- Details
By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
The three-point overtime loss that Highland Park's girls basketball team suffered against Salina South in last week's Salina Invitational Tournament was a tough pill for the Scots to swallow.
But Highland Park put the lessons learned from that loss to good use Tuesday night, holding off Eudora for a 56-50 non-league victory on the Scots' home court.
Highland Park sophomore Amelia Ramsey looks for operating room against Eudora in the Scots' 56-50 home non-league victory. Ramsey led Highland Park with a game-high 21 points. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore De'Asia Sanders scored 14 points in Highland Park's 56-50 non-league win over Eudora Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Scots struggled at the free throw line against South in a 50-47 loss but was 13 of 19 against the Cardinals, including a six of six performance from sophomore standout Amelia Ramsey who scored a game-high 21 points.
"Like I just told them, it's important to get these hard-fought wins like tonight,'' Highland Park coach Robert Brown said. "We just have to dig in and lock in in huddles and execute down the stretch, especially on the defensive end and making free throws.
"We learned the hard way at South, going 13 of 33. You can't win games like that and still only lost by three. That says a lot about us and you've got to finish a game with free throws and Amelia Ramsey did that.''
- Details
By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Tuesday night's non-league game against Eudora had the makings of a possible trap game for the undefeated Highland Park boys basketball team.
After all, the Scots, top-ranked in Class 5A, were coming off an emotional championship run in last week's Topeka Invitational Tournament and had to go right back to work against the No. 3-ranked (4A) Cardinals.
Junior Tamir Anderson scored a career-high 20 points off the bench with six 3-pointers as Highland Park improved to 10-0 with a 76-45 non-league win over Eudora Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Bo Aldridge tied for game-high scoring honors with 20 points in Highland Park's 76-45 non-league win over Eudora Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But an 11-0 start to the game and a monster first half from junior reserve Tamir Anderson eased any uneasiness Highland Park coach Mike Williams might have been feeling, with the 10-0 Scots going on to take a 76-45 victory at Hi Park.
"Just coming out of the tournament with a quick turnaround with not a lot of rest, of course I was concerned,'' Williams said. "We've been thinking about that for a year since we got this game scheduled. We knew we'd probably have our hands full on this Tuesday night but it's good that we were able to answer the call and figure it out.
"That's a pretty good team on that other sideline with a couple of pretty good players.''
Highland Park jumped out to an early 17-4 advantage en route to an 18-8 first-quarter advantage and the Scots rode Anderson's 17-point first half, which including five 3-pointers, to a commanding 37-21 halftime advantage.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park's boys held on to the No. 1 spot in the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Class 5A boys state rankings for the third straight week while Seaman's girls regained the top spot in 5A.
Highland Park, celebrating its Topeka Invitational Tournament title last Saturay, is No. 1 in the KBCA Class 5A boys state rankings for the third straight week. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Matt Tinsley's Seaman girls basketball team regained the No. 1 spot in the KBCA Class 5A state rankings, released Tuesday. [File photo/TSN]
Highland Park and Seaman are two of nine Shawnee County teams in this week's KBCA rankings, released Tuesday.
Washburn Rural's girls remained No. 3 in 6A while Topeka High's girls are seventh-ranked..
Shawnee Heights girls are ranked No. 9 in 5A while Hayden's girls entered the 4A rankings in a tie for 10th.
Silver Lake's girls stayed No. 7 in 3A after winning the Burlington Invitational title.
Topeka West fell to No. 9 in the 5A boys rankings while Hayden stayed No. 10 in 4A.
KANSAS BASKETBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION STATE RANKINGS
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Bo Aldridge
BO ALDRIDGE, Highland Park
A 6-foot-5 senior, Aldridge scored 67 points in three games as the undefeated and top-ranked (Class 5A) Highland Park boys basketball team won its first Topeka Invitational Tournament championship in 10 years Saturday at Topeka West. Aldridge scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 67-36 first-round win over Shawnee Mission North, scored 27 points with eight dunks in an 86-48 semifinal win over Wichita Southeast and had 18 points in the Scots' 58-47 win over Lawrence in the tournament championship game as Highland Park improved to 9-0.
Jack Bachelor
JACK BACHELOR, Washburn Rural
Bachelor, a 6-foot-2 senior, Bachelor helped lead the 10th-ranked (Class 6A) Washburn Rural's boys basketball team to a third-place finish in the Bill Hanson Memorial Tournament at Pittsburg, scoring 51 points on the week. Bachelor scored 10 points in the Junior Blues' 68-30 first-round win over Joplin, Mo., had 23 points with three 3-pointers and a four of four performance at the free throw line in a 61-43 semifinal loss to Blue Valley Northwest and had 18 points with a six of seven showing at the free throw line and three steals in 8-4 Rural's 69-63 win over Pittsburg. on Saturday.
McKinley Kruger
McKINLEY KRUGER, Silver Lake
Kruger, a 5-foot-6 junior basketball player, was named the Burlington Invitational Most Valuable Player after helping lead No. 7-ranked (Class 3A) Silver Lake to the tournament championship. Silver Lake defeated Independence 52-39 in the championship game, with Kruger scoring 20 points and hitting five 3-pointers as the Eagles improved to 10-1 on the season.
- Details
By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Lawrence did a good job of limiting Highland Park's high-scoring offense to the Scots' lowest point total of the season in Saturday's Topeka Invitational Tournament championship game.
But the Scots did an even better job of adjusting to a different kind of game, with Highland Park never trailing after the first three minutes on the way to a 58-47 victory and the school's first Topeka Invitational championship in 10 years.
Highland Park accepts the Topeka Invitational trophy after Saturday's 58-47 win over Lawrence at Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Highland Park poses for a team picture after winning its first Topeka Invitational Tournament title in 10 years. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"It feels good scoring 60, 70, 80, 90 points, but on the bench about the two-minute or three-minute mark of the fourth quarter it was like, 'We've got to figure this situation out, too,' '' Highland Park coach Mike Williams said. "It's easy to win by 20, 30, 40 points, but can we grind out games?
"The beautiful thing is we've established our program on grinding out games. We're in new territory right now, winning at the rate we're winning at, but besides winning like that we're capable of grinding stuff out, playing in the halfcourt, 40-point games. People might not think we're ready for those but the internal DNA of this group is ready to take those situations on.''
HIghland Park senior standout Bo Aldridge agreed.
"It's just like a test in school or out of school for real,'' Aldridge said. "You've just got to study and respond and do your thing with it.''
