By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Even though Topeka High's boys basketball team has struggled in the early going in the 2022-2023 season, Washburn Rural coach Alex Hutchins said he knew his Junior Blues, who cracked the Class 6A state rankings at No. 10 on Tuesday, couldn't afford to take anything for granted Tuesday night, particuarly at the storied Dungeon.
And although things got a little sloppy at times, Hutchins was happy to take the 54-42 Centennial League road win, the Junior Blues' fourth straight, and move on.
Senior Jack Bachelor (12) scored a game-high 17 points as Washburn Rural improved to 6-2 with a 54-42 win at Topeka High Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural sophomore Max Bettis (53) drives to the hoop between Topeka High junior Bryson Thrasher (2) and senior Ty Votaw Tuesday night at High. Bettis had seven points an 12 rebounds in Rural's 54-42 win while Thrasher led High with 16 points. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural, which improved to 6-2 overall and a perfect 3-0 in the league, trailed just once in the game, at 6-4, and by as many as 18 points (40-22) before fighting through a late Trojan run to claim the double-digit victory.
"If you paid attention you know that they've done this against pretty much everyone they've played,'' Hutchins said about High's rally. "I think Blue Valley Northwest is the only team that really put it to them. They did this against Manhattan, they did this against Emporia. They're scrappy. They hang in it and that 3-point line keeps them in it and keeps it interesting.
"You don't ever want to take wins for granted or ever get to where you're calloused enough where you don't enjoy them, so we'll enjoy this.''
Washburn Rural scored the last six points of the first quarter to take a 10-6 lead and the Junior Blues opened up a 21-6 lead in the second quarter en route to a 23-11 halftime advantage.
Rural went on to lead by 17 (36-19) late in the third quarter on the way to a 36-22 lead at the start of the fourth quarter and the Junior Blues took a 40-22 lead on a Jack Bachelor hoop before Topeka High (1-7, 0-3) fought all the way back to get within seven (49-42) on an Isaiah Lyons 3-pointer with 1:16 remaining before Rural closed out the win with five straight points.
Bachelor, a senior, led the Junior Blues with a game-high 17 points while senior Jacob Hirschi added 11 points and sophomore Max Bettis seven points and 12 rebounds of the bench. Junior JC Heim added 10 rebounds.
Junior Bryson Thrasher led Topeka High with 16 points, including three 3-pointers, while Lyons added nine points (three 3s) and senior Mason Gomez eight points (two 3s) for the Trojans.
WASHBURN RURAL BOYS 54, TOPEKA HIGH 42
Washburn Rural 10 13 13 18 -- 54
Topeka High 6 5 11 20 -- 42
Washburn Rural (6-2, 3-0) -- Jones 1-3 1-2 3, Hirschi 4-9 3-4 11, Bachelor 6-15 5-6 17, Durst 1-5 3-4 5, Heim 0-1 0-2 0, Leonard 0-0 0-0 0, Ballard 1-6 1-2 4, Morris 3-6 0-0 7, S. Bettis 0-1 0-2 0, M. Bettis 3-5 1-5 7. Totals 19-51 14-27 54.
Topeka High (1-7, 0-3) -- Lyons 3-16 0-0 9, Thrasher 6-10 1-2 16, Hales 0-3 3-4 3, Norman 1-4 0-0 3, Gomez 3-9 0-0 8, Votaw 0-0 0-0 0, Mosqueda 1-2 0-0 3, Storrer 0-0 0-0 0, Groves 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-45 4-6 42.
3-point goals -- Washburn Rural 2 (Morris, Ballard), Topeka High 10 (Lyons 3, Thrasher 3, Gomez 2, Norman, Mosqueda). Total fouls -- Washburn Rural 8, Topeka High 16. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
