By NICHOLAS GAINEY
Special to TopSports.news
Four Vikings reached double figures as the Seaman boys basketball team downed Topeka High 73-64 on Wednesday night at Seaman.
Junior KaeVon Bonner led Seaman with 16 points in Wednesday's 73-64 non-league win over Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Both offenses took several minutes to warm up, with the visiting Trojans (0-12) jumping out to a quick 5-2 lead in the opening stages of the contest.
A 3-pointer from Landon Wiltz and a layup from KaeVon Bonner gave a five-point swing to the Vikings (9-3).
With little separation between the two teams early on, Seaman’s Matthew McConnaughey began his big screen-worthy first half performance, earning an and-one opportunity and completing the 3-point play to give the Vikings a 16-13 lead after one quarter of play.
Seaman used a big second quarter to pull away, out-scoring Topeka High 22-9 in the period.
The Vikings used a balanced attack to extend their lead, with 3-pointers from Griffin Zuniga and Bonner, along with a 3-point play from Wiltz.
Seaman closed the first half on a 7-0 run to take a 38-22 lead into halftime.
Despite a discouraging second quarter, Topeka High stayed within striking distance, scoring the first 5 points of the third quarter on a 3-pointer from Elisha Guest and a pair of free throws from Octavian McFadden.
The Vikings held on to the double-digit lead for the entirety of the third quarter, with Bonner adding seven of his team-high 16 points in the period.
The Trojans started the fourth quarter much like they did the third, with a quick basket from Jalen Aldridge and a 3-pointer from Mar’Saun Redmond cutting the deficit to seven.
With the lead shrinking, momentum swung back in favor of the hosts following a pair of free throws and a fast-break dunk from Finley to give the Vikings a 63-52 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
The teams continued to shoot at high percentages for the remainder of the contest, but the Vikings held the Trojans at bay.
Aldridge knocked down a pair of late 3-pointers for Topeka High to bring the game to its 73-64 final.
Seaman senior Bryer Finley scored 15 points in the Vikings' 73-64 win over Topeka High Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Landon Wiltz scored 14 points as Seaman improved to 9-3 with a 73-64 win over Topeka High Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Bonner led Seaman with 16 points on 7-9 shooting in the victory. Finley chipped in with 15 points, while Wiltz added 14 points.
McConnaughey scored all 13 of his points in the first half, while leading the Vikings with seven rebounds.
Seaman shot just over 56 percent from the floor as a team.
Jalen Aldridge led all scorers with 25 points in Topeka High's 73-64 loss to Seaman Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Aldridge led all scorers with 25 points for Topeka High while Bryson McComas fell one rebound short of a double-double, tallying 12 points and nine boards. Guest knocked down three triples for nine points.
Seaman coach Craig Cox was impressed with multiple phases of his team’s offense in the victory.
“If we’re able to score over 70 points in a game, we’re going to be pretty happy with that,” Cox said. “We like the way that we can shoot the basketball, and we’re getting better at moving without the ball and hitting cutters and getting some nice shots.”
With a difficult schedule remaining that features rematches with De Soto and Piper, along with home-and-home bouts with Basehor-Linwood and Shawnee Heights, Cox is hoping for strong performances that can set up a deep postseason run.
“We were fortunate to beat (De Soto) earlier in the season. We know that’s going to be a super tough game,” Cox said. “We’ve got a challenging schedule that, if we can meet that challenge, will set us up really well for sub-state to where we could have a lot of confidence and momentum.”
Seaman will be back in action on Friday at De Soto while Topeka High will return home for a Feb. 4 clash with Emporia.
SEAMAN BOYS 73, TOPEKA HIGH 64
Topeka High 13 9 21 21 -- 64
Seaman 16 22 17 18 -- 73
Topeka High (0-12) - Redmond 2-5 1-2 6, Guest 3-11 0-0 9, Dingle 0-0 0-0 0, McFadden 2-7 4-4 8, Aldridge 8-18 6-8 25, Campbell 1-2 1-2 3, Mallory 0-0 0-0 0, McComas 6-16 0-0 12, Carter 0-1 1-2 1, Villegas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-60 13-18 64.
Seaman (9-3) -- Finley 6-14 2-3 15, Bonner 7-9 0-0 16, Toyne 1-2 0-0 2, Wiltz 6-13 1-1 14, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Zuniga 1-2 1-2 4, McConnaughey 6-9 1-1 13, Brian 0-0 0-0 0, Brewer 4-6 0-1 9. Totals 31-56 5-8 73.
3-point goals - Topeka High 7 (Guest 3, Aldridge 3, Redmond), Seaman 6 (Bonner 2, Finley, Wiltz, Zuniga, Brewer). Total fouls - Topeka High 11, Seaman 10. Fouled out - none. Technical fouls -- none.
