Topeka High's NiJaree Canady led the scoring against Wichita Heights with 21 points (Photo by Rex Wolf / TSN)
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
By now Topeka High's girls basketball team knows the way to Wichita's Koch Arena, a trip the Trojans will make for a third straight year later this week.
Now the complete focus for Hannah Alexanders team is on bringing home the prize they've coveted since 2019 -- a Class 6A state championship.
Topeka High finished second to city rival Washburn Rural in the '19 championship game and the Trojans were odds on favorites to win the championship a year ago when the tournament was canceled after the first round due to COVID-19.
Now the Trojans have put themselves back in position for a title run after advancing to Friday's state semifinals with an impressive 71-36 state quarterfinal romp past Wichita Heights Tuesday night at High.
"We had a great senior class last year and we have a great senior class this year, so I think the leadership is where it all has started and we want to make sure these girls don't leave empty-handed,'' Alexander said. "They've been been wanting this (a state title) for the last three years.''
The Trojans, who improved to 22-1, had Tuesday's game well in hand after a 22-6 first quarter and the 16-7 Falcons never got closer than 14 the rest of the night while Topeka High went on to lead by as many as 37 points.
Next up for Topeka High, the No. 2 semifinal seed, is a 7 p.m. game Friday against No. 3 Dodge City (21-1). Top seed Shawnee Mission Northwest (21-0) will face No. 4 Olathe West (15-5) in the 3 o'clock semi, with the winners advancing to Saturday's 6 p.m. championship game at Koch.
Coming off an impressive 72-52 win over Rural in the sub-state championship game, the Trojans were just as impressive at the start against Wichita Heights, getting a jump start when sophomore Kiki Smith hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the game.
Junior NiJaree Canady added a bucket at the 6:34 mark to put High in front 8-0 and the Trojans were off and running.
The Trojans ended the quarter with a 6-0 run, with sophomore Adisyn Caryl scoring with 1:29 remaining to give High its commanding 16-point lead.
Topeka High increased its margin to 32-8 at the 2:55 mark of the second quarter on a hoop from senior Jae'Mya Lyons before Wichita Heights cut its deficit to 35-16 at the half.
The Falcons scored the first 5 points of the second half to briefly get within 14, but Topeka High answered with an 11-0 run and led by 23 (48-25) at the start of the fourth and used a 12-0 run to take a 60-25 lead on a Canady hoop with 5:20 left.
"I thought they were great,'' Alexander said of her team. "We've been having great practices throughout the last couple of weeks,'' Alexander said. "I think the whole Miege thing (a 70-52 loss) definitely re-focused us and they know what the task is at hand and they're hungry and they're playing good team ball together.
"I think that we carried the momentum that we had from the Washburn Rural game over to this, because I felt like they didn't skip a beat tonight.''
Canady led all scorers with 21 points while Kiki Smith added 12 points and senior Lilly Smith 9 points on 3 3-pointers as 10 Trojans cracked the scoring column.
"Going into this game we knew it was going to be physical, so we worked on that,'' Canady said. "We also worked on the pressure they were going to bring.''
Junior Cayanna Stanley scored 20 points with 4 3-pointers for Wichita Heights while senior Laniah Randle added 11 points. Only four Falcons scored on the night, with only Stanley and Rangle the lone Heights players with more than 3 points.
Dodge City earned its place in the semifinals with a 55-30 win over Derby.
TOPEKA HIGH GIRLS 71, WICHITA HEIGHTS 36
Wichita Heights 6 10 9 11 -- 36
Topeka High 22 13 13 23 -- 71
Wichita Heights (16-7) -- Stanley 8 0-0 20, Randle 3 5-6 11, Mayberry 1-6 0-0 2, Zeigler 1-6 0-0 3, Bell 0-3 0-0 0, Chandler 0-2 0-0 0, Grayson 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Profit 0-1 0-0 0, Christman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13 5-6 36.
Topeka High (22-1) -- L. Smith 3 0-0 9, Thomas 1 0-0 2, K. Smith 5 0-0 12, Hendricks 3 1-2 7, Canady 9 3-4 21, Leesman 0 0-0 0, Z. Caryl 1 0-0 2, Zimmerman 0 0-0 0, A. Caryl 2 0-0 4, Shields 2 0-0 6, Wiley 1 0-0 2, Lyons 2 2-2 6. Totals 29 6-8 71.
3-point goals -- Wichita Heights 5 (Stanley 4, Zeigler), Topeka High 7 (L. Smith 3, K. Smith 2, Shields 2). Total fouls -- Wichita Heights 13, Topeka High 14. Fouled out -- none.
