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Topeka West's boys basketball team survived a barrage of 3-pointers by upset-minded Newton Wednesday night to imporove to 18-2 with a 71-60 Class 5A sub-state semifinal win over the Railers at West.
Two-win Newton canned 10 3-pointers in the first half and 15 for the game, but West finally put the Railers away down the stretch to set up a 3 p.m. matchup Saturday with Seaman (13-8) in the sub-state championship game. Seaman edged Emporia 60-56 Wednesday night.
Marque Wilkerson
Topeka West has won 12 straight games and will be playing a Seaman team that has won seven straight. West is 2-0 against Seaman this season.
West led 20-11 at the end of the first quarter but Newton hit 9 of its last 12 3-point tries before the half to take a 34-32 halftime advantage.
Jaxon Brackeen hit 5 3-pointers in the first half for the Railers and Dylan Petz his 4 treys.
Newton opened the second half with 3 more 3-pointers in 4 attempts, but West began to turn the tide at that point.
Topeka West built a 51-45 lead at the end of the third quarter. Then, after Newton got within 3, West took control down the stretch for the 11-point win.
Senior Marque Wilkerson was unstoppable attacking the rim, finishing with 20 points and13 in the second half for West, while junior Elijah Brooks added 19, getting 11 in the second half.
Senior Trevion Alexander scored 11 points and junior Zander Putthoff 10 for the Chargers..
Brackeen led all scorers with 24 points and Petz added 19 points with both Newton players canning 5 3-pointers apiece..
TOPEKA HIGH GIRLS 64, FREE STATE 31
Topeka High set up a third, and the most important, matchup with Washburn Rural with a 64-31 sub-state semifinal victory over Free State Wednesday night.
The Trojans advanced to a 3 p.m. home matchup Saturday with the Junior Blues, with a spot in the 6A state quarterfinals on the line.
Topeka High jumped out to a 20-10 first-quarter lead over the Firebirds and led 35-18 at halftime before holding the Firebirds (6-12) to 13 second-half points.
The Trojans (20-1) were led by junior NiJaree Canady and sophomore Kiki Smith with 15 points apiece, while Tae Thomas added 11.
WASHBURN RURAL GIRLS 50, MANHATTAN 36
Competing for the first time in nearly two weeks after a couple of late-season cancellations, Washburn Rural earned its sub-state showdown with Topeka High with a 50-36 home win over Centennial League rival Manhattan Wednesday night.
Freshman Zoe Canfield paced Washburn Rural (16-2) with a game-high 17 points and 5 3-pointers.
Wednesday's game was tied 10-10 late in the opening quarter, but Rural used a 9-0 run to take control, opening up a 28-16 lead at the half.
Manhattan (10-10) pulled within 31-24 midway through the third quarter, but Rural led 39-27 at the start of the fourth.
Freshman Jada Ingram added 10 points for Washburn Rural.
Grace Dixon led Manhattan with 11 points.
WAMEGO GIRLS 42, HAYDEN 32
Hayden never did get untracked offensively in Wednesday's 4A sub-state semifinal matchup with Wamego, with the Red Raiders limiting the Wildcats to just five made field goals on the night en route to a 42-32 win.
The Wildcats (8-12) did cash in on 21 of 33 free throw attempts in the game, but were limited to just 15 points of the first three quarters before ending the night with a 17-point fourth quarter.
Senior Rhen Calhoon led Hayden with 13 points, going 9 of 15 at the free throw line, while Riley Schmidtlein added 9 points.
DE SOTO BOYS 61, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 41
De Soto used a 20-7 third quarter to take control in a 61-41 5A sub-state boys semifinal over Shawnee Heights, which ended its season 6-11.
The T-Birds, who were playing without senior Harvey Davis, still were within 5 points (27-22) at the half before the Wildcats dominated things the rest of the way.
Nathan Pewe led the T-Birds with 15 points while freshman Brennan Dodge added 8 points.
