Brooks scores 43 points as Topeka West tips Junction City in OT, 67-66
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- Created: Tuesday, 25 January 2022 16:39
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Forty-three. 43. XLIII.
No matter how you put it, scoring 43 points in a high school basketball game is a monster number, and senior Elijah Brooks and his Topeka West Chargers needed every last one of those 43 points to pull out a 67-66 overtime Centennial League victory over a talented Junction City team Tuesday night at West.
Brooks who scored 30 or more points for the fourth straight game, hit 15 of 20 shots from the field, including a 3-pointer, and connected on 12 of 16 free throws as No. 2-ranked Topeka West battled back from 12-point deficit early in the third quarter to improve to 11-1 overall and remain tied for the Centennial League lead at 7-1.
"I'm just glad to get out of here with a win,'' Brooks said. "Coming off the (Topeka Invitational) and playing tonight, it was kind of hard. We played alright, but the intensity was down and the energy was low.
We were all sluggish and stuff, but we got it done and we'll go on.''
Topeka West senior Elijah Brooks (4) scored a career-high 43 points as the Chargers outlasted Junction City in overtime, 67-66, Tuesday night at West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Tuesday's game included nine ties and 11 lead changes, including seven lead changes and three ties in the fourth quarter, before the game went to overtime tied at 61.
West, which was coming off its first Topeka Invitational Tournament title since 2004, went up 61-59 on a Brooks dunk with 3:34 left in regulation before Blue Jay senior David Rowell tied the game up at the 2:49 mark.
Both teams missed opportunities down the stretch, sending the game to the four-minute extra session.
