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By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Cair Paravel Latin's boys basketball team picked up its 15th straight win Friday on Senior Night, improving to 18-2 with a 73-34 home victory over Heritage Christian.
“It’s obviously super fun,'' CPLS senior Caleb Cleverson said. "I think with this group of guys, I couldn’t pick a better group to do it with. At a Christian school, we talk about God is the middle term and we’re united as a team with God in mind, so when the first five go out there, we are pursuing Christ.”
“It was kind of a weird game,'' Lions coach Chip Kueffer said. "I thought our kids did well. I felt like they did some things fundamentally sound like they should. It’s tough because you want to stay sharp and when things are going well in games like this, it’s really easy to develop some bad habits, get away with one handed passes, jump to pass or take some sloppy shots, but I think we did a pretty good job in spurts of trying to stay disciplined.”
Senior Lucas Marichal continued his stellar season, especially his 3-point shooting, hitting two in the first quarter, pushing CPLS in front 5-4. The team would go on a 9-0 run, leading 13-4. Marichal pushed that lead to 10, 18-8 and pushed the Red Lions to a 22-12 advantage after one.
“We had all the pieces but I don’t think we knew we could play to this level that we’ve been playing at and we’ve played some really good teams this year,'' said Marichael, who finished with a game-high 20 points. "I think we’ll be very well prepared down the road.''
CPLS put up 23 points in the second quarter from a variety of players, thanks to another 12-0 run. Cleverdon knocked down a triple at 29-12. Then at 31-12, the Eagles called timeout with 4:27 before halftime.
Senior Drew Fay, who chipped in 11 points, capped off the 12-0 run with a bucket down low to put CPLS in front, 34-12.
CPLS then ran away with the game late in the second quarter, taking a commanding 45-16 lead while holding Heritage Christian to four points in the quarter.
In the third quarter, CPLS jumped out to another big run of 10-0. Fay got an and-one opportunity, missed the free throw but sophomore Blain Durbin, who provided 19 points, grabbed the rebound for the putback as the Lions opened up a 39-point cushion, their biggest of the game (55-16).
Kueffer did pull the seniors with over five minutes left in the third quarter but they returned to begin the fourth quarter before they were eventually pulled once again.
The Lions led by 43 at one point with the running clock in effect (73-30).
“If you come out and watch some pretty poor basketball you kind of get out of it but I don’t think our guys or their team did that,'' Cleverdon said. "Both of us were playing really hard and fighting for every point so I think it was pretty easy for us on the bench to stay locked in.''
“I think we’re having fun, there’s a lot of season left,'' Kueffer said. "We have big dreams, big aspirations. I think we’re treating people the right way. One of our advantages is we don’t have one guy, we’ve got five or six that can lead the charge.
"Basketball is a crazy sport that’s why March is Madness because anybody can beat anybody. We have to stay disciplined and sharp.''
CAIR PARAVEL 73, HERITAGE CHRISTIAN 34
Heritage Christian 12 4 11 7 – 34
Cair Paravel 22 23 21 7 – 73
Heritage Christian (9-6) – Freerksen 2 0-0 5, June 2 0-0 4, May 2 2-4 6, Perry Cruz 7 5-5 19.
Cair Paravel (18-2) – Gossard 1 0-0 2, Turcato 1 2-2 5, Congdon 1 0-0 2, Hastert 4 0-0 9 Marichal 7 3-4 20, Durbin 9 12 19, Cleverdon 2 0-0 5, Fay 5 1-2 11, Bond 0 0-3 0.
3-point goals – Heritage Christian 1 (Freerksen), Cair Paravel 6 (Marichal 3, Hastert, Turcato, Cleverdon). Total fouls – Heritage Christian 8, Cair Paravel 11. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
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By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Cair Paravel Latin girls basketball entered Friday's Senior Night game coming off a big win over league rival Council Grove Tuesday and pushed its win streak to two, handling Heritage Christian, 43-9.
Seniors Karysn Hastert and KellyAnn Chada have meant a lot to the Lions program over the last four years and especially the last two years with coach Jaley Barkley, who said she’s loved coaching both of them.
“Their connection is just something special,'' Barkley said. "They’re great friends off the court. They’ve been great leaders for me since I took over as coach. The girls look up to both Karysn and KellyAnn and they’ve stepped up in such a big way.”
“It’s very bittersweet,'' Chada said. "Obviously this isn’t the last game but it symbolizes the last game in a way which is something I will miss. I’ve really enjoyed having Jaley as a coach. She went here and we’ve had a prior connection and it was great to have her come back to CP.''
Hastert started the scoring for CPLS just over two minutes into the game, but then the Lions kicked it into another gear. Junior Becca Gateley drilled a triple to make it 5-0 and after another bucket, Heritage Christian called a timeout with 4:25 left in the first quarter.
Cair Paravel went on a 19-1 run to begin the game, thanks to freshman Avery Rosenow and then a Chada and-one as CPLS led 19-3 after one quarter.
The second quarter started slow for both teams, but CPLS was all over the Eagles forcing turnovers, leading to fastbreak and transition points, as multiple players scored in the game for a balanced scoring attack.
Gateley pushed the advantage to 26-5 after another three and held and Cair Paravel held Heritage Christian to just five points in the half, leading 32-5.
Hastert and Chada scored all six points for CPLS in the third quarter as Hastert would finish with a game-high 14 points and Chada with 13. After the 32 point margin (38-6) the running clock began in the fourth quarter.
“Once we settled in and got into that rhythm, we had a fun game,” Chada said.
Barkley subbed out Hastert and Chada with a little under three minutes left in the game as the Lions picked up win No. 10 on the campaign.
“Once the first basket falls, it opens the lid for the girls,'' Barkley said. "Our 3-2 zone has been our bread and butter creating steals and I have a couple of girls in the top of the steals category for the city. Once Karsyn got that first bucket, it helped get the game flowing.''
CAIR PARAVEL 43, HERITAGE CHRISTIAN 9
Heritage Christian 3 2 1 3 – 9
Cair Paravel 19 13 6 5 – 43
Heritage Christian (10-5) – Mullikin 1 0-0 2, Raj 0 1-2 1, Seashols 0 1-4 1, May 2 1-4 5.
Cair Paravel (10-10) – Hastert 6 2-4 14, Rosenow 3 0-0 6, Gateley 2 0-0 6, Welshans 2 0-0 4, Chada 6 1-1 13.
3-point goals – Cair Paravel 2 (Gateley 2). Total fouls – Heritage Christian 3, Cair Paravel 8. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The second-best boys team in the United Kansas Conference standings was pushed all night Friday by the second-worst team in the standings. But Topeka West, ranked fourth in the state in Class 5A, held off a feisty Leavenworth team to win 66-57 at West. The win kept the Chargers in the conference title hunt.
Senior Malakyah Duncan tied for team-high scoring honors with 16 points in Friday's 66-57 Topeka West win over Leavenworth. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Leavenworth rallied to take a lead midway through the second period. That ignited a fire in the Chargers. Topeka West ripped off a 10-0 run to lead 32-23. But that fire burned out quickly. The Pioneers repeatedly clawed back from double-digit deficits throughout the second half.
Having trailed by as much as 13 points, Leavenworth scored seven-straight points late in the fourth period to put a scare in the home team. Pioneer senior Kentravion Tolbert drove to the bucket with 1:46 remaining and was knocked to the deck in the process of scoring in traffic. His free throw made the score 58-55 – way too close for comfort in a game that was supposed to be one-sided.
The Chargers responded by outscoring Leavenworth 8-2 down the stretch. But there wasn’t much to celebrate after the victory.
“Leavenworth is a team that has nothing to lose,” said Topeka West coach Christian Ulsaker. “They’re going to come out and play hard, because a lot of those guys are playing for playing time next year.
“For us, we were a little sluggish. We’ve got to start a little better. That’s kind of been our motto the last couple of games, we’ve got to start with a better tempo. That’s on me as the coach. I’ve got to get them going early on.”
It seemed every time the Chargers started to pull away, they lost the momentum.
“I think (in those moments) we had a little bit of a loss of concentration. Maybe just getting complacent,” Ulsaker said. “We’ve got to learn how to continue those runs, make them a little bit longer. And be more sound on defense.”
Seniors Keimani Paul and Malakyah Duncan scored 16 points apiece to lead the Chargers. Paul, who connected on 7-10 shots from the field, found some positives from the game, particularly the Chargers’ full-court pressure.
“We didn’t let them just run over us. We came out trying to play defense, trying to score,” Paul said. “We like to speed things up. (The Pioneers) couldn’t handle the pressure, so we just stayed up, got the ball back every time we turned it over.”
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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Topeka West girls basketball coach Angie Ketterman found a bright spot in her team’s 63-40 United Kansas Conference home loss to Leavenworth Friday -- the Chargers fought to the end.
Senior Addaline Hall paced Topeka West with 13 points in Friday's UKC loss to Leavenworth. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Despite trailing by double digits from late in the first period on, the Topeka West girls battled and scrapped to the final buzzer. The Chargers’ intensity produced a number of tense exchanges and a bevy of whistles in the fourth period. Ketterman said afterward she appreciated her team’s effort and attitude.
“I feel like we really battled a lot harder than we have in the past,” Ketterman said. “That’s what we’ve been really talking about, especially on defense.”
Topeka West junior Sydney VanDyke scored 10 points in Friday's UKC loss to Leavenworth. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Addaline Hall led Topeka West with 13 points, followed by Sydney VanDyke with 10. But the Chargers struggled at the offensive end, hitting just 13 of 56 shot attempts.
“Tonight, we missed a lot of our free throws,” Ketterman said. “We missed some of those easy things. But I feel like our girls battled. They got very frustrated the last minute and a half. That shows that they really wanted this. They played hard.
“I’m not going to take that away from them. They did play hard. But we missed a lot of free throws and some easy shots.”
Ketterman said that in the Chargers’ three remaining games, she hopes to see similar tenacity and effort, which will serve as a foundation for improvement.
“I hope to see us keep battling like that, to show the younger ones what it takes to get those wins,” Ketterman said.
LEAVENWORTH GIRLS 63, TOPEKA WEST 40
Leavenworth 17 11 16 19 -- 63
Topeka West 9 11 10 10 -- 40
Leavenworth (7-12, 5-7) – Walker 4-12 3-4 14, Huewitt 4-12 6-8 14, Brown 6-11 3-6 16, Allen 1-4 0-0 2, M. McIntyre 4-12 1-2 9, Graham 0-3 0-2 0, P. McIntyre 0-3 2-2 2, McCann 2-3 0-0 6, Noell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-60 15-24 63.
Topeka West (5-14, 2-11) – Allen 1-11 2-2 4, Gonzales 2-5 2-2 7, VanDyke 3-17 4-10 10, Hall 4-16 5-8 13, McGlory 1-5 0-0 2, Kutina 2-2 0-0 4, Ogles 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-56 13-22 40.
3-point goals – Leavenworth 6 (Walker 3, McCann 2, Brown), Topeka West 1 (Gonzales). Total fouls – Leavenworth 21, Topeka West 21. Fouled out – Allen. Technical fouls – VanDyke.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After Junction City cut a 16-point Washburn Rural lead to just three points midway through the fourth quarter Friday night, the host Junior Blues were in need of a big play to stem the tide.
Sophomore Brooks Ballard scored a game-high 17 points with five 3-pointers in Friday's 56-40 Washburn Rural win over Junction City. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Sophomore Brooks Ballard came through with three of them, draining back-to-back 3-pointers and three treys over the final 3:54 as Washburn Rural pulled away to snap a three-game losing streak with a 56-40 Centennial League victory over the Blue Jays.
"Just from practice, and all the reps we've gone through, I just trust our offense and trust that guys are going to get open and make plays,'' said Ballard, who scored a game-high 17 points on five 3s. "My guys got me open.''
And in a situation like Friday, when Ballard has the opportunity to come through for his team, he relies on his shooter's mentality.
"I always think it's going in, I'm not ever doubting myself,'' he said.
Ballard was just happy to be able to help close out what was a much-needed win for the Junior Blues, who had dropped three straight single-digit games, including a pair of one-point heartbreakers.
"This was a huge one for us, coming off some tough losses,'' Ballard said. "This was a big one to get us back on track.''
Washburn Rural coach Alex Hutchins wasn't surprised that his 6-foot-2 guard came through in the clutch.
"He is a really good shooter,'' Hutchins said. "I think the thing that stands out with him though is just the decision-making as a sophomore. He has some sophomore moments here or there and we have to have some conversations, but not very many considering he's a sophomore and we basically put the responsibility and the load on his shoulders of a senior.''
After digging itself out of an 11-0 hole to start the game and a 13-3 deficit at the start of the second quarter, Washburn Rural (10-8 overall, 3-3 in the league) battled back to take a 17-16 halftime advantage before using a 20-5 run to go up 37-21 with 2:37 left in the third stanza.
The Junior Blues took a 12-point lead (39-27) into the fourth quarter before the Blue Jays fought back to make it a one-possession game at 43-40.
Washburn Rural senior John Hoytal returned from an injury to score 12 points in Friday's 56-40 win over Junction City. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
But like it had early in the game, Washburn Rural showed its resiliency in being able to close out the victory while getting a big lift from senior John Hoytal, who returned to score 12 points off the bench after missing three straight games with an injury.
"We've been close in a lot of games lately and we just haven't finished the job off, so I'd by lying if I said there weren't some moments where it was like, 'Man, here we go again,' '' Hutchins said. "John was on limited minutes tonight but having him back in the fold changes things incredibly.
"He's just a steadying force for us. Whether the numbers show it or not, he doesn't always have to put up numbers to kind of steady us on both ends of the floor. And I felt like we had lots of guys who had really, really solid nights tonight.''
Washburn Rural senior Simon Rowley scored 10 points in Friday's 56-40 win over Junction City. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Senior Simon Rowley, who is also rounding back into form after missing multiple games with an injury, added 10 points, including a key stretch of three straight baskets in the third quarter to give Rural its 16-point cushion.
