By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Playing its first of two straight back-to-back games, Topeka High girls basketball did exactly what Trojans coach Ron Slaymaker wanted to see Monday night, tuning up for Tuesday's Centennial League road game at Washburn Rural with a 74-35 win over USD 501 rival Topeka West on Senior Night at High.
Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton came off the bench to score a game-high 22 points Mondsay night in Topeka High's 74-35 win over Topeka West [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topeka High, which improved to 14-8 on the season, took control early which allowed the Trojans to work on some aspects of their game while Slaymaker was able to empty his bench, playing 14 different players.
"We've got a pretty big game tomorrow night and we tried do some different things tonight that we would have done in practice and we got to do that in game conditions and that's kind of what we wanted,'' Slaymaker said.
Slaymaker said he's not worried by the fact that the Trojans are playing on back-to-back nights.
"The conditioning factor, most kids this time of year, they can play two games in a row,'' Slaymaker said. "Three, that's a stretch, but two in a row I've never worried about.''
The Trojans, who have now won eight straight games, jumped out to 20-8 first-quarter lead and was in command 41-14 at the half.
Topeka High led by as many as 42 points (65-23) late in the third quarter and took a 65-26 advantage into the fourth quarter, forcing a running clock.
The Trojans started all five of their seniors Monday night, with High junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton coming off the bench to score a game-high 22 points and lead four Trojans in double figures.
Seniors Keimara Marshall and Sasha Gotru backed Rayton with 14 and 12 points while sophomore Hailey Caryl had 11 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
Topeka West was short-handed for Monday's game, playing without injured senior Addaline Hall and lost junior Aveah McGlory to an injury in the second half.
Junior Sydney VanDyke paced the Chargers (5-16) with 10 points while junior Patience Allen added eight points.
Topeka West will also play back-to-back nights, hosting Turner in a United Kansas Conference contest on Tuesday.
TOPEKA HIGH GIRLS 74, TOPEKA WEST 35
Topeka West 8 6 12 9 -- 35
Topeka High 20 21 24 9 -- 74
Topeka West (5-16) – Allen 4-9 0-0 8, Gonzales 0-7 0-0 0, VanDyke 3-9 4-6 10, Kutina 0-3 0-0 0, McGlory 2-4 0-0 4, Ogles 3-6 2-4 8, Perkins 1-2 3-4 5, Robinson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-48 6-10 50.
Topeka High (14-8) – Short 1-3 0-0 2, Triplett 1-2 0-0 2, Whayne 0-0 0-0 0, Marshall 6-12 2-2 14, Gotru 5-6 1-1 12, Hartz 2-4 0-0 4, Rayton 10-19 0-0 22, Caryl 5-10 1-2 11, Brown 1-1 0-0 2, Marshall 0-0 0-0 0, Martin 1-3 0-0 3, Conley 1-3 0-0 2, Robbins 0-1 0-0 0, Cortez 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-64 4-5 74.
3-point goals – Topeka High 4 (Rayton 2, Gotru, Martin). Total fouls – Topeka West 4, Topeka High 8. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
