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Details: Created: 12 January 2021

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Anybody who follows high school basketball in Topeka knows what Highland Park 6-foot-7 senior CJ Powell is capable of.

After all, Powell has been a key component of Highland Park's team since he stepped on campus and averaged 18 points and 7 rebounds as a junior, helping lead the Scots to a 15-8 record and a Class 5A state tournament appearance.

But CJ wasn't CJ early in the 2020-21 season, at least not on a consistent basis, and neither were the Scots, who struggled to a 3-5 record out of the gate.

But both Powell and Highland Park seem to be hitting their stride heading into the most important stretch of the season, with the Scots winning six straight games entering Tuesday night's game at Topeka High while Powell is coming off 31 and 28-point performances last week in wins over Emporia and Seaman and added 19 points in Monday's 57-50 Centennial League win at Emporia.

HIghland Park senior CJ Powell rejects a shot earlier this season. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Powell started his senior year with a sub-par 7-point effort in a 54-40 loss to Hayden and averaged just 10.3 points prior to the holiday break before steadily raising his scoring average and his game since then.

"It was tough,'' Powell said of his start to the year. "But I just had to get in the gym and put in more work in order to get better. I got in the gym by myself, where my happy place is, and just had to play and just get myself right for the next game. Always keep your head up.''

It was also frustrating for Highland Park coach Michael Williams to watch as the experienced Scots struggled early, but he likes the way his team is playing as postseason nears, with Powell leading the charge.

"I think the reality of it is that we're banking on our horses,'' Williams said. "We're banking on our experienced guys and when our experienced guys don't (play well) we are going to struggle.''

Willams thinks Powell has used his early-season struggles as fuel to return to the form he flashed last season.

"I think there's been motivation in his direction for CJ as of late,'' Williams said. "It ain't about the accolades and stuff like that, but a high school kid, they want that. I think he's seen some of the things, his name not mentioned, him not being acknowledged at times and the reality of it is he just wasn't putting numbers up, but we know what's inside of him and we know what he's capable of and I think he's starting to understand those things along the way.

"It's like, 'Hey, we get what's happening, we get what other guys are doing and we know what you're capable of doing as well, too.' The biggest part of it is we just need CJ Powell. We need CJ Powell to be himself. We need CJ Powell to be the most dominant player in the city and if we don't get that we're going to struggle. If we do get that I think we kind of get back to playing that Highland Park basketball that we've been trying to get to.''

Details: Created: 12 January 2021

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

Hunter Bentley

HUNTER BENTLEY, Washburn University

Bentley, a 5-foot-9 senior guard out of Bishop Miege, scored a game-high 27 points and hit 9 of 9 free throw attempts as Washburn's women's basketball team bounced back from a pair of tough MIAA losses to take a 76-66 home victory over Northeastern State. Bentley scored 41 points on the week as the 7-8 Ichabods split games.

Tyler Geiman

TYLER GEIMAN, Washburn University

A 6-1 senior point guard, the former Blue Valley star scored a game-high 29 points, including 21 in the second half, as Washburn, using just seven players due to injury and illness, improved to 12-3 with an 88-77 come-from-behind MIAA home victory over Rogers State. Geiman also had 8 assists and 7 rebounds for the Ichabods and scored 12 straight points in the second half to spearhead the win.

Hailey Horton

HAILEY HORTON, Silver Lake

A freshman, Horton won the 155-pound title in Friday's Division II District Girls Wrestling Tournament at Marysville, helping the Eagles win the district team championship by an 88-73 margin over Holton. Horton won her first match with a 23-second pin before taking a 7-2 decision over Atchison County's Hannah Simmers in the finals.

Daigan Kruger

DAIGAN KRUGER, Silver Lake

Kruger, a junior, won the 170-pound championship in Saturday's Class 3A-1A District Boys Wrestling Tournament at Silver Lake, posting three straight pins to help the Eagles win the team title. Kruger, now 41-1 on the season, posted pins in 36 seconds and 2 minutes, 36 seconds to reach the finals and pinned Mission Valley's Justice Dunbar in 1:09 to win the 170 title.

CJ Powell

CJ POWELL, Highland Park

Powell, a 6-7 senior, scored 59 points in two games on the week as Highland Park's boys basketball team extended its winning streak to five games with Centennial League victories over Emporia and Seaman. Powell scored 31 points in the Scots' 63-58 win over Emporia and followed that up with a 28-point performance in the Scots' 55-47 overtime win over Seaman on Friday, forcing the OT with a clutch 3-point loss.

Marque Wilkerson

MARQUE WILKERSON, Topeka West

Wilkerson, a 6-2 senior, scored a game-high 25 points as Topeka West's boys basketball team took over sole possession of the Centennial League lead with a 63-46 home Centennial League win over Washburn Rural. Continuing a recent hot streak, Wilkerson scored 16 points in the first half and hit 11 of 14 field goal attempts on the night as the Chargers improved to 11-2 overall and 8-1 in the league.

Details: Created: 07 February 2021

By Rick Peterson

TopSports.news

After going one-two in the Mid-East League wrestling tournament, Silver Lake and Rossville finished the same way in Saturday's Class 3A-1A District Boys Tournament at Silver Lake, with the Eagles winning the team championship by a 205-169 margin over the Bulldawgs.

Silver Lake won five individual titles and had 11 wrestlers post top-four finishes to qualify for regional competition, while Rossville had three individual winners and nine regional qualifiers.

Silver Lake got district wins from junior Justin Rakestraw at 132 pounds, senior Kai Allen at 138, junior Daigan Kruger at 170, junior Triston VandeVelde at 182 and junior Preston Gillen at 195 pounds.

Daigan Kruger

Rakestraw improved to 12-3 on the season, while Allen is now 31-3, Kruger 41-1, VandeVelde 36-4 and Gillen 34-6.

Also qualifying for regionals for the Eagles were junior Devin Dultmeier (second at 120), sophomore Tyler Cook (fourth at 126), junior Caleb Taylor (third at 145), freshman Chase Root (third at 152), junior Eli Herkenrath (fourth at 160) and sophomore Kaden Walker (second at 220).

Earning district champions for Rossville were freshman 106-pounder Mason Broce, senior 145-pounder Layne Hurla and junior 152-pounder Sam Twombly while junior Colby Hurla (132), sophomore Krew Lacock (138), junior Corey Catron (160) and freshman Barrett Lietz (195) all posted second-place finishes..

Broce improved his record to 14-8 on the season while Hurla is is 21-3 and Twombly 11-2.

Also advancing to regionals for Rossville were sophomore Aryon Kleseth (third at 126), senior Joe McGrath (third at 170).

DIVISION II GIRLS DISTRICT AT MARYSVILLE

Senior Grace Fitzgerald won the 120-pound championship and freshman Hailey Horton won at 155 pounds to lead Silver Lake to the team title by an 88-73 margin over Holton in Friday's Division II Girls District Tournament at Marysville.

Fitzgerald improved to 18-9 on the season while Horton improved to 29-9.

Hailey Horton

Rossville also claimed an individual title, with freshman Keera Lacock winning at 115 pounds to improve to 13-3 on the season.