By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
With No. 6-ranked Shawnee Heights girls basketball on an eight-game winning streak it might have been cold outside but it was not cold inside for the Lady T-Birds, who rolled to a 74-26 United Kansas Conference road win at Topeka West.
Shawnee Heights junior KK Emmot scored a game-high 20 points in Friday's 74-26 UKC win at Topeka West. [File photo/TSN]
The T-Birds would get off to a hot start as junior KK Emmot would score 10 of her game high 20 points in the first quarter.
The Chargers would try to keep it close and made it a 9-5 game before the T-Birds would go on a 23-0 run that would stretch from the middle of the first quarter to the three-minute mark of the second quarter.
The Lady Chargers would hit a 3-pointer and then the Lady T Birds would take flight again, going into the locker room with a commanding 41-10 lead and Emmot having 18 of her 20 at the break.
The third quarter would be the same as former Charger and T-bird senior Imani McGlory would score 9 of her 13 points in the quarter.
“It was very nostalgic and lots of memories, but I really just wanted to go out there and play to the best of my abilities,” McGlory said about her return to West.
The T Birds would leave the third quarter with a 68-21 lead to force a running clock going into the fourth quarter and cruised the rest of the way.
With the win the T-birds, who dropped three of their first four games, have now won nine straight.
“We have been seeing in games the things we're working on in practice,'' Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. "And I think the girls have really bought into it, and they're learning to play together so much better and sharing the ball, and giving each other good shots. And just the way they're all playing together has been fun to watch, honestly.”
“At the start of the season, I feel like we didn't have that good of chemistry, we had two returning people who really played on varsity, and three new starters,'' Emmot said. "So we just kind of had to build chemistry throughout the season.
"If we were to play those teams that we lost to at the start of the season, we would beat them now. Just because the chemistry's there and that’s like the biggest part of basketball.”
McGlory agreed.
“The team chemistry has definitely changed,'' she said. "There’s so many new faces on the team and we played lots of challenging games at the beginning of the season with little practice. I feel like the more we practice and play the more we’re growing on each other and playing together as a team.”
The Lady Chargers were led in scoring by senior Teairra Gonzalez with 11 points.
The T-Birds will compete in next week's Capital City Classic at Topeka High. The tournament includes a loaded field featuring three teams currently state-ranked -- Class 6A No. 2 Wichita Heights, 6A No. 3 Derby and 5A No. 6 Shawnee Heights -- as well as city schools Seaman, Highland Park and Topeka High.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 74, TOPEKA WEST 26
Shawnee Heights 22 19 27 6 -- 74
Topeka West 5 5 11 5 -- 26
Shawnee Heights (10-3, 8-1) -- Emmot 6-9 5-5 20, McGlory 5-6 1-1 13, Carter 3-4 4-6 10, Baum 3-7 1-1 7, Vega 3-6 0-0 6, Aubrey Hamilton 1-3 5-7 7, Karlyle 3-5 0-1 6, Allie Hamilton 1-2 0-0 3, Brees 0-0 2-2 2, Schmidt 0-0 0-0 0, Pierce 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-43 18-23 74.
Topeka West (2-10 1-8) -- Gonzalez 4-9 0-0 11, VanDyke 1-5 3-5 5, Kutina 1-4 0-0 2, McGlory 0-5 0-2 0, Ogles 0-0 0-0 0, Hall 2-7 0-0 5, Perkins 1-3 0-0 3, Traylor 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 9-34 3-7 26.
3-point goals -- Shawnee Heights 6 (Emmot 3, McGlory 2, Allie Hamilton). Topeka West 5 (Gonzalez 3, Hall, Perkins). Total Fouls -- Shawnee Heights 6, Topeka West 17. Fouled out -- None.
