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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior star Kiki Smith scored 36 points in three quarters of action as Topeka High's girls advanced to Saturday's Firebird Classic championship game with a 69-37 semifinal win over Goddard Eisenhower Friday night at Free State, improving to 10-3 on the season.
Topeka High senior Kiki Smith scored 36 points in just three quarters as the Trojans rolled to a 69-37 win over Eisenhower Friday night in the semifinals of the Firebird Classic. [File photo/TSN]
The seventh-ranked (Class 6A) Trojans took control with a 22-12 first quarter and opened up a 37-21 halftime advantage.
Topeka High used a 22-10 third quarter to take a 59-31 lead and cruised the rest of the way.
Smith canned six 3-pointers against Eisenhower while junior Ladaysha Baird added 11 points for Topeka High with three 3-pointers.
Topeka High will face 8-3 Blue Valley in the tournament championship game, with the No. 8-ranked Tigers advancing with a 59-38 win over No. 5 Lawrence.
The championship game is a rematch of last season's 6A state tournament first-round game between Topeka High and Blue Valley, with the Tigers taking a one-point win in that game.
SEAMAN GIRLS 45, DERBY 39 -- No. 1-ranked (Class 5A) Seaman posted a 45-39 statement win over No. 4-ranked (6A) Derby in Friday night's semifinals of the the Glacier's Edge Tournament..
Seaman, which improved to 10-1, led 25-19 at halftime over Derby, last year's 6A runner-up, and held off the Panthers the rest of the way.
Seaman advanced to Saturday's championship game to take on tournament host and former Centennial League rival Emporia.
The 12-1 Spartans, ranked No. 4 in 5A, advanced with a 53-52 win over Wichita Heights.
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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
The Shawnee Heights boys didn’t have the start that they wanted Friday night at Hayden when they went down 2-0 before the clock started due to a pregame technical foul.
The situation looked even worse when they faced a 12-point deficit in the first quarter. But from that point on the Thunderbirds were able to swing the game around by 19 points, winning 58-51 on the road at Class 4A No. 10 Hayden.
Shawnee Heights junior Brennon Dodge drives against Hayden senior Jake Muller in Friday's 58-51 T-Bird win at Hayden. Dodge led Heights with 14 points. [Photo by Sarah Carson/Special to TSN]
“It was the intensity,” said Shawnee Heights coach Ken Darting. “It was an effort thing, it wasn't a structural thing. We came out and didn’t want to give full effort and they forced us to give it.”
In the first four minutes of action it was all Wildcats, led by senior Joe Otting and junior Jacob Padilla. The two combined for 13 of Hayden’s 18 first-quarter points, tying what Shawnee Heights would get as a team in the period.
The T-Birds were kept in the game early by two 3-pointers from junior Dylan Sanchez. The rest of the starters joined in late, going on a 7-0 run to close the first quarter.
Shawnee Heights maintained the momentum into the second quarter, going on a 10-0 run to take a lead. Five players scored in the quarter for the T-Birds but the run was started on the defensive end where they held Hayden to just six points in the quarter, and only two from the Wildcats’ starting lineup to lead 27-24 at the break.
“Jayden Holly and Jaye Jones were the MVPs of the game and neither of them hardly took a shot, they made the difference on both ends,” Darting said. “Once Jayden came in in the first half we totally turned it around.”
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
The wins have been hard to come by for the Topeka High boys basketball team.
But with the losses that stacked against them, the Trojans haven't let doubt shatter their confidence.
One thing that stands out about this particular Topeka High team in the 2022-2023 campaign is its mental toughness, with the Trojans finding ways to combat adversity and not crumble when things get rugged.
Topeka High boys basketball coach Geo Lyons talks to his team during Friday's 47-43 non-league win over Sunrise Christian Academy. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
And Topeka High's confidence was elevated Friday night after a 47-43 home victory over Sunrise Christian Academy.
"We've been right there all season long outside of the Blue Valley Northwest game," Topeka High coach Geo Lyons said. "I told the boys that from here on out, every game is a one-game tournament. This win helps us. We are on the bottom part of sub-state. Only the top 16 teams on your side get to go to sub-state, so we need to win games from here on out."
Two of Topeka High's most significant contributors, senior wing player Mason Gomez and sophomore guard Da'Mykel Hales, stole the show on Friday.
Gomez had a team-high 18 points while Hales added 17.
"The (win) was huge," Gomez said. "We desperately needed a big swing. We were tagging up losses. We needed change, and we got it tonight. We have to keep this together. We can get too high on ourselves. We have to stay humble and keep going."
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural girls basketball coach Kevin Bordewick didn't really have any complaints with his team's defensive performance in Friday night's Thunderbird Classic semifinal.
It was on offense where the No. 3-ranked (Class 6A) Junior Blues struggled, shooting 24.3 percent from the field and turning the ball over 23 times in a 47-37 loss to undefeated and top-ranked (6A) Shawnee Mission South at Shawnee Heights.
Brooklyn DeLeye (middle) scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Washburn Rural's 47-37 loss to top-ranked Shawnee Mission South Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior MaRyah Lutz (5), who scored nine points, drives to the basket in Friday's 47-37 Washburn Rural loss to No. 1-ranked Shawnee Mission South. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"We were turning the ball over at a remarkable rate,'' Bordewick said. "I thought our defense was really good and we worked so hard to get the ball and then would just give it back.
"Some of their turnovers were because of their pressure but some were just self-inflicted.''
Washburn Rural, which had its six-game winning streak snapped, held Shawnee Mission South to 17 first-half points and didn't allow the Raiders to get out of the 30s until there was just 1:25 left to play.
But the 8-3 Junior Blues managed just nine field goals on the night, including zero in the second quarter, and struggled against the South press most of the night.
Shawnee Mission South and Rural were tied at 9 at the end of the first quarter and the Raiders allowed just three Rural free throws in the second quarter while going up 17-12.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
After losing three straight games to state-ranked teams by a total of 10 points, Shawnee Heights' girls basketball team just wanted to get back on the winning side of the ledger in Friday's Thunderbird Classic consolation game against Shawnee Mission North.
Shawnee Heights seniors Taylor Rottinghaus (1) and Taylor Rantz defend Shawnee Mission North's Lidia Mojica in Thursday's 50-34 T-Bird win in the Thunderbird Classic. Rottinghaus scored a game-high 13 points to lead Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The ninth-ranked (Class 5A) T-Birds accomplished that goal in decisive fashion, going wire to wire for a 50-34 win over the Bison on Heights' home floor.
"It was nice to just get out and play and share the load, instead of one person trying to take it all on their back,'' Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. "We just wanted to play as a group instead of having individual play now and then.
"That was our thing tonight, 'Let's go out and improve these next two games. Lets not take a step backwards.' ''
Shawnee Heights, which improved to 8-4, never trailed after jumping out to 6-0 and 11-1 leads over the first 5:13 of the opening quarter.
