By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Due to a clock malfunction, Topeka High got a late start to Thursday's opening game in the Topeka Invitational Tournament at Highland Park.
And the Trojans also had to endure a late finish, being forced to overtime by Shawnee Mission East before the Trojans took command in the four-minute extra session to advance to the semifinals with a 49-43 win over the Lancers.
Topeka High basketball coach Robbie Sanders talks to his Trojans during Thursday's 49-43 overtime win over Shawnee Mission East. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I feel like I keep repeating it, but these guys have been through so much,'' Topeka High coach Robbie Sanders said. "They've experienced a lot of losing and a lot of bad times and one of the things that we tend to do is when things go bad we start to pout and hang our heads and I'm just trying to speak that life into them and let them know that they are good enough to beat anybody if we show up to play.''
The Trojans, now 7-5, will take on Lansing, a 59-57 winner over Shawnee Mission North, in Friday's 5 p.m. semifinal. The tournament schedule has been revamped due to the forecast of inclement weather, with the place games scheduled for Saturday now being pushed back to Monday.
Topeka High will be joined in the semifinals by top tournament seed Topeka West, a 70-50 winner over St. Thomas Aquinas. The Chargers will play Friday's first semifinal at 3:30 p.m. against Wichita Northwest, a 62-49 first-round winner over Highland Park.
After taking a 14-11 first-quarter lead over SM East (6-6), Topeka High trailed 25-19 at the half, 30-27 at the start of the fourth quarter and 41-39 in the final minute of regulation before 5-foot-7 senior Elisha Guest tied the game with a hoop with 14 seconds remaining and the Lancers missed a late shot to send the game to OT.
Guest then nailed a 3-pointer to open the four-minute overtime period and the Trojans led the rest of the way as High outscored East 8-2 to take the six-point victory.
"Elisha, small in stature, heart of a lion,'' Sanders said. "I just love that kid and I grow more appreciation and more fondness for his game every time I see him play.''
Senior Bryson McComas, who also scored in the overtime, led Topeka High with 12 points while Guest added 11 and sophomore Mar'saun Redmond 10 for the Trojans.
Senior Stephen Hloblik scored a game-high 19 points for SM East while senior Quentin Ochs added 10.
In the semifinals Topeka High will face a Lansing team which won its third straight game to improve to 4-6 with a hard-earned 59-57 win over Shawnee Mission North (6-4).
Deacon Manthe, a 6-foot-7 junior, led Lansing with 16 points, all in the second half, while junior Mehki Stephens added 11 points.
TOPEKA HIGH 49, SM EAST 43 (OT)
SM East 11 14 5 11 2 -- 43
Topeka High 14 5 8 14 8 -- 49
SM East (6-6) – Lucas 0-4 0-0 0, P. Ochs 3-9 0-0 8, Dillon 1-7 0-0 3, Hlobik 6-9 7-8 19, Konold 1-13 0-0 3, Zubeck 0-1 0-0 0, Q. Ochs 5-7 0-0 10. Totals 16-40 7-8 43.
Topeka High (7-5) – Aldridge 1-5 1-2 3, Guest 3-10 3-4 11, McComas 6-12 0-3 12, Ross 2-4 1-2 5, McFadden 0-1 0-0 0, Redmond 4-4 0-2 10, Luarks 0-1 1-4 1, Humphrey 3-5 0-1 7. Totals 19-42 6-18 49.
3-point goals – SM East 4 (P. Ochs 2, Dillon, Konold), Topeka High 5 (Guest 2, Redmond 2, Humphrey). Total fouls – SM East 12, Topeka High 11. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
Junior Prince Lassiter scored 15points in Thursday's 70-50 Topeka West win over Aquinas in the Topeka Invitational Tournament. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Chargers pull away in second half for 20-point win
On paper, Thursday's first-round game in the Topeka Invitational between third-ranked (Class 5A) Topeka West and three-win St. Thomas Aquinas looked like a mis-match.
But West coach Christian Ulsaker was well aware of Aquinas' tradition and the fact that the Saints had played one of the state's toughest schedules, and he knew the Chargers would get tested.
"We talked about it, that that record goes out the window when you play St. Thomas Aquinas,'' Ulsaker said. "They're a very well-coached team and very fundamentally sound and it was a battle for three and a half, four quarters.
"So hats off to them, making it a tough game.''
After jumping out to a 22-13 first-quarter lead, Topeka West, now 10-2, got that test in the second quarter, with Aquinas rallying to take a 35-31 advantage in the second stanza and leading 36-34 inside the final minute of the half before senior Keimani Paul hit a 3-pointer and junior Prince Lassiter converted a traditional three-point play to put the Chargers up 40-36 at the half.
Topeka West then showed its dominance after the break, outscoring the Saints 30-14, including a 17-5 advantage over the final eight minutes to pull away for the 20-point victory.
Lassiter, a 6-6 junior, led a balanced West attack with a game-high 15 points as all five Charger starters cracked double figures.
"Prince, he's a workhorse, and it's not easy to guard him for 32 minutes, I'll tell you that,'' Ulsaker said.
Jay'Veon Traylor added 14 points while Paul had 13 and Gad Munganga and Malakyah Duncan 11 apiece.
The Chargers did a lot of their damage from outside the 3-point line, hitting 10 3s on the night, while Lassiter dominated things on the inside.
Senior Nic Sabers led Aquinas with 12 points, including three treys.
West will now play a Wichita Northwest team which advanced with a 62-49 win over host Highland Park in Thursday's final first-round game.
TOPEKA WEST 70, ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 50
Aquinas 13 23 9 5 -- 50
Topeka West 22 18 13 17 -- 70
Aquinas (3-9) – Renze 2-6 0-2 5, Gavin 2-5 2-3 6, Wayland 0-0 2-2 2, Browne 5-6 0-0 10, Sabers 3-7 3-4 12, Merfen 2-3 0-0 6, Bertholf 1-5 0-0 2, McCullough 2-4 1-1 5, NA 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 18-37 8-10 50.
Topeka West (10-2) – Munganga 3-9 2-2 11, Traylor 3-10 6-8 14, Duncan 4-9 1-2 11, Paul 5-8 0-0 13, Lassiter 7-13 1-1 15, Phillips 2-3 2-4 6, Fox 0-0 0-0 0, Ware 0-0 0-0 0, Doby 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 24-53 12-17 70.
3-point goals – Aquinas 6 (Sabers 3, Merfen 2, Renze), Topeka West 10 (Munganga 3, Paul 3, Traylor 2, Duncan 2). Total fouls – Aquinas 20, Topeka West 12. Fouled out – Browne. Technical fouls – none.
Grizzlies fight off Scots for 62-49 win
Highland Park never led against Wichita Northwest in Thursday's final game of the night, but the Scots also never gave up, mounting rally after rally before dropping a 62-49 decision.
Highland Park junior JoJo Kingcannon (11) battles Wichita Northwest senior Christian Laws for the ball Thursday in the Scots' 62-49 Topeka Invitational loss to the Grizzlies. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Wichita Northwest, which evened its record at 6-6, doubled up the 3-8 Scots at 14-7 in the opening quarter, but Highland Park got as close as three (22-19) late in the half on a 3-pointer from junior Jaiden Smith before the Grizzies took a 26-19 halftime advantage.
Highland Park, which does not have a player on its roster taller than 5-foot-10, continued to battle in the second half, cutting a 15-point deficit midway through the third quarter down to five (44-39) early in the fourth.
"I think we hang our heads too much on the offensive end when the shots start not falling that we think we can make,'' Highland Park coach Nate Wallace said. "We just start dropping our energy and we've got to figure out a way to keep our energy up when shots aren't falling until they do.''
The Scots were still within single-digits at 57-49 with less than 90 seconds remaining before Northwest scored the final five points.
Highland Park had a tough time controlling Northwest's 6-4 post player Christian Laws, who had a double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds while junior Da'Marion Garland added 12 points and senior Darrian Hammond with 11.
Junior JoJo Kingcannon led Highland Park with 16 points while Smith and sophomore Treonte Mitchell eight eight points apiece.
Northwest will now face off with Topeka West in Friday's 3:30 semifinal while Highland Park will take on St. Thomas Aquinas in a 3:15 consolation game in Hi Park's south gym.
WICHITA NORTHWEST 62, HIGHLAND PARK 49
Wichita NW 14 12 18 18 -- 62
Highland Park 7 12 17 13 -- 49
Wichita Northwest (6-6) -- Hammond 4-10 2-2 11, Garland 6-8 0-2 12, Hutchinson 2-4 2-4 7, Taylor 1-1 0-0 2, Laws 7-12 8-11 22, Burton 0-4 0-6 0, Ligon 1-1 0-0 2, Kates 2-5 0-0 4, Young 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 24-44 13-25 62.
Highland Park (3-8) -- Anderson 1-7 0-0 2, Montgomery 2-6 0-2 5, Drew 1-3 1-1 3, Mitchell 4-7 0-0 8, Kingcannon 7-18 1-3 16, L. McMillon 0-1 0-0 0, Smith 3-4 0-0 8, Nance 1-4 0-0 2, Z. McMillon 1-2 2-3 5, Dew 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-52, 4-9 49.
3-point goals -- Wichita Northwest 1 (Hammond 1), Highland Park 5 (Smith 2, Montgomery, Kingcannon, Z. McMillon). Total fouls -- Wichita Northwest 15, Highland Park 20. Fouled out -- Kingcannon.
TOPEKA INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
RESULTS THURSDAY
Topeka High 49, SM East 43 (OT)
Lansing 59, SM North 57
Topeka West 70, St. Thomas Aquinas 50
Wichita Northwest 62, Highland Park 49
GAMES FRIDAY
3:15 p.m. -- Highland Park vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (south gym).
3:30 -- Wichita NW vs. Topeka West (north gym).
4:45 -- SM North vs. SM East (south gym).
5 -- Lansing vs. Topeka High (north gym).
