- Details
By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
All eyes were on the slick performances of Topeka West’s Sincere Austin and Elijah Brooks on Tuesday night at West.
Brooks and Austin accounted for 69 percent of the Chargers' 77 points in a 77-48 Centennial League win against Manhattan. The tandem hit a combined six 3-point shots, went five of seven from the free throw line and converted 15 of West's 21 made field goals.
Elijah Brooks
Sincere Austin
Sensational scoring nights from Brooks are something that Topeka West is quite used to and despite sitting out some of the third and fourth quarters, Brooks was able to put up 28 points on the night.
“Things were good for three quarters,” Brooks said. “We started picking up the pace in the second quarter. From there, we started running the court well. I thought we played pretty good tonight.”
That second quarter, as Brooks mentioned, was what separated Topeka West from Manhattan as the Chargers outscored the Indians, 22-11.
All 22 of those points were provided by Brooks and Austin.
Austin’s 25 points looked effortless. The junior hit a team-high five three-point shots against Manhattan.
“Tonight felt (good),” Austin said. “We are finally pulling together. The coaches are letting me be myself and play my game. I’ve noticed myself and the team passing and shooting the ball more. We are looking better.”
Despite Manhattan’s 4-11, 3-8 record, the Indians have played quality basketball at times this season.
Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist was worried about what kind of matchup problems the Indians presented coming into Tuesday night’s contest.
“Manhattan is a high-quality basketball team,” said Bloomquist. “I think (Manhattan) showed you how good they are when they beat one of the most athletic teams in the Centennial League (Junction City). Personally, it was a scary game for me. I know how well Manhattan plays, how they’re coached, and how good (Manhattan) is in the 3-2 zone.
“I thought we read and reacted well to Manhattan’s zone defense. I thought we moved the ball well. I thought that we had Manhattan moving a lot faster than they probably wanted to. I think tonight worked to our benefit.”
- Details
By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
A pair of ranked teams on the Centennial League girls side faced off on Tuesday evening, with Washburn Rural, No. 3 in 6A, playing host to Seaman, No. 8 in 5A.
It was the Junior Blues who came out on top as defense powered them to a second win in as many nights, a 42-20 victory over the Vikings.
“Defensively, there were very few times that we didn’t understand where their players were … I thought we were pretty zeroed in probably from about the two-minute point of the first quarter on especially,” Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said.
Jada Ingram
Emma Krueger
Washburn Rural suffered its lone loss back on Jan. 4 to Topeka High, who the Junior Blues will take on in their next game.
“That’s one thing we try to preach is that we got to take care of the here and now. That will be there, we got to do this right here. And I thought we did a really good job of walking into that,” Bordewick said.
The win moved the Junior Blues to 15-1 on the year while Seaman fell to 10-5 after winning its previous three.
- Details
By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Washburn Rural and Seaman's boys basketball team faced off Tuesday night in a matchup between two teams battling for position in the middle of the Centennial League.
The Vikings would build on the slight lead they had in league play with a 60-50 road win over the Junior Blues to sweep the season series.
“I thought our guys played with a lot of energy, I have a lot of respect for Washburn Rural and what they are capable of,” said Seaman coach Craig Cox. “We were really good in the first half but had to kind of hold on a little bit in the second half.”
The win moved Seaman above .500 to 8-7 on the year while Washburn Rural fell to 7-9 overall in the second night back-to-back game.
“If we want to play we need to play better than we did tonight,” Washburn Rural coach Kevin Muff said. “It was like sitting there December 21st, the last time we played them as kind of a re-run of the same game.”
Seaman senior Gavin Wilhelm scored 21 points on seven 3-pointers in the Vikings' 60-50 Centennial League win over Washburn Rural Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman came out of the gate firing, knocking down three 3-pointers in the first five minutes with two coming from senior Gavin Wilhelm. The burst of offense coupled with turnovers by Washburn Rural gave the Vikings a double-digit lead in the first quarter.
“They get out on us early and hit shots and we don’t respond. And we got to find better ways defensively to respond. They exploited our weaknesses and put the ball where it needed to and made shots,” Muff said.
The Junior Blues would close out the first on a 5-0 run to cut the lead in half and make it 16-11 after one.
The second quarter was high-scoring, with each side hitting shots from the outside. Senior Quincey Kidd knocked down two 3-pointers and scored eight in the first four minutes.
Seaman was still able to build its lead on three 3-pointers by Wilhelm, taking a 10-point advantage into the final four minutes.
“They (teammates) did a great job of recognizing that Gavin Wilhelm had the hot hand, and kept feeding him which led to an outstanding shooting performance on his part,” Cox said of Wilhelm who shot 7-9 from deep in the game.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
At full strength Shawnee Heights' boys basketball team was going to face a tough challenge against state-ranked Basehor-Linwood Tuesday night.
Without 6-foot-6 senior standout Carter Olson that hill was too steep for the T-Birds to climb.
Olson, Heights' second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, suffered a knee injury in last Friday's loss to De Soto and the T-Birds got the bad news Tuesday that Olson, who missed his entire junior season with an ACL tear, is likely done for the season.
"It's just awful,'' Shawnee Heights coach Ken Darting said of Olson's injury. "I feel awful for us, but I feel worse for him.''
Even without Olson Shawnee Heights turned in a game effort, particularly on the defensive end, but Basehor-Linwood went wire to wire for a 53-31 United Kansas Conference win at Heights.
"He's done for the year, so we've got to keep working,'' Darting said. "We played zone (defense) for the first time ever probably and did a great job. And we ran some pretty good offense, we just don't have much offense right now. We're offensively challenged.''
Injured Shawnee Heights standout Carter Olson (back left) look on as T-Bird coach Ken Darting talks to his team during Tuesday's 53-31 United Kansas Conference loss to Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights girls basketball coach Bob Wells was proud of the way his T-Birds fought back against Basehor-Linwood Tuesday night.
The problem is that the hole Heights dug itself was too deep to dig out of in a home 51-43 United Kansas Conference loss to the Bobcats.
"I love our heart,'' Wells said. "These girls just do not give up Their effort is just through the roof and they keep going and going and they'll climb back into games.
"We just need to play with that sense of urgency the first four minutes of the game and continue it throughout the game.''
![Shawnee Heights girls basketball coach Bob Wells talks to his T-Birds during Tuesday's 51-43 UKC loss to Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]](/images/aa-images/FLILkvNXsAAK4w7.jpg)
Shawnee Heights girls basketball coach Bob Wells talks to his T-Birds during Tuesday's 51-43 UKC loss to Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Basehor-Linwood, which improved to 9-6 overall and 4-1 in the UKC, opened up a 26-13 lead with two minutes left in the first half before the T-Birds ended the half with a 6-0 run to cut its deficit to 26-19.
The Bobcat opened up a 39-24 advantage in the third quarter and began the fourth period with a 43-29 cushion before Heights fought back once again, getting as close as five points (48-43) with 50 seconds left before Basehor-Linwood ended the game with three straight free throws.
