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By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Musings at the mid-month:
- Admit it, we have all wondered if Patrick Mahomes is trending downward this season.
- As hard as it is when clinging to the edge of your recliner, we should all remember it’s possible to sit back and watch Mahomes raise his game.
- That comeback in LA on Thursday was yet another spectacle.
- Granted, the pass he misfired wide and into the dirt on the Chargers 1-yard line really had us cranky.
- (Psst, Andy, how about using that Michael Burton guy again?)
- But Mahomes atoned, and then some, as three straight 75-yard touchdown drives produced an overtime win.
- Somewhere, Phillip Rivers was loving retirement.
- And Chiefs fans sensed another Super Bowl coming into focus.
- Slinging the football to two clutch pass-catchers helps.
- So did defensive breakdowns and point-chasing blunders by the Chargers.
- But my, do not count out Patrick Mahomes. Nor Travis Kelce. Nor Tyreek Hill.
- On a night when Burton (who?) scored the Chiefs’ only first-half touchdown, that potential division-clinching win over Los Angeles turned downright eventful.
- Not sorry to offend Hollywood by linking the word “dirt” to opulent So-Fi Stadium.
- Is playing in such a posh palace worth leaving San Diego, the city identified with your franchise?
- Guess so. The Chargers are the football equivalence of the Clippers.If you had to move, why not, oh, San Antonio? Think that city might embrace an NFL franchise?
- I can’t remember, do Texans like football?
- (Insert KU beat Texas zinger here.)
- My beef with Joe Buck has been more about the frequency we watch and listen to him rather than his delivery.
- That changed with his chilly night in LA comment while injured Charger Donald Parham got carted off the field.
- No fans in the stands last year made it easy for me to click Mute.
- Crowd noise changes that.
- It’s what makes any of our sports the best reality series on TV.
- And no, the button doesn’t read, Mute. Just a reminder, old grumps love words over symbols.
- Keep thinking Kansas achieved little by renewing the Missouri rivalry … except for slapping the Tigers out of their basketball slumber.
- Not that KU won’t administer more border beatdowns, but the rivalry was more balanced on Twitter than on-court.
- At halftime, I found other things to do.
- I will never understand the joy in an SEC chant if it’s pretty much all you got.
- As Joe Buck might say, we’ll talk about that more with our next guests, Texas and Oklahoma.
- Happy for Brent Venables. While the conference transition will be challenging, the man is a fierce competitor.
- First saw it when he played football in Salina (preps), Garden City (juco) and at K-State.
- Two college players I put squarely in that uber-competitive circle these days are Deuce Vaughn and Christian Braun.
- Their names actually don’t rhyme, except when a TV analyst flunks his KU basketball homework.
- K-State’s acquisition (can we call it that, please, with unrestricted free agency in college sports) of Adrian Martinez makes for a potentially strong backfield combo alongside Vaughn.
- With Nebraska, though, Martinez seemed to find ways to lose games. That bothers me.
- Reducing mistakes is not only a task for Martinez but a leadership opportunity for Chris Klieman and his new OC.
- Vaughn must help with that and add even more leadership qualities to his dynamic skills.
- Is K-State really a developmental program when Klieman and his staff can’t seem to develop a quarterback they recruit?
- Braun has become a player I enjoy watching off the ball because he does so many things to demand the ball.
- He took exception to being called a spot-up shooter. Power to him. He is fun to watch and provides the combustion vital to a postseason run.
- Mentioned Michael Burton earlier and can’t help but think of the Lord working in mysterious ways.
- Lost a dear friend, Mike Burton, recently. Mike ran the American Legion baseball program in Silver Lake for more than 40 years and was a stranger to no one.
- Loved his stories, and the golf outings he’d set up to play with him and Jim Golden. Great man.
- Same for Rene Poort, who I always knew would call a game fair and fast as someone who officiated until his recent passing at 77.
- And then there’s Tom Price, who could strike a conversation with anyone and helped me regain my love for baseball. Bless you and miss you, Tomcat.
- Finally, to my brother-in-law Scott, who taught me to shoot, cast and appreciate everything outdoors.
- Death can sure make life hard. Yet, we find comfort, joy and peace in what so many have meant to us.
- Merry Christmas.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Senior Elijah Brooks reached the 1,000-point scoring mark for his career in Topeka West's 78-65 Centennial League road win at Manhattan Friday night.
Topeka West reached the 1,000-point mark for career scoring in the Chargers' 78-65 win at Manhattan Friday night. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka West improved to 4-1 on the season with Friday's victory after surviving a third-quarter Manhattan rally.
The Chargers led 48-34 at halftime, but Manhattan got back in the hunt with a 22-14 third-quarter surge.
Topeka West put Manhattan away with a 16-9 fourth quarter.
MANHATTAN GIRLS 69, TOPEKA WEST 52 -- Manhattan kept Topeka West winless on the season at 0-5 while improving to 2-3 with Friday's home 69-52 Centennial League victory.
HAYDEN GIRLS 42, JUNCTION CITY 16 -- Hayden improved to 3-1 on the season with Friday's home Centennial League win over Junction City.
Macy Smith
Senior Macy Smith scored 14 points to lead the way as the Wildcats put the Blue Jays away early on.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Highland Park took care of business on the road Friday night, improving to 5-0 with a 62-50 Centennial League win over rival Topeka High.
Senior Juan'Tario Roberts scored a game-high 23 points and reached the 1,000-point mark for his career as the Scots continued their early-season roll.
Highland Park gathers around senior Juan'Tario Roberts (middle with ball) after the Scots' 62-50 win over Topeka High Friday night. Roberts scored 23 points to eclipse the 1,000-point scoring mark for his career. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
“Obviously, it was a rivalry game,'' Highland Park coach Michael Williams said. "The game was going to be uglier than we wanted it to be. The game could’ve gone either way. With the win, our guys held it down, together. We had to stay in the zone and keep our guys packed in, which they did a good job of that.
"It took us about a quarter and a half to figure the game out. That’s the good thing about this group. Throughout the first five games, they’ve endured a lot, didn’t point fingers, we never backed down, we never shut down, and we are able to figure things out on the fly.''
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
The No. 6-ranked Topeka High girls basketball team keeps on rolling, remaining undefeated on the season with an 86-16 Centennial League romp past Highland Park Friday night at High.
The 5-0 Trojans went into the holiday break with an exclamation point, which is exactly what High coach Hannah Alexander wanted.
“Last game we didn’t really play our best basketball,'' Alexander said. "We didn’t run our offense great and we were very stagnant. Tonight we wanted to get back on track. We wanted to run our offense and our press much better before the break. We have a tough one coming up when we get back (Washburn Rural).”
Topeka High junior Kiki Smith led the way with 30 points as the Trojans improved to 5-0 with an 86-16 Centennial League win over Highland Park Friday night. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
High junior veteran Kiki Smith came up huge for the Trojans on Friday night, scoring 30 points in the 70-point win.
“She’s been phenomenal,'' Alexander said of Smith. "She has grown up with us and has been the perfect leader on and off the floor. How she gets everyone involved is really nice.
"She’s so unselfish out there. Whether it’s assists, steals, rebounds, points, she just does what’s best for the team.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's boys basketball team bounced back from a tough Tuesday loss to Highland Park with a wire-to-wire run Friday night, ending the 2021 portion of its schedule with a 58-50 Centennial League win over Washburn Rural at Seaman.
Seaman, which lost to Highland Park on a late follow shot after a frantic comeback, took control early against Washburn Rural, opening up a 39-21 halftime advantage and leading 47-26 after three quarters.
Seaman had fallen behind by 18 points on Tuesday against Highland Park but got out of the gate with a bang Friday, leading 6-0 and 15-4 early.
"We talked about being the aggressor and kind of felt like that's what Highland Park had done to us and got us on our heels and it took us a long time to recover,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "Tonight we wanted to take that role ourselves and I thought we did a good job with that, especially defensively.''
Seaman junior Kaeden Bonner (13) paced the Vikings with a game-high 17 points in Friday's 58-50 win over Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Vikings, who improved to 3-2 overall and in the league, rode their balance to Friday's win, with four players scoring 12 or more points in the win.
Junior Kaeden Bonner led the way for Seaman with a game-high 17 points while senior Ty Henry added 14 points and seniors Mateo Hyman and Gavin Wilhelm scored 12 apiece.
Seaman shot a sparking 65.7 percent from the field, with Bonner hitting seven of eight shots, Henry going six of eight and Wilhelm hitting all four of his shots, including three 3-pointers.
Seaman senior Gavin Wilhelm scored 12 points and hit three 3-pointers in the Vikings' 58-50 Centennial League win over Washburn Rural Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Vikings led by as many as 25 points (47-22) in the third quarter and by 21 (49-28) early in the fourth before Washburn Rural (2-3, 2-3) ended the game with a 22-9 run as Seaman emptied its bench.
Cox said it was good for his team to end its pre-holiday slate on a positive note.
"Definitely it's good for us and lifts our spirits,'' Cox said. "Our bench is kind of short right now so those guys who are playing a lot of minutes are going to need this break to kind of re-charge their batteries and we'll work some things out.
"We need to improve our consistency and then learn how to finish games when we have a nice lead.''
Senior Quincey Kidd led the Junior Blues with 12 points while junior Jack Bachelor added nine points.
