By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There's no doubt that Seaman's earlier boys basketball game against Topeka West was a low point of the Vikings' 2025-2026 season, really the only low point in what has been an outstanding start.
Playing in front of their home fans on Dec. 12, the Vikings gave up 30 points to West in the opening eight minutes and trailed by 31 points after three quarters en route to a 71-57 loss to the Chargers.
Seaman senior KaeVon Bonner (33) scored a game-high 28 points in Tuesday's 57-52 UKC road win at Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
No. 3-ranked Seaman evened the score in Tuesday's rematch at No. 2 West, leading for most of the opening three quarters before rallying from a four-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to take a 57-52 United Kansas Conference victory.
"We gutted it out,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "I told our players that was probably the thing that stuck out to me the most was getting behind in that fourth quarter and being able to regroup, maintain some composure and find a way to get it done.''
Seaman, now 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the UKC, fell behind 6-0 early in the game, but the Vikings fought back behind senior star KaeVon Bonner to take a 13-12 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
The Vikings led by as many as eight points in the second stanza and took a 29-24 lead to the locker room at halftime, but Topeka West (7-2, 6-1) doubled up Seaman 14-7 in the third quarter to take a 38-36 advantage and scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter to go up by four points at 40-36.
Seaman answered with four straight points to knot things at 40-all and the game was close the rest of the way
West went up 52-50 on a hoop from junior Jasper Phillips with 1:52 remaining, but Seaman ended the game with the final seven points.
After Bonner tied the game at 52, senior Griffin Zuniga put the Vikings ahead to stay with 1:08 left and Bonner, senior Landon Wiltz and senior Matthew McConnaughey hit one of two free throws (Seaman was 11 of 22 on the night) down the the stretch.
Seaman senior Landon Wiltz reacts to a big play in Tuesday's 57-52 UKC win at Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Several players came up big down the stretch on both end of the floor, including Wiltz, who had 6 points, 8 rebounds and a pair of 3-pointers on the night.
"That's what we're going to need,'' Cox said. "As great as KaeVon is, we know those other guys are going to have to take advantage of their opportunities when those opportunites arise and they can help us. I think their confidence is growing and they're feeling real good about their team.''
Bonner, who was coming off a 42-point game at Lansing, scored 28 points Tuesday night while Zuniga added 15.
Bonner said Tuesday's win was huge for the Vikings, especially considering how the earlier game with West went.
"We definitely just wanted it a lot more this game,'' Bonner said. "We knew they beat us that first game and it was pretty embarrassing that first quarter. We just knew we had to get out on them because they shot really well against us, so we got out on them and we just wanted it a lot more (this game).
"We knew they were ranked higher than us and we just wanted this one really bad. I know I made a couple of dumb turnovers and I was getting a little exhausted, but we had people on our team that stepped up and really helped us out toward the end.''
Senior Keimani Paul led Topeka West with 18 points while junior Prince Lassiter added 13 points.
Seaman will be at home Friday to host Leavenworth while West will travel to Kansas City-Turner.
SEAMAN BOYS 57, TOPEKA WEST 52
Seaman 13 16 7 21 -- 57
Topeka West 12 12 14 14 -- 52
Seaman (7-1, 6-1) – Wiltz 2-5 1-2 6, McConnaughey 0-0 1-2 1, Zuniga 7-10 1-3 15, Brian 2-2 0-2 4, Bonner 9-18 8-12 28, Scholes 1-1 0-1 2, Becker 0-0 0-0 0, Esser 0-0 0-0 0, LaRosh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-35 11-22 57.
Topeka West (7-2, 6-1) – Munganga 1-5 2-2 5, Traylor 3-5 2-3 8, Duncan 2-8 1-4 5, Paul 8-16 1-4 18, Lassiter 6-9 1-3 13, Phillips 1-2 1-2 3, Fox 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-45 8-18 52.
3-point goals – Seaman 4 (Wiltz 2, Bonner 2), Topeka West 2 (Munganga, Paul). Total fouls – Seaman 18, Topeka West 19. Fouled out – Traylor. Technical fouls -- none.
