By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Playing without injured point guard Keimara Marshall, Topeka High's committed 29 turnovers in Tuesday night's non-league game against USD 501 rival Highland Park, but despite those struggles the Trojans never trailed en route to a 53-45 win over the previously-unbeaten Scots on their home floor.
Sophomore Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton scored a game-high 19 points in Tuesday's 53-45 road win at Highland Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"As a coach, and any coach would understand this, you want a little bit more,'' Topeka High coach Ron Slaymaker said. "You want to win and look halfway decent but we also know that an awful lot of the time you win and you don't look very good winning, so we'll take it.
"(Highland Park's) not a bad team. They're flying high, they were undefeated and this is a rivalry game, as I was reminded several times by the girls. I'm just happy that we won that one.''
Topeka High (5-3) and Highland Park (6-1) were knotted four times in the opening quarter before High junior Amari Triplett canned a 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining in the quarter to put her team in front 13-10 and the Trojans never trailed again.
High went on to build a 24-15 advantage late in the first half, but Highland Park sophomore Pearmella Carter converted a 3-point play to get the Scots within six (24-18) at the break.
It was in the third quarter where the Trojans took control, with High outscoring the Scots 16-5 to lead 40-23 at the start of the fourth.
But Highland Park showed its grit over the final eight minutes, holding a 22-13 scoring edge over the Trojans, but the Scots got no closer than the final margin.
Freshman Hailey Caryl (40) scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Topeka High's 53-45 win over Highland Park Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton led the Trojans with a game-high 19 points while sophomore Hailey Caryl and senior Jo'Mhara Benning were an inside force for High, with Caryl scoring 14 points and grabbing 13 rebounds and Benning scoring 12 points with 12 boards.
Sophomore Pearmella Carter scored 17 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for Highland Park in Tuesday's 53-45 loss to rival Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Carter led Highland Park with 17 points and 16 rebounds while seniors Tahtionna Broils and De'Asia Sanders added 8 and 7 points for the Scots.
TOPEKA HIGH GIRLS 53, HIGHLAND PARK 45
Topeka High 13 11 16 13 -- 53
Highland Park 10 8 5 22 -- 45
Topeka High (5-3) -- Short 0-2 0-4 0, Triplett 2-4 0-0 5, Rayton 5-12 8-12 19, Caryl 5-7 4-8 14, Benning 5-9 2-2 12, Conley 1-2 0-0 3, Simpson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-36 14-26 53.
Highland Park (6-1) -- Broils 4-11 1-2 9, Hartz 2-3 1-3 5, Jones 2-6 2-7 6, Sanders 3-11 1-2 8, Carter 7-20 2-8 17, Grace 0-2 0-0 0, Kincade 0-1 0-0 0, Cooper 0-4 0-0 0, Austin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-59 7-21 45.
3-point goals -- Topeka High 3 (Triplett, Conley, Rayton), Highland Park 2 (Sanders, Carter). Total fouls -- Topeka High 22, Highland Park 23. Fouled out -- Short, Benning, Hartz. Technical foul -- none.
