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Created: 15 February 2022

59-53 By ISAAC DEER

TopSports.news

After not losing a single game in 16 consecutive contests, the Topeka High Lady Trojans dropped their second game in their last three contests Tuesday night at High.

But Tuesday's non-league battle against perennial power Bishop Miege could prove to be a benefit for the Trojans heading into Class 6A postseason.

Tuesday night’s matchup between 4A No. 2-ranked Miege and 6A No. 2-ranked Topeka High was a physical contest marked by solid defense and timely offense.

The game wouldn’t favor either team until the last 35.5 seconds, when Miege would pull away for the 59-53 win.

“I loved the game tonight,” Topeka High coach Hannah Alexander said. “(Bishop Miege) challenged us. We will be able to watch the film and grow from this. Those are the kind of games that we learn from. We of course wanted to win, but seeing the fight in our girls, I was proud of them.

“We need to be ready to respond (on Friday).”

Topeka High senior Tae Thomas (15) passes the ball to teammate Adisyn Caryl during Tuesday's 59-53 loss to state power Bishop Miege. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN\

Miege would make a statement early in the first quarter with an 8-2 run over the Trojans. Topeka High would claw back from the early deficit with outstanding team basketball. Everyone on High’s starting five scored the basketball before the quarter ended.

Topeka High junior guard Kiki Smith didn’t see the floor for the first 5:15 of the second quarter due to being “overworked” and the Stags took advantage of Smith’s absence by going on a strong 12-2 run. 

Smith’s return sparked the Trojans' offense with a converted 3-point shot just eight seconds after checking in and Topeka High went on a 13-4 run.

Senior Tae Thomas would lead Topeka High in points in the quarter with six and she would go on to lead the team in points with 17 on the night.

Coming out of the locker room at halftime, Alexander emphatically wanted the Lady Trojans to speed up the tempo.

“We were just trying to get the ball rolling,” Alexander said. “We wanted to get some fast points in transition. We wanted to push the tempo.”

Topeka High came out of the halftime break firey. The half-court press defense forced Miege to make some uncomfortable passes in the third quarter, turning the ball over a few times. Topeka High was able to hold powerhouse, Bishop Miege, to a slim nine points in the quarter.

The fourth quarter would be dictated by the performances of Miege freshman Kirston Verhulst and senior Allie Burns. The duo would combine for 13 out of the 18 points scored in the final quarter of regulation. Nine of the 13 points tallied were from the free throw line.

Burns was the epitome of a momentum-shifting player for the entire game. Burns hit two buzzer-beating, near the halfcourt Trojan logo 3-point shots to end the second and third quarters. The second-quarter shot gave Miege the lead, while the last-second shot in the third quarter tied the game.

Burns would make the key clutch shots for Miege down the final stretch of the game. Burns would hit a tough contested shot with 1:08 to go in the game to tie the highly-contested game. Burns would then be fouled two times after that. The most important foul was with 35.5 to go. Burns would knock down both of her free throws, giving Miege the six-point lead that would lead them to victory.

“(Allie Burns) is a leader for us and has played in a lot of big games in her four years with (Bishop Miege),” Bishop Miege coach Jeff English said. “We push our team to play against the best players, best teams in the state and the best teams in other states around us. She’s well-equipped to be put in that position and she showed that tonight.”

When these two teams last met, Bishop Miege won 70-52. Alexander wasn’t thrilled about Tuesday's loss but was proud of the performance tonight compared to last year’s romp.

“We need to bring it every possession,” Alexander said. “We need to work on our offense, defense and subbing in key situations. It’s something that we coaches, mainly me, need to work on. I probably should’ve called timeouts near the end.”

“I think there are a lot of things to take away from this game.”

Miege was thrilled with Tuesday night’s victory and was able to take away some lessons from the hard-fought, physically demanding match.

“We’re coming off of a huge and emotional win over our rival, St. Thomas Aquinas, and our kids carried it over into tonight by playing hard,” English said. “Topeka (High) is great. They presented a lot of matchup issues for us. Luckily the ball bounced our way a couple of times down the stretch.

“We are glad that we were able to come away with the win.”

Topeka High (17-2) will end the 2021-2022 regular season by hosting city rival Topeka West (2-18) on Friday night.

 BISHOP MIEGE 59, TOPEKA HIGH 53

Bishop Miege 16 16 9 18 – 59

Topeka High   15 14 16 8 – 53

Topeka High (17-2) – Wiley 4 3-5 11, Caryl 3 3-4 9, Thomas 5 4-6 17, Shields 3 0-0 8, Smith 3 0-2 8.

 Bishop Miege (17-2) – Burns 6 5-6 19, Verhulst 5 4-7 16, G. McCallop 4 1-1 9, An. Smith 1 0-0 2, Ad. Smith 5 3-5 13.

3-point goals – Topeka High 7 (Shields 2, Smith 2, Thomas), Bishop Miege 4 (Burns 2, Verhulst 2). Team fouls – Topeka High 15, Bishop Miege 13. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.

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Created: 23 February 2022

By KYLE MANTHE

The Washburn Review

Heading into a busy final week of its regular season the Washburn women’s basketball had fallen below .500 after two straight losses as they played host to Northeastern State Tuesday evening.

The Ichabods got back to their bread and butter with a strong defensive effort that led to a 71-49 win over the RiverHawks at Lee Arena.

Twenty-two points is the largest win for Washburn this season with only two more regular-season games to play.

“Defensively we were pretty on que with the game plan,” Washburn coach Ron McHenry said. “Offensively, it was one of those games I look for a lot with a lot of kids in the scoring column and a lot of assists … offensively we played pretty clean.”

Washburn celebrates a play during Tuesday's 71-49 home MIAA win over Northeastern State. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/The Washburn Review]

The Ichabods moved to 13-13 with the win and 11-9 in MIAA play.

Washburn was locked in defensively from the start, holding Northeastern State to just 22 percent shooting and to nine points in the first quarter. Offensively seven Ichabods got in the scoring column in Washburn’s 17-point first quarter. 

Two early second-quarter drives from senior Nuria Barrientos gave her eight early points and put the Ichabods up by 12. The lead would grow to as many as 16 in the half after five straight points from sophomore Hannah Willey who played a season high 16 minutes in the game.

“She has just always stood in there and waited for us. It’s my fault that I didn’t get her in earlier, last year she finished the year for us nicely,” McHenry said. “She is a real smart player, she can hit an open shot and knows our system well.”

Offensive rebounding was the only thing keeping Northeastern State in the game. Four straight points for the RiverHawks to end the half made it a 34-22 game after 20 minutes.

Washburn’s scoring was consistent throughout the third quarter, beginning with six early points on drives from freshman Aubree Dewey to help make it a 20-point game. Dewey had also entered the starting lineup for the second time in the season.

“I’ve talked to her about if you just get us into our stuff, guard somebody and get us organized … and then shoot it when you’re supposed to and that’s what she did tonight,” McHenry said.

Shae Sanchez led Washburn with 13 points in Tuesday's 71-49 MIAA victory over Northeastern State, her former team. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/The Washburn Review]

Two late 3-pointers from senior guard Shae Sanchez, playing against her former team, made it the game 58-35 after three quarters.

“Definitely feeling a little more energized, when I went to NSU and didn’t have a great game but to be here and … have coaches of all sports telling me, ‘Go have a great game,’” Sanchez said. “As hard as it is to play against some of my really great friends it was just a really great team win.”

The RiverHawks started the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run which was quickly put to rest by a 3-pointer from senior guard Hunter Bentley and a layup from freshman forward Lauren Cassaday making her the first player in double figures for the Ichabods.

That is all of the resistance that Northeastern State would mount and under the five-minute mark each side emptied the bench. Washburn led by as many as 26 points before ultimately claiming a 71-49 win.

Sanchez finished with 13 points to lead the Ichabods, including three 3-pointers. Cassaday had 12 points on 4-5 shooting. Bentley, Barrientos and sophomore Macy Doebele each added eight points in a balanced performance.

“Our offense was flowing, we had 18 assists so people were looking for the open shooter, it was just good for us,” Sanchez said.

“We needed some momentum, we got beat twice on the road, one we didn’t play real well and one we got beat in overtime. This is a grind right now,” McHenry said. “You need to catch some momentum and tonight was a big game for that.”

The Ichabods will stay at home to take on Missouri Southern for Senior Night Thursday.

WASHBURN WOMEN 71, NORTHEASTERN STATE 49

Washburn 17 17 24 13 -- 71

Northeastern State 9 13 13 14 -- 49

 Northeastern State (6-21, 4-17)

Hackler 0-4 0-0 0, Collins 6-14 4-6 16, Langstaff 8-17 0-0 17, Mo. Lee 1-5 0-0 2, Me. Lee 1-3 2-2 5, Lay 1-5 0-0 2, Barrow 0-1 0-0 0, Co. Lee 0-2 1-2 1, Tomokino 1-1 0-0 2, Kindred 0-0 0-0 0-2 0, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Wietelman 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 19-56 7-12 49.

 Washburn (13-13, 11-9)

Dewey 3-7 0-0 6, Oliver 2-3 3-3 7, Bentley 3-9 2-5 8, Barrientos 4-10 0-0 8, Doebele 2-3 4-4 8, Sanchez 5-8 0-0 13, Willey 2-4 0-0 5, Cassaday 4-5 4-4 13, Chapman 2-2 0-0 4, Schieferecke 0-1 0-0 0, Fulks 0-1 0-0 0, Sanz 0-0 0-0 0, Broadie 0-0 0-0 0.

3-point shots – Northeastern State 4-18 (Hackler 0-3, Collins 0-1, Langstaff 1-3, Mo. Lee 0-2, Me. Lee 1-1, Lay 0-2, Barrow 0-1, C. Lee 0-1, Tomokino 1-1, Brown 0-1, Wietelman 1-2). Washburn 6-17 (Dewey 0-1, Bentley 2-5, Barrientos 0-1, Doebele 0-1, Sanchez 3-5, Willey 1-3, Fulks 0-1). Rebounds – Northeastern State 29 (Collins, Langstaff 6), Washburn 36 (Oliver 5). Assists – Northeastern State 9 (Collins 3), Washburn 18 (Bentley 5). Turnovers – Northeastern State 13, Washburn 13. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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Created: 22 February 2022

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Topeka West's Zander Putthoff has suffered through a tough 2021-2022 basketball season, fighting both physical ailments and at times, his shot.

But when his team needed him the most the 6-foot-4 senior came to the rescue Tuesday night, scoring 17 points with five 3-pointers and hitting the game-clinching free throws with 11.9 seconds remaining as Topeka West wrapped up its second straight Centennial League championship with a 55-50 win at Highland Park.

Topeka West Zander Putthoff scored 17 points with five 3-pointers and canned two game-clinching free throws as the Chargers wrapped up their second straight Centennial League title with a 55-50 win at Highland Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

"Every game's a championship game right now,'' Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist said. "Every game's a playoff game and we've got to look at it that way and I'm really proud of the way we hung in there with this team (Highland Park) right here.

"They're very athletic, they're very coachable, they're very good players and we were very fortunate to win.''

Topeka West, which posted its 17th straight victory to improve to 18-1 overall and 14-1 in the league, fell behind by 10 points (28-18) midway through the second quarter before Putthoff, who had hit a trey early in the game, connected on three 3-pointers over the final 3:13 of the half to cut the Chargers' deficit to a manageable 30-27.

"Zander's been in a slump and I talked to him the other day and I said, 'You can still shoot it. I still have faith in you, I still believe in you, you're still my shooter,' and he proved that tonight,'' Bloomquist said.

Putthoff then opened the second half with his fifth 3-pointer to pull Topeka West even for the first time since late in the opening quarter.

"It's been a big mental game, but I think I stayed faithful through the storm and I knew everything was going to work out,'' Putthoff said. "I'm just staying patient and it's paying off.''

Putthoff cooled down from that point on, but found teammate Xavier Alexander at the end of the third quarter for a trey that put the Chargers in front 42-41 at the start of the fourth and wrapped up the West win with his two late free throws.

In addition to its 10-point advantage in the first half, Highland Park (15-4, 12-3) led by seven twice in the third quarter.

The Scots still led 48-47 with 3:56 remaining after a hoop by junior Bo Aldridge, but junior Malachi Berg answered to put the Chargers in front to stay and senior Elijah Brooks and Berg added buckets tp put West up by a game's biggest 53-48 advantage with 30 seconds remaining.

Highland Park senior Juan'Tario Roberts takes the ball to the hoop for two of his game-high 18 points in Tuesday's 55-50 loss to Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Highland Park senior Juan'Tario Roberts, who scored a game-high 18 points, got the Scots back within three points with 19.5 seconds left, but Hi Park didn't put West into the bonus until there were just 11.9 seconds remaining and Putthoff calmly canned both charities to put the game away.

"I looked over at Elijah and he's telling me, 'Get the ball, get the ball,' so I know they wanted me up there just as much as I wanted to be up there,'' Putthoff said. "It's just second nature.''

Brooks added 12 points for the Chargers while Sincere Austin had nine points, Berg seven off the bench and Alexander six points on two 3s.

Aldridge added 13 points for the Scots while junior Jahmir Kingcannon scored 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers.

While disappointed with the loss, Highland Park coach Mike Williams said the Scots' ceiling is still high heading into postseason.

"We're a good team,'' Highland Park coach Mike Williams said. "We're a really, really good team. We've got a really, really good group in our locker room right now, a resilient group in our locker room.

"Our team deals and puts up with a lot of different things that other groups don't have to deal with to show up on Tuesday and Friday nights to play this game that we love. And our goals are still in front of us.''

Highland Park will close out its regular season at home Friday against Washburn Rural while Topeka West will play at Topeka High.

TOPEKA WEST BOYS 55, HIGHLAND PARK BOYS 50

Topeka West     14 13 15 13 -- 55

Highland Park   17 13 11 9 -- 50

Topeka West (18-1, 14-1) -- Austin 3-7 1-1 9, Brooks 5-10 2-2 12, Alexander 2-4 0-0 6, Putthoff 5-12 2-2 17, Bearman 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Foy 2-2 0-0 4, Berg 3-5 1-1 7. Totals 20-38 6-6 55.

Highland Park(15-4, 12-3) -- Adams 1-3 0-0 3, Aldridge 6-13 0-0 13, Richardson 2-5 0-0 4, Kingcannon 4-10 0-0 10, Roberts 7-12 2-2 18, Clemons 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 21-45 2-2 50.

3-point goals -- Topeka West 9 (Putthoff 5, Austin 2, Alexander 2), Highland Park 6 (Kingcannon 2, Roberts 2, Adams, Aldridge). Total fouls -- Topeka West 8, Highland Park 12. Fouled out – Richardson.

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Created: 23 February 2022

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

OK, so two wins in a row isn't much to brag about for a lot of basketball teams across the city and the Centennial League.

But for a Highland Park girls team that suffered through a winless campaign a year ago while barely having enough players to field a team, the Scots will take that modest streak as a big step forward.

After losing its first 13 Centennial League games of the season, Highland Park ended that drought with a win over Junction City last Friday and followed that up with a 47-36 Senior Night decision over Topeka West Tuesday night.

Highland Park's girls basketball team celebrates at the end of Tuesday's 47-36 Centennial League win over Topeka West on Senior Night at Hi Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

"I'm loving it, it can never be better than right now, being with my team and having a full set of players and even getting a water break now and then,'' said Scots senior standout Aisya Taylor, who led all scorers with 15 points. "It feels good having that team, having that bonding, having that chemistry that we can have not only on the court, but outside.''

Highland Park senior Aisya Taylor scored a game-high 15 points in the Scots' 47-36 Centennial League win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

"Getting these two league wins for these (three) seniors was big, especially Aisya Taylor,'' Highland Park coach Rob Brown said. "She's been through a lot these last four years, so it was big for us to get that win for her.''

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