By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Off to a rough start with four straight losses to open the 2025-2026 season, Topeka High girls basketball ended its pre-holiday slate with its first victory of the season Thursday night, rolling to a 65-35 home non-league decision over USD 501 rival Highland Park.
Sophomore Hailey Caryl, battling for a loose ball, scored 13 points Thursday in Topeka High's 65-35 win over Highland Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"We were 0-4 and I would not have predicted the 0-4, but we did play four decent teams,'' Topeka High coach Ron Slaymaker said. "I thought we could have, should have, would have won two of them, but we didn't play well.
"We had too many outside distractions and we just didn't have a good three weeks of preseason practices, but the last three or four have been very good. They brought it to the gym and that's what it's supposed to be. I was more than happy with the effort tonight. Our passing was better and our defense got us a lot of baskets.''
The Trojans, who played without junior standout Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton, took control early, scoring the first seven points of the game and building 15-2 and 19-4 leads before taking a 21-6 advantage into the second quarter.
Highland Park, coming off a 42-40 win over Shawnee Mission West Tuesday night, came to life with 12 points in the second stanza but Topeka High still led by 18 points at the break, doubling up the Scots 36-18.
Senior Keimara Marshall scored 19 points in Topeka High's 65-35 win over Highland Park Thursday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High boosted its lead to 53-25 with a 17-7 third quarter and the Trojans forced a running clock with 5:08 remaining after a hoop from senior Keimara Marshall.
Junior Sasha Gotru scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Topeka High's 65-35 win over Highland Park Thursday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sasha Gotru, a 5-foot-11 junior, had a career night for the Trojans, scoring a game-high 22 points on 11 of 15 shooting from the field while recording a double-double with 12 rebounds.
Marshall added 19 points, including a 5 of 5 performance at the free throw line, while sophomore Hailey Caryl scored 13 points with High's only 3-pointer in her first game of the season after missing the Trojans' first four games of the year with an injury.
Senior Koralee Jones (13) scored a team-high 15 points in Thursday's 65-35 loss to Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Koralee Jones led Highland Park (1-2) with 15 points while junior Zayah Kincaid added eight, including a pair of 3-pointers.
While Topeka High is off until Jan. 2 when it will play a rematch with Highland Park on the road, the Scots will be right back in action Friday night, hosting Meadowlark Conference foe Kansas City-Wyandotte.
TOPEKA HIGH GIRLS 65, HIGHLAND PARK 35
Highland Park 6 12 7 10 -- 35
Topeka High 21 15 17 12 -- 65
Highland Park (1-2) – Grace 1-8 2-2 5, Cosey 0-4 0-0 0, Kincaid 3-11 0-4 8, Jones 7-18 1-4 15, Atkins 1-3 0-0 2, Williams Sanders 2-2 1-1 5, Cameron 0-1 0-0 0, Hooper 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-48 4-11 35.
Topeka High (1-4) – Short 0-7 1-2 1, Whayne 1-6 0-0 2, Marshall 7-15 5-5 19, Caryl 5-15 2-2 13, Gortu 11-15 0-0 22, Triplett 1-4 0-0 2, Mathews 0-1 0-0 0, Robbins 0-0 0-0 0, Martin 0-4 0-0 0, Mayfield 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 2-4 0-2 4, Conley 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-73 8-11 65.
3-point goals – Highland Park 2 (Kincaid 2, Grace), Topeka High 1 (Caryl). Total fouls – Highland Park 8, Topeka High 10. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
