By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
After winning three of its first four games, Topeka West's boys basketball game has encountered some tough sledding, losing three of its past four games, including a 49-47 heartbreaker to Shawnee Mission North on Thursday in the opening round of the Topeka Invitational Tournament at Hayden.
Junior Jalen Foy (22) led Topeka West with 15 points in Thursday's 49-47 loss to Shawnee Mission North in the first round of the Topeka Invitational. [File photo/TSN]
And while he still has high hopes for his young Chargers, veteran Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist admits it's been a tough stretch to deal with.
"We're struggling right now, ever since the De Soto game (a 76-30 loss), which I'm going to be frank when I tell you the De Soto game was probably the most embarrassing night I've spent on the bench,'' Bloomquist said. "I've never spent a night like that on the bench and I don't want to do it again.
"It's not just the fact that I was embarrassed, I felt like a fool. I felt like we're not accomplishing anything here and it's frustrating. We have things that we have to fix and it's not physical, it's mental. It's a mental situation and I'm trying my damndest to fix it. It's still early, but we're not playing well at all. We have no chemistry, we have no unity, we have no resilience. We just shut down way too easy.''
But Bloomquist still believes his team has time to reverse its fortunes in the second half of the season
"We're going to keep working at it because I like my team,'' Bloomquist said. "I really like them and we show signs of brilliance. Unfortunately, we don't see that very much.''
Topeka West and Shawnee Mission North (3-6) were tied at 17 at the end of the first quarter and the Chargers took a slim 26-25 halftime advantage and led 36-35 at the start of the fourth quarter.
West led 43-41 after a Caleb Noonoo hoop with 3:35 remaining but the Bison ran off eight straight points to go up 49-43 inside the final minute.
The Chargers got within four points on a Keimani Paul basket with 27 seconds remaining and after a North turnover West cut its deficit to 49-47 on two Kamoni Ford free throws with 14.8 left.
West forced another Bison turnover with 13.5 seconds remaining, giving the Chargers an opportunity to force overtime but West missed two scoring opportunities as time ran out.
Junior Jalen Foy led Topeka West with 15 points, including all three of the Chargers' 3-pointers, while Noonoo and Paul added 10 points apiece.
Junior Caden Kermoade led Shawnee Mission North with a game-high 18 points and four 3-pointers while senior Aziz Jagne added 12 points.
Topeka West, which fell to 4-4 on the season, will return to action at 2 p.m. Friday against Lawrence, a 75-44 first-round loser to Highland Park.
The Bison will face Highland Park in a 5:30 p.m. semifinal on Friday.
SHAWNEE MISSION NORTH 49, TOPEKA WEST 47
Topeka West 17 8 11 11 -- 47
SM North 17 7 11 14 -- 49
Topeka West (4-4)-- McGee 0 0-0 0, Webb 0 0-0 0, Chambers 2 0-0 4, Foy 6 0-0 15, Noonoo 5 0-0 10, Young 0 0-0 0, Duncan 0 0-2 0, Paul 5 0-1 10, Ford 3 2-2 8, Ross 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 2-5 47.
Shawnee Mission North (3-6) -- White 1 0-0 2, Jagne 4 4-5 12, Kermoade 7 0-0 18, Gynum 0 0-0 0, Dalley 1 0-0 2, A. Casares 1 1-2 4, Holman 3 2-2 8, J. Casares 1 1-2 3, Faile 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 8-11 49.
3-point goals -- Shawnee Mission North 5 (Kermoade 4, A. Casares), Topeka West 3 (Foy 3). Total fouls -- Topeka West 10, Shawnee Mission North 8. Fouled out -- none.
RESULTS THURSDAY
Highland Park 75, Lawrence 44
Shawnee Mission North 49, Topeka West 47
Wichita Northwest 60, Topeka High 34
Lansing 48, Hayden 45
GAMES FRIDAY
2 p.m. -- Lawrence vs. Topeka West.
3:45 -- Topeka High vs. Hayden.
5:30 -- Highland Park vs. Shawnee Mission North.
7:15 -- Wichita Northwest vs. Lansing
