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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Highland Park's girls' basketball team's impressive first quarter in its 2022-2023 home opener couldn't hold up against Bonner Springs' as the Braves flashed for the next three quarters and left Topeka with the 53-36 victory Tuesday night.
Amelia Ramsey led Highland Park with 16 points in the Scots' 53-36 season-opening loss to Bonner Springs. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Highland Park came out red-hot to start its season off. The 3-point shots were falling, the Scots were driving to the paint, the transition offense was stellar and Highland Park looked like it was on a mission to take a victory in its home opener.
Highland Park's hot start became cold as the scoring would become increasingly more sparse as the game went on. However, the Lady Braves gained a giant momentum swing in the second quarter, and every aspect of Bonner Springs' game improved.
"We did want to come out with the win, but we will take this as a learning experience," Highland Park coach Robert Brown said. "We had a couple of girls go down with an injury, which hurts us. It's a long season, and we have plenty of time and opportunities to bounce back.
"We are going to watch the film, and we will be able to grow once we see what we need to do better. We need to do better in transition, get the ball to Amelia Ramsey more and learn our roles better."
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Three Highland Park players had double-digit scoring nights and the Scots’ complete team play allowed them to cruise to an 82-62 season-opening victory over Bonner Springs Tuesday night at Hi Park.
Even though No. 3-ranked Highland Park earned a 20-point victory, they weren’t delighted with how the night went.
Highland Park senior Bo Aldridge led the way with 19 points in the Scots' 82-62 season-opening win over Bonner Springs. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
While the team was grinning from ear to ear with a win, the happiness immediately turned into focus when they went to the locker room after its victory. The Scots’ are locked in on achieving their goals by picturing the state championship trophy in their arms.
While a 2022 state tournament loss halted the Scots’ state championship hopes and aspirations last year, this squad has created a significant target on their backs.
“That’s a space we are trying to understand and navigate,” Highland Park coach Mike Williams said. “It’s tough for guys who haven’t necessarily been the hunted to understand what it’s like to fully have that target on your back as we do now. As a team, we are learning what it’s like to be the hunted.
"We have to bring it every single day. Opponents look forward to those matchups against us. Teams will want to take our high ranking away and take us off. It doesn’t matter who we play, we are Highland Park, and I expect teams to give us their best shot.”
It will be expected that Highland Park will get everyone’s best shot for the entirety of the 2022-2023 campaign. It was no different for the Scots’ in their home opener on Tuesday night against a Bonner Springs team which came in undefeated.
“Winning varsity games at the 5A level is hard,” Williams said. “We were able to come out with a 20-point victory on opening night, and we haven’t done that in five years, so that feels good. Our program is moving in the right direction, and I am glad we see that right in front of us.”
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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
A team can only get its first win of the season once, and for first-year coach Geo Lyons and the Topeka High boys basketball team, it couldn’t have come at a better time, with the Trojans getting Lions his first win at his alma mater with a 61-48 win over St. Mary’s Academy Tuesday night.
Topeka High boys basketball coach Geo Lyons talks to his team during Tuesday's 61-48 non-league win over St. Mary's Academy. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
The win for the Trojans came after a 75-73 double-overtime loss to Valley Center on Saturday, which Lyons was glad the players had a chance to put behind them quickly.
“It feels great man,” Lyons said. “We have had a rough 72 hours with what happened to us on Saturday. It was great to get back and playing so soon to get a little bit of normalcy for these kids but this one means a lot and it means, even more, coming off of what Saturday was.”
In 2021-22 Topeka High started 0-4 before finishing the year 4-17, this season they enter the win column the second week of play, improving to 1-2.
After trailing early on it was junior Isaiah Lyons who stabilized the Trojans, knocking down two 3-pointers late in the first quarter to help High take a 14-11 lead.
T-High was held scoreless on offense in the first five minutes of the second quarter, but a full-court defense kept the Crusaders in check for the most part. Lyons and sophomore Jayden Norman combined to score all seven points in the quarter, good for a 21-20 lead at the break.
St. Mary’s scored two quick baskets out of halftime to lead 24-23, but the rest of the quarter would belong to the home team as Topeka High’s defense forced turnovers and provided easy baskets, helping the Trojans go on a 20-2 run after that point to lead by as many as 16.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman girls basketball coach Matt Tinsley knows that tougher games are right about the corner, but back-to-back running clock routs have allowed Tinsley to get his young Vikings a lot of early-season experience.
After opening the season with a 30-point win over Lansing last Friday, third-ranked (Class 5A) Seaman followed that up with 60-26 United Kansas Conference romp past Topeka West Tuesday night at Seaman.
Seaman freshman Maddie Gragg led No. 3-ranked Seaman with a game-high 16 points in Tuesday's 60-26 UKC win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Anna Becker scored 14 points as Seaman improved to 2-0 with a 60-26 UKC win over Topeka West Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman used 13 players against West, including 11 underclassmen and two freshmen, while eight players cracked the scoring column, including three players in double figures.
"I think early in the year you see what the kids can do, the strengths they can bring to the team, and it's been great getting to play a lot of kids,'' Tinsley said. "Now the rotation will shrink as the season goes on, but it's good to see kids get their head up.
"I wrote up on the board with our keys to the game, I put the number 10. When 10 hands are touching the basketball it's a fun game to watch and I thought we did a good job of sharing the basketball.''
Freshman Maddie Gragg led the Vikings (2-0 overall, 2-0 UKC) with a game-high 16 points while sophomore Anna Becker added 14 points and Brooklyn Gormley 10 while four Seaman players had at least five rebounds.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West boys basketball coach Rick Bloomquist isn't expecting any one player to take up the scoring slack left by the graduation of Mr. Kansas Basketball Elijah Brooks and his 25 points-plus scoring average.
Senior Xavier Alexander (20) scored a career-high 31 points in Topeka West's 74-62 UKC win at Seaman Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
![Senior Malachi Berg scored 21 points as Topeka West evened its record at 1-1 with a 74-62 win at Seaman Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]](/images/2024/08/MalachiBergTW.jpg)
Senior Malachi Berg scored 21 points as Topeka West evened its record at 1-1 with a 74-62 win at Seaman Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But Charger senior Xavier Alexander did a pretty good Brooks impression Tuesday night at Seaman, scoring a career-high 31 points, including five 3-pointers, as Topeka West evened its record at 1-1 with a 74-62 United Kansas Conference win over the defending Class 5A state champion Vikings (1-1), ending Seaman's 12-game winning streak.
"I'm a lot more focused on winning than scoring,'' Alexander said. "With the guards penetrating to the basket and going inside out, they were giving it to me and I started making more shots.
"I learned from last game because I didn't get to the basket and this time I was trying to get to the basket more. If I drive to the basket then they have to guard me inside and outside.''
No. 7-ranked West, which was coming off a six-point season-opening loss at Basehor-Linwood, also got 21 points and nine rebounds from senior Malachi Berg and 10 points and seven rebounds from senior Sincere Austin while Alexander also grabbed seven boards.
