By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
With each team coming off of wins, Topeka West and Hayden girls basketball were in action Tuesday evening.
The Wildcats kept rolling, picking up a second win in just 24 hours with a 53-35 home Centennial League decision over the Chargers even after starting slow.
“I do think we lacked energy tonight … we played last night and we played today and I do think we did for whatever reason have a little bit of a wakeup call,” said Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson.
Hayden was led by 25 points from senior Macy Smith, with 21 coming after the first quarter as Hayden moved to 10-7 on the year.
Hayden senior Macy Smith scored 25 points in the Wildcats' 53-35 Centennial League win over Topeka West Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
“She scored really well for us tonight, but she also got in the lane and made the right play, she wasn’t just forcing stuff and I think that allowed the ball to get back to her,” Reynoldson said.
Topeka West showed progress, but could not follow up Friday’s win over Junction City with a second in a row, dropping to 2-15 overall.
“Absolutely (I am seeing progress), we played well against Junction City and we shot the ball well,” said Topeka West coach Jeff Skar. “I am pleased with some of the things that we are doing, I am disappointed for them that they don’t get to enjoy some of the fruits of those efforts.''
Scoring was hard to come by early, as Chargers sophomore Rebecca Bearman had all three points for West in the opening three minutes of the game.
The Wildcats would come back to take a 9-6 lead after the first quarter with all nine points coming in the paint or at the line.
Senior Carly Stuke expanded Hayden’s lead to five points early in the second quarter after two quick baskets.
Topeka West would come back to take the lead after free throws from junior Jazmyn Ford, who was all over the offensive glass.
From that point on Smith took over for the Wildcats, scoring the final five points of the quarter on either side to take a 18-14 lead into halftime.
“We got a good speech from coach coming to the bench after the first quarter,” Smith said. “I think it was the adrenaline and the work from my teammates and moving the ball around and getting open shots.''
Six early points in the third from Bearman kept the Chargers within three points until freshman Brylee Meier and Stuke knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers for Hayden.
The lead stayed within 10 until the final thirty seconds of the quarter when the Wildcats scored five points, including a 3-pointer from Smith, to put them up 40-27 entering the fourth.
“I think we got tired in the second half and some of those rotations weren’t as sharp, help and recover wasn’t as sharp and aggressive,” Skar said.
Another made 3-pointer from Smith had Hayden up by 16 with 5:49 left in the fourth quarter and put her over 20 for the game.
Topeka West got four points each in the quarter from Ford and sophomore Siani Sanchez, but never got closer than 14. Back-to-back layups by Smith with just over a minute left gave the Wildcats the 18-point win.
“It’s always great to win, it gives everyone a great feeling and practices will be better the next two days because of it,” Reynoldson said.
Smith led all scorers with her 25-point night, including three 3-pointers for Hayden. Smith scored 16 of her 25 in the second half. Stuke added nine points.
“I think that we were moving the ball around really well, we always play as a team but I think tonight especially we did and on defense we were hustling and we were staying in the gaps on defense which allowed us to get steals and breakaways,” Smith said.
The Chargers were led by Bearman’s 13 points while Ford finished in double figures with 11. Sophomore Zoe Clark added seven.
"We talked about games like these you can’t have those lapses … because they will turn those into baskets,” Skar said. “Against a good team those things come back to bite you.”
Both teams stay at home in their next game, with the Chargers playing host to Emporia and Hayden welcoming Topeka High with both games on Friday.
HAYDEN GIRLS 53, TOPEKA WEST 35
Topeka West 6 8 13 8 -- 35
Hayden 9 9 22 13 -- 53
Hayden (10-7, 6-6) – Gruner 0-4 0-3 0, Lenherr 0-1 0-0 0, Sandstrom 2-3 0-0 4, Anguiano 2-4 2-2 6, Smith 9-17 4-5 25, Stuke 4-10 0-0 9, Huscher 1-4 0-0 2, Cruz 0-0 0-0 0, Schmidtlein 0-1 0-0 0, Meier 1-5 2-4 5, Greco 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-51 8-14 53.
Topeka West (2-15, 2-9) – Sanchez 2-8 0-2 4, Mays 0-0 0-0 0, Foster 0-0 0-0 0, Duncan 0-5 0-0 0, Benson 0-3 0-0 0, Clark 2-6 2-2 7, Ford 3-9 4-6 11, Bearman 6-12 1-2 13. Totals 14-43 7-12 35.
3-point goals – Hayden 5 (Smith 3, Stuke, Meier. Topeka West 1 (Clark). Total fouls – Hayden 13, Topeka West 16. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
