play, but we'll get there.''
