By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West's boys basketball team faces a tough challenge in Tuesday night's Class 5A boys quarterfinal contest, with the Chargers going on the road to face 22-0 Hays, which ended the season top-ranked in the KBCA 5A rankings.
But West coach Rick Bloomquist started preparing his team for just such a challenge months ago.
Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist talks to his team during Saturday's Class 5A sub-state final against Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"I tell them the first day of practice, 'I prepare you from Day 1 to play the best team in the state of Kansas,' '' Bloomquist said after Saturday's 55-52 win over Seaman in a sub-state championship game at West. "That's from Day 1, and they kind of look at me like, 'OK, whatever,' but now they understand what we're trying to do.
"That's the first sentence out of my mouth the first day of practice and you've just got to give yourself the chance to do that. We've been short-ended a little bit. We're almost there, almost there and these kids deserved (a state berth) because they've been through the wrath of what it takes to get there. Now, I didn't say the wrath of Bloomquist, I said the wrath to get there because there's a lot to it.''
Topeka West junior Elijah Brooks scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the Chargers' 55-52 win over Seaman in Saturday's 5A sub-state final. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
With the win over Seaman the Chargers earned their first trip to state since finishing second in 2010 and will take a 13-game win streak into Tuesday night's game.
Hays, meanwhile, advanced to the Class 5A semifinals a year ago with a win over Highland Park before the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.
The Indians went wire to wire over the regular season and punched their ticket to the quarterfinals with a 61-48 win over Salina South in Saturday's sub-state final.
Hays is let by 6-foot-6 junior Jace Linenberger and 6-6 senior Dalyn Schwarz, with Linenberger averaging 15.8 points and 7.5 rebounds while Schwarz averages 12.1 points and 5.9 rebounds.
Topeka West counters with three players who average at least 15 points and 5 rebounds.
Senior point guard Marque Wilkerson averages 17.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists while senior Trevion Alexander averages 16.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.3 steals and junior Elijah Brooks 15.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
Brooks is coming off a double-double in the win over Seaman with 22 points and 12 rebounds, getting several second-chance opportunities with offensive boards.
"Elijah was good, he was just flat good,'' Bloomquist said. "He doesn't want to lose. Everything he does, the motivation behind Elijah is winning. He played (Saturday) to win the game. He didn't play to get numbers or to get prestige or recognition.
He's never played for bells and whistles, he's just a solid, solid player that knows what it takes to win the game. We talk about rebounding all the time and he takes it serious.Elijah was a key on the boards for us.''
Tuesday's other 5A quarterfinals include Bishop Carroll (19-2) at Maize (20-2), Pittsburg (15-6) at De Soto (18-3) and Kansas City-Washington (9-4) at Mill Valley (11-11).
Tuesday's winners will advance to Friday's state semifinals at Emporia's White Auditorium, with the pairings set after the quarterfinals.
