Charger's Trevion Alexander shoots for 13 points against Maize at the 5A championship game in Emporia.(Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN)
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist kept waiting Saturday night for his team to flash the form that had resulted in 21 victories in the 2020-21 season, including the last 15 in a row.
But it wasn't meant to be, with Maize dominating the middle two quarters on the way to claiming its first Class 5A state title with a decisive 55-43 win at White Auditorium.
Topeka West, which finished the season 21-3, took a slim 12-10 first-quarter lead over the 23-2 Eagles, but the Chargers went through the entire second quarter without a field goal and managed just three free throws as Maize took a 22-15 halftime advantage.
The Eagles followed that up with a 22-17 third-quarter advantage to go in front 44-32 and the Chargers were unable to mount a serious threat the rest of the way.
"We were never in sync,'' Bloomquist said. "We played out of our personality, out of character. I haven't even seen practice days like that I feel bad for the kids because they didn't do it on purpose.
"It wasn't done in a selfish way. We just got caught up in the environment and caught up in the situation. We wanted to put them away in the first quarter and I kept trying to tell them you're not going to win the game in the first quarter, you're not going to win in the second quarter, you win the game at the end. We got a little continuity there in the fourth quarter, but by that time it was too late.''
Bloomquist was quick to admit that a lot of the Chargers' problems were caused by Maize.
"Maize is a great basketball team,'' Bloomquist said. "They're very well-coached and they matched up with us on the boards probably better than anybody has all season. And with us playing out of character and us losing our game personality, them beating us on the boards (32-17 overall, 16-4 on the offensive end) was probably the key factor.''
Sophomore Avery Johnson gave Maize a big lift with a game-high 17 points while senior Weston Bing added 11 points. Both Johnson and Bing canned three 3-pointers as the Eagles went 7 of 14 from 3-point range as a team.
Jaden Gustafson added 9 points and Kyle Grill and Jacob Hanna 7 apiece while Hanna grabbed 7 rebounds, Grill was credited with 5 assists and Johnson added 5 steals to his big night.
"It's pretty special what these guys have accomplished and where they came from and how well they played together and overcome things,'' Maize coach Chris Grill said.
"I'm very proiud of them and I don't know if there's a more together team than these guys.''
Seniors Marque Wilkerson and Trevion Alexander led Topeka West with 13 points apiece while junior Zander Putthoff added 12 points on four second-half 3-pointers.
Putthoff had the only treys of the night for West, which was 4 of 13 on 3-point attempts.
Obviously Bloomquist and his Chargers were hurting after Saturday's loss, but the West coach said that in time his team will realize what a special season they had.
"There's no question about it,'' Bloomquist said. "I'll go in that locker room and we'll talk a little bit about it. They don't want to listen to me right now, I know that, but they won't have any idea what this means to them for about 10 years and that's when it will really sink in and that's when the fun will begin for them.''
ST. THOMAS GIRLS 52, ANDOVER CENTRAL 44
St. Thomas Aquinas captured its ninth state championship and fifth straight, building a big lead and then holding off previously-unbeaten Andover Central down the stretch for a 52-44 victory in the Class 5A state final Saturday at White Auditorium.
The Saints finished off a 20-2 season, with both losses coming against 4A champion Bishop Miege, while handing the Jaguars their first loss after 25 straight wins this season.
Aquinas led by as many 19 points before Andover Central got as close as 6 late in the game.
Beatrice Culliton, a 6-foot-3 junior, led Aquinas with 16 points and 14 rebounds while freshman Jamya McPherson added 10 points.
Andover Central was led by junior Brittany Harshaw's 18 points while junior Ellie Stearns added 12.
MAIZE BOYS 55, TOPEKA WEST 43
Topeka West 12 3 17 11 -- 43
Maize 10 12 22 11 --- 55
Topeka West (21-3) -- Wilkerson 5-10 3-3 13, Brooks 0-5 3-6 3, Austin 1-2 0-0 2, T. Alexander 6-10 1-2 13, Putthoff 4-7 0-0 12, Peterson 0-0 0-0 0, Berg 0-0 0-0 0, X. Alexander 0-1 0-0 0, Lowery 0-0 0-0 0, Mehrens 0-0 0-0 0, Bearman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-35 7-11 43.
Maize (23-2) -- Grill 3-9 0-0 7, Johnson 7-15 0-1 17, Hanna 2-4 3-6 7, Bing 4-7 0-0 11, Gustafson 3-7 3-5 9, Harrod 0-3 0-0 0, Stephens 0-0 0-0 0, Belcher 1-2 2-2 4, Stover 0-0 0-0 0, Reyes 0-0 0-0 0, Schieffer 0-0 0-0 0, Schmidt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-47 8-14 55.
3-point goals -- Topeka West 4-13 (Putthoff 4-7, T. Alexander 0-3, Brooks 0-2, X. Alexander 0-1), Maize 7-14 (Johnson 3-4, Bing 3-6, Grill 1-2, Harrod 0-2). Total fouls -- Topeka West 12, Maize 14. Fouled out -- Wilkerson.
ST. THOMAS GIRLS 52, ANDOVER CENTRAL 44
Aquinas 14 16 14 8 -- 52
Andover Central 9 5 15 15 -- 44
St. Thomas Aquinas (20-2) -- Goodwin 3-4 2-3 9, McPherson 5-9 0-0 10, O'Keefe 2-6 1-2 5, Skelton 2-7 3-5 8, Culliton 7-13 2-3 16, Schenck 1-7 0-1 2, Grimes 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-47 8-14 52.
Andover Central (24-1) -- Wilborn 2-9 0-0 5, Stearns 5-11 0-0 12, Newfarmer 2-5 1-2 5, Harshaw 5-20 6-7 18, Amekporfor-Sadler 2-6 0-0 4, Wheatley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-52 7-9 44.
3-point goals -- St. Thomas Aquinas 2-7 (Goodwin 1-1, Skelton 1-5, McPherson 0-1), Andover Central 5-24 (Harshaw 2-10, Stearns 2-4, Wilborn 1-8, Newfarmer 0-1, Wheatley 0-1). Total fouls -- St. Thomas Aquinas 8, Andover Central 15. Fouled out -- Wilborn.
