By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High's girls cleared a major hurdle with a 72-52 win over Washburn Rural in Saturday's Class 6A sub-state championship game at Topeka High.
But Trojan coach Hannah Alexander knows there's still major challenges ahead for her 21-1 team, beginning with Tuesday's 6 p.m. 6A quarterrfinal against 16-6 Wichita Heights at High.
The Falcons and Trojans were both in the 6A state tournament a year ago, with Heights dropping a 49-48 decision to Olathe East while Topeka High rolled to the semifinals with a 79-55 win over Olathe North before the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.
Three of Heights' losses this season have come against teams that advanced to the 6A or 5A quarterfinals and Alexander said the Falcons have the Trojans' complete attention.
"They're super fast, super athletic,'' Alexander said of the Falcons, who are coming off a 60-27 sub-state final win over Wichita East. "We definitely tried to bring the pressure at practice today and told the team that every rebound (Heights) is going to be right there all over you. And if you think something might be open for a second, they'll be there so we tried to get ready for that in-your-face defense.
"We tried to simulate that a little bit at practice and going against six players versus five and sometimes even seven.''
Topeka High junior NiJaree Canady averages 19.9 points and 12.4 rebounds for the Trojans, who will host Wichita Heights in a 6A quarterfinal Tuesday. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Alexander does feel like her team is up to the task as it takes aim on High's first girls state championship since 1982.
"They're fearless,'' Alexander said. "I think we got a little bit of a wakeup call against Miege and I think that kind of re-focused everyone, me included. That was good to let us know that we're just like everybody else and we can lose on any given night.
"It's hard to keep anybody focused after you have 40-some straight wins. You start thinking you're almost invincible, so I think that was a good thing to happen and I'm glad it happened when it did. Sometimes you don't know if it's going to make or break you, but I think that it made us and we know not to take anything for granted. Practices and everything have been amplified since that game.''
![Hannah Alexander's Topeka High girls will put their 21-1 record on the line Tuesday against Wichita Heights in a Class 6A state quarterfinal game. [File photo from Rex Wolf/TSN]](/images/aa-images/Hannah_Alexander.jpg)
Hannah Alexander's Topeka High girls will put their 21-1 record on the line Tuesday against Wichita Heights in a Class 6A state quarterfinal game. [File photo from Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior NiJaree Canady averages team-highs of 19.9 points and 12.4 rebounds for the Trojans while sophomore Kiki Smith averages 16.7 points and a team-high 2.9 steals. Senior Lilly Smith averages 9 points while junior Tae Thomas is coming off a 16-point game in the win over Washburn Rural.
Tuesday's other 6A quarterfinal games include Derby (18-4) at Dodge City (20-1), Olathe North (15-6) at Olathe West (14-5) and Blue Valley (16-6) at Shawnee Mission Northwest (20-0).
Tuesday's winners will advance to Friday's state semifinals at Wichita's Koch Arena, with the pairings to be set after the quarterfinals.
