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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
The Highland Park Scots, ranked No. 3 in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, dominated from start to finish Thursday night on the way to an 111-43 Meadowlark Conference victory over Kansas City-Sumner at Highland Park.
The Scots finally played their first game of 2024 and their first game since Dec. 15th on Thursday.
“Break was amazing, that’s the time where there is no school, no anything just basketball, and that’s exactly what we did,'' Highland Park coach Michael Williams said. "I use the pockets in the season to teach and try to grow my team.
"The tricky thing about our schedule so far is that we have had a lot of practice and no games. There’s an idea going around of the competition we are playing and I think when that comes up people discredit what we're doing behind the scenes. Your games are one aspect and phase of it but not the only phase, so we utilize practice to the most to keep improving.”
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
The Highland Park girls basketball team, ranked No. 7 in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, started off slow Thursday night with an 18-11 lead over Kansas City-Sumner Academy at the end of the first quarter but woke up to take a 35-17 halftime lead on the way to a dominating 64-23 Meadowlark Conference victory at Hi Park.
The Lady Scots improved to 4-0 in their first action since Dec. 15th and fourth game of the season.
“We haven't played since Dec. 15th and having games cancelled and moved to weather, it was sloppy to start out but we calmed down and picked up are defensive intensity and played smart basketball,” Highland Park coach Rob Brown said.
The Lady Scots were led in scoring by 5-foot-10 freshman Pearmella Carter with 22 points and seven rebounds.
“It was a good game and we were rusty but we loosened up in the second half and took off,” Carter said.
The Lady Scots also got another monster night from 6-0 junior Amelia Ramsey, who finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds and earned her fourth straight double-double.
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
TopSports.news
The Seaman Vikings faced the Basehor-Linwood Bobcats in a United Kansas Conference boys basketbal contest Thursday night in the Vikings' first home game following the winter break.
In a game where Basehor-Linwood took a sizable lead into halftime, the Vikings chipped away at the lead in the third quarter and were able to take the lead in the final stanza on two different occasions. But the Bobcats fought back in the last three minutes to take the contest, 56-51.
“Our shot selection wasn’t very good, but we were able to get to the free throw line, get some points there and felt okay to be down 11 points at halftime,” Seaman coach Craig Cox said.
The third quarter saw the Vikes slowly get closer to the Bobcats, outscoring them 19-10 in the quarter.
“To their (the Vikes) credit, they really came out and did what we talked about which was to chip away at the lead and get yourself back in the game,'' Cox said. "We did that and continued that momentum into the fourth quarter.”
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
TopSports.news
Following two snow days earlier in the week, the third-ranked team in Class 5A, the Seaman Lady Vikings, hosted Basehor-Linwood in a United Kansas Conference clash on Thursday night. The Lady Vikes controlled the game, winning 62-42.
Seaman coach Matt Tinsley was pleased with the performance despite the long layoff, saying, “We hadn’t played or practiced in a while so you worry about timing, but I thought we played really well tonight.”
The Lady Vikes executed the game plan according to Tinsley. “Offensively, I feel like the ball will find the right girl if we keep it moving, which was an emphasis prior to the game.”
The Lady Vikes jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game, forcing a Bobcat timeout. Basehor-Linwood finally scored with a little over five minutes remaining in the first quarter.
For the Bobcats, the second quarter was almost a carbon copy of the first -- they were scoreless for the first 4:30 of the quarter. Meanwhile, the Lady Vikes dominated the quarter by shooting 9 of 15 from the field, including 2-3 from the 3-point line.
In the second half the Bobcats began to run better offense and outscored the Lady Vikes 29-24 over the final two quarters. But the 24-5 score in favor of the Lady Vikes in the second quarter proved to be the difference.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake senior girls basketball standout McKinley Kruger reached the 1,000-point scoring milestone Thursday in the Eagles' 62-30 home Mid-East League victory over Riley County.
Kruger scored 18 points as the undefeated and top-ranked (Class 3A) Eagles improved to 7-0 while senior Makenzie McDaniel led all scorers with 20 points and sophomore Kailyn Hanni added nine points.