By JOANNA CHADWICK
Special to TopSports.news
WICHITA -- The Class 6A girls championship matchup was what many had predicted long before Saturday’s game at Koch Arena -- Topeka High vs. Shawnee Mission Northwest.
“All year we felt like us and Topeka were the two best teams, and we were hoping we’d be able to see them and play them in the state championship game,” SM Northwest coach Tyler Stewart said.
It was the Cougars that came away with the 61-54 victory and finished their season 23-0.
“The last three years have been a rollercoaster, definitely,” Topeka coach Hannah Alexander said. “It hurts right now. I’m super proud of the girls and how they handled themselves.
“A few shots go our way, it’s a different outcome.”
Topeka High junior NiJaree Canady scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the Trojans' 61-54 loss to Shawnee Mission Northwest. [Photo by Jeff Jacobsen/Action Images Phtography]
Over the past three seasons, Topeka is 68-5. The Trojans finished second in 2019 with a 22-3 record, didn’t get to finish their unbeaten 2020 season due to COVID-19 and were 23-2 this season.
“Losing to Washburn Rural and getting second, last year being cut short and now second again.... Just getting stuck,” Alexander said. “I feel like these girls give everything they have. And to just not come home with that championship, it hurts. It hurts.”
Topeka High junior NiJaree Canady scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the Trojans' 61-54 loss to Shawnee Mission Northwest. [Photo by Laura Jacobsen/Action Sports Phtography]
Topeka opened with a 7-2 run, forcing SM Northwest to take a timeout less than two minutes into the game.
But as SM Northwest did the whole game, the Cougars responded.
“We talk a lot about how we’re going to respond when there’s a little bit of adversity, when someone does hit us with a run,” Stewart said. “How are we going to respond to those events, that’s going to determine the outcome. Our girls were mentally tough enough to stop the runs and have one of their own.”
By the midpoint of the second quarter, SM Northwest re-took the lead. The Cougars led 26-21 at the break.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Lilly Smith and Tae Thomas gave Topeka the 32-31 lead with 5:33 to go in the third.
Nijaree Canady followed with two free throws and a jumper for the 36-33 lead.
Canady finished with a team-high 25 points, hitting 10 of 17 shots and a game-high 12 rebounds and four steals.
“She’s a beast,” Alexander said. “She’s a force to be reckoned with… (In the semifinals) she had an outstanding performance, and again tonight.”
SM Northwest had an answer, though.
Saige Grampsas hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 36-all with 3:37 remaining in the period. Kennedy Taylor followed with a 3-pointer to give the Cougars the lead for good at 39-38 with 1:54 to go. Taylor scored 15 points and had 9 rebounds.
When Topeka got a 3-point play from Smith early in the final period, Grampsas scored 5 unanswered points.
Grampsas had a game-high 26 points, hitting 8 of 9 field goals, 2 of 3 three-pointers, 8 of 10 free throws.
“She’s the X factor,” Stewart said. “She’s cool under pressure.”
With 5:22 remaining, Kiki Smith fouled out. It was a blow to Topeka.
Still the Trojans weren’t out of it. Canady converted a 3-point play, then scored on a putback to get within 51-46. But over the final 2:41, the Trojans struggled offensively as SM Northwest hit just enough free throws.
“A few more shots or a few different calls, it could have been a different outcome,” Alexander said. “They never gave up. They played until the final whistle. Very proud of how they handled themselves, their composure.”
Topeka hit 20 of 57 (35.1 percent) shots, including 4 of 23 from 3-point range. SM Northwest was 18 of 30 (60 percent) from the field.
“It sucks that it came down to this, but you can’t take anything away from what these girls have done,” Alexander said.
For Stewart and the Cougars, the title meant even more because this season was always in doubt.
“We had to work out in the park all summer; we couldn’t go inside,” he said. “We didn’t know if we were going to have a season. The girls continued to grind, did what they could to prepare and acted like there was going to be a season.
“And once we got it, they took off and ran with it.”
SM NORTHWEST GIRLS 61, TOPEKA HIGH 54
Topeka 15 6 17 16 -- 54
SM Northwest14 12 15 20 -- 61
Topeka High (23-2) -- L. Smith 3-8 3-3 10, Thomas 2-12 0-0 6, K. Smith 2-9 2-2 6, Hendricks 1-5 0-0 7, Canady, 10-17 5-9 25, Lyons 0-1 0-0 0, Shields 0-1 0-0 0, Caryl 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-57 10-14 54.
SM Northwest (23-0) -- Grampsas 8-9 8-10 26, Dunn 2-4 1-2 5, Harris-Webster 2-5 2-6 7, Talor 5-9 4-4 15, Machiewicz 0-1 5-8 5, Ojeda 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 18-30 20-30 61.
3-point goals -- Topeka 4-23 (L. Smith 1-5, Thomas 2-8, K. Smith 0-2, Hendricks 1-5, Canady 0-2, Shields 0-1), SM Northwest 5-12 (Grampsas 2-3, Dunn 0-1, Harris-Webster 1-2, Taylor 1-3, Machiewicz 0-1, Ojeda 1-2). Total fouls -- Topeka High 22, SM Northwest 14. Fouled out -- K. Smith.
