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By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Highland Park boys basketball put its perfect record on the line Friday night as the Scots played host to Manhattan.
The Scots were propelled by a dominant defense and scoring from its stars to run away with a 64-31 Centennal League win.
“It was good that it wasn’t one guy, it was a team effort that would do that, so it was good to see us doing that over the course of the game,” said Highland Park coach Michael Williams.
The lopsided win moved the Indians to 2-5 on the year while Highland Park stayed unbeaten at 7-0.
By staying unbeaten the Scots set up a battle of unbeaten teams next week against 6-0 Junction City in a game that will be critical for Centennial League positioning.
“We really really stressed staying in the moment on Tuesday, staying in the moment on Friday, and by doing that we made those games even bigger going into (next) Tuesday and Friday,” Williams said. “On the way out I just told the boys we got to be ready to buckle up.
“It’s really fun for me because I love playing good games, I love playing good teams, so I am ready to go play them and hopefully pick up a win,” said senior Juan’Tario Roberts.
Highland Park wasted no time getting started, as it jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes, fueled by turnovers and four points from junior Ketraleus Aldridge.
The pace slowed down when teams got into half-court offense. The Scots' defensive pressure extended 94 feet as Manhattan managed only one point in the quarter. A steal at that end led to a 3-pointer by Aldridge at the buzzer to make it a 16-1 game.
“That’s something I want our guys and our team to emphasize and take seriously, and I feel like we really did that tonight, obviously one point in the first quarter kind of shows that,” Williams said.
Manhattan was able to get into its offense better in the second quarter, led by senior Tate Brown, who had five points in the frame.
Highland Park continued to score whenever and however the Scots wanted, with back-to-back 3-pointers by junior Tre Richardson pushing the lead over 20 points.
Roberts was steady on the offensive end, with five in the quarter and 11 in the half. Those contributions, along with Aldridge’s 12 points, made it a 36-11 game at the half.
“I try to get open shots when I can, but I love getting my teammates the ball cause they are really good,” Roberts said.
Those same three players continued to score for the Scots in the third quarter, as they combined to score 17 of 19 points in the quarter as they continued to force turnovers and push the pace.
“Transition stuff is really good for us because you are playing a disadvantaged defense,” Williams said. “And for a team like us, who is really really good in transition, we are able to manufacture those buckets in those ways, that’s what we want.”
Manhattan had its most productive quarter offensively, with four different players scoring, but could not hold up defensively as the game was left at 55-25 heading into the fourth.
With a running clock in the fourth Highland Park emptied out its bench and was still able to build the lead, as they would leave with a 64-31 victory.
Roberts and Aldridge both had 22 for the Scots who moved to 7-0 with the win. Richardson joined them in double figures with 10.
Junior Cole Coonrod paced the Indians with nine points and Brown added eight on the night.
Highland Park will travel to face unbeaten Junction City next Tueday.
HIGHLAND PARK BOYS 64, MANHATTAN 31
Highland Park (7-0, 6-0) – Adams 1-2 2-2 4, Aldridge 10-17 0-0 22, Richardson 4-6 0-0 10, McMillon 0-0 0-0 0, Drew-Gregory 0-2 0-0 0, Kingcannon 2-8 0-0 5, Clemons 0-0 1-2 1, Williams Jr. 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Roberts 7-13 5-5 22, Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Ama. Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Ant. Taylor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-48 8-9 64.
Manhattan (2-5, 2-4) – Dowling 0-4 0-0 0, Delort 1-3 2-4 4, Gagnon 0-0 0-0 0, Holloway 1-1 3-4 5, Schartz 0-2 1-2 1, Brown 3-7 0-0 8, Coonrod 3-7 1-2 9, Elumogo 2-9 0-0 4, Conley 0-0 0-0 0, Knopp 0-0 0-0 0, McNabb 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-33 7-12 31.
3-point goals – Highland Park 6 (Aldridge 2, Richardson 2, Kingcannon 1, Roberts 1) Manhattan 4 (Brown 2, Coonrod 2). Total fouls – Highland Park 10 Manhattan 10. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
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TopSports.news
After having its Thursday night MIAA game against Northwest Missouri postponed, Washburn University's men's basketball team will tip off the 2022 portion of its schedule at 3 p.m. Saturday against Missouri Western in Lee Arena.
The Ichabods are 7-6 overall and 4-3 in the MIAA after rallying for a 67-65 road win at Central Missouri last Friday.
Washburn got the win on a tip-in by Connor Deffebaugh with 1.9 seconds remaining.
Missouri Western is 8-7, 4-3 after dropping a 74-64 MIAA decision at Emporia State on Thursday night.
The Griffons enter the Washburn game having lost their last three games, falling 101-63 at Northwest Missouri on Dec. 18 and to Pittsburg State, 72-64, on Jan. 1 in St. Joseph, Mo. Western did mix in a 78-50 exhibition win over Friends on Dec. 29.
The Ichabods lead the all-time series with the Griffons 57-42 and have won the last two games, posting a 101-72 win over the Griffons last season in the MIAA Tournament semifinals and a 72-46 win in the NCAA Regional quarterfinals.
Junior Jalen Lewis leads Washburn with a 14.2 point scoring average while hitting 28 of 72 3-pointers.
Senior Tyler Geiman is averaging 11 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.0 rebounds in six games this season.
Tyler Nelson made his season debut against Central Missouri and scored 11 points with four rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes of action.
Michael Keegan is averaging 10.6 points along with team-highs averages of 6.4 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.5 steals. Keegan leads the MIAA in blocked shots.
Geiman is the ninth-leading scorer in WU history with 1,458 points in 121 career games and needs 26 points to catch No. 8 Dan Buie, who scored 1,484 in two seasons from 1995-97.
Geiman's 212 career 3-pointers is tied for third all-time at Washburn with Javion Blake and Todd Alexander.
Lewis has drained 225 3-pointers, which ranks second behind all-time leader Shannon Kruger, who hit 242 in 122 games.
Missouri Western's JaQuaylon Mays is third in the MIAA in scoring and assists while Will Earnes is second in rebounding.
Washburn will hit the road for games at Missouri Southern next Thursday and Pittsburg State next Saturday.
The Washburn-Missouri Western women's game scheduled for Saturday has been postponed.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Despite playing without senior standout Mateo Hyman, Seaman's boys basketball team rolled to a 68-47 Centennial League road win at Topeka High Friday night.
Seaman, now 5-2 overall and 5-2 in the league, built a 31-25 halftime advantage and then pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Trojans 37-22 to win going away.
Seaman shot just under 50 percent from the floor (24 of 49), connected on eight 3-pointers and hit all 11 free throw attempts.
Senior Ty Henry scored a game-high 29 points with four 3-pointers to lead Seaman while junior Kaeden Bonner added 20 points and senior Drayton Griess 11 points.
Topeka High was without several players, including leading scorer Matt Flenoy. The Trojans shot 32 percent from the field and hit seven 3-pointers.
Sophomore Bryson Thrasher and junior Mason Gomez scored 13 points each to lead Topeka High (1-7, 1-6) while sophomore BJ Canady added 11 points.
SILVER LAKE BOYS 52, ROCK CREEK 39 -- Junior Kamryn Kaniper and senior Carson Johnson combined for 30 points as Silver Lake improved to 4-2 on the season with a decisive 52-39 victory over Rock Creek.
Kaniper led the Eagles with 17 points while Johnson added 13 points.
Silver Lake jumped out in front 16-9 and used a 16-8 second quarter to open up a commanding 32-17 advantage.
Rock Creek (1-6) cut its deficit to 42-32 at the end of the third quarter, but Silver Lake closed out the win with a 10-7 scoring edge over the final eight minutes.
CAIR PARAVEL LATIN BOYS 62, KANSAS CiTY CHRISTIAN 42 -- Cair Paravel Latin ran its win streak to five games with a 62-42 romp plast Kansas City Christian.
Senior Noah Hastert led Cair Paravel 16 points, 7 rebounds and nine assists to lead Cair Paravel while senior Zach Clark added 13 points and senior Ethan Everhart and Evan Will added 10 points.
Senior Carter Brian added eight rebounds as Cair Paravel improved to 5-1 on the season.
RILEY COUNTY BOYS 61, ROSSVILLE 52 -- Rossville put up a good fight, but couldn't get over the hump in Friday night's 61-52 loss to Riley County.
Rossville fell to 1-6 while Riley County improved to 2-4.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Seaman's girls basketball team gave undefeated and state-ranked Topeka High all it wanted Friday night, but the Trojans took control down the stretch for a 43-38 Centennial League win at High.
Friday's game was tight throughout, with the Trojans holding a slim 14-13 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 21-19 advantage at the half.
The game was tied 28-28 at at the start of the fourth quarter before Topeka High outscored the Vikings 15-10 down the stretch to improve to 7-0 overall and 7-0 in the league.
Topeka High, which struggled to a 32-percent shooting night from the field, got 12 points apiece from senior Tae Thomas and junior Kiki Smith while junior Adisyn Caryl added seven points.
Smith left the game with an ankle injury with 3:25 left in the third quarter but returned to play in the fouth quarter.
Seaman, which fell to 4-3, 4-3, suffered through a 19-percent shooting night from the field although the Vikings did can five 3-pointers. Seaman also turned the ball over 24 times.
Anna Becker continued her outstanding freshman season with 18 points for the Vikings while sophomore Taylin Stallbaumer added seven points.
Seaman was just one of 13 from the field in the decisive fourth quarter, getting a 3-pointer from Stallbaumer.
HAYDEN GIRLS 65, TOPEKA WEST 46 -- Hayden took control with an 18-6 opening quarter and was in command 36-21 at halfttime before cruising the rest of the way for a 65-46 Centennial League road win at Topeka West, improving to 4-2 overall and 4-2 in the Centennial League.
Sophomore Lauren Sandstrom led all scorers with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, while senior Carly Stuke added 16 points.
Topeka West, which fell to 0-7, 0-6, was led by sophomore Siana Sanchez with 15 points while Whitley Benson added nine points on three 3-pointers and sophomore Rebecca Bearman also scored nine points.
CAIR PARAVEL LATIN GIRLS 32, KANSAS CITY CHRISTIAN 16 -- Cair Paravel rode a strong defensive effort throughout Friday's game to a 32-16 home win over Kansas City Christian, with the Lions not allowing more than seven points in a quarter and limiting the visitors to seven points in the second half.
Senior Jaley Barkley led Cair Paravel with a game-high 11 points while senior Lauren Drum added eight as the Lions improved to 2-4 on the season with their second straight victory.
Kansas City Christian did not have a player with more than five points.
SILVER LAKE GIRLS 53, ROCK CREEK 49 -- Silver Lake remained undefeated on the season with a hard-earned 53-49 win over previously-unbeaten Rock Creek.
Silver Lake improved to 6-0 while Rock Creek fell to 6-1.
Sophomore Makenzie McDaniel paced Silver Lake with 22 points and 10 rebounds while sophomoe McKinley Kruger added 14 points.
RILEY COUNTY GIRLS 48, ROSSVILLE 40 -- Rossville dropped a close 48-40 decision to Riley County Friday night, falling to 4-3 on the season.
Sophomores Kinsey Perine and Emma Mitchell scored 13 points apiece to lead the Bulldawgs.
Riley County improved to 2-4 on the season.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West's 70-54 Centennial League win Friday night at Hayden is going to look like to anybody who wasn't at the Bueltel Activities Complex like a relatively easy 2022 debut for Rick Bloomquist's Chargers.
But for more than three quarters it was anything but easy for the Chargers, with nine ties and seven lead changes before senior Elijah Brooks and Topeka West finally put the Wildcats away with a 10-0 run to open the fourth quarter, improving to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the Centennial League.
Brooks, a 6-foot-4 senior, continued his red-hot start to the 2021-2022 season with a game-high 32 points while junior Xavier Alexander added 16 points and senior Zander Putthoff 10.
Topeka West had been scheduled to open the '22 portion of its schedule on Tuesday against Junction City but that game was postponed due to delays in repairing the gym floor in West's main gym.
"I'm not making excuses, but we haven't played in a month,'' Bloomquist said. "We were a step behind defensively and credit Hayden. They did a great job of exposing our weaknesses. Our weakness was not accelerating our feet like we normally do and getting our hands in motion.
"But it was a good opener for us, just from the fact of playing in this enviorment and those Hayden kids play hard and they're well-coached. They made us work but credit our kids because we didn't panic. We didn't panic and we stayed the course.''
Alexander and Putthoff both canned a pair of 3-pointers while Brooks led the Chargers with eight rebounds and junior Malachi Berg added seven boards as Topeka West improved to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the league.
Hayden, which fell to 1-5, 1-5, trailed by just a 16-14 margin at the end of the opening quarter and just 33-31 at the half and 50-47 at the start of the fourth quarter before the Chargers took control with a 20-7 finish.
Senior Trent Duffey led the Wildcats with 23 points while 6-5 junior Joe Otting notched a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Sophomore Jacob Padilla added nine points on three 3-pointers.
Hayden first-year coach Dwayne Paul praised the Wildcats for their play Friday night and said Hayden just ran out of gas down the stretch.
"We got gassed in the fourth and they took control the first three minutes of the fourth,'' Paul said in a text. 'We lost that game in the first two and a half minutes of the fourth.
"But if we play that way the rest of the year we will be where we want come February.''