By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It took Topeka High's powerhouse girls basketball team a little while to get going Friday night, but once the Trojans did get on track there was no stopping that train, with High rolling to an 85-31 Centennial League rout over Topeka West at West.
Topeka High heated up towards the end of the first quarter to take a 24-10 lead and then the Trojans hit the Chargers with a 34-8 second quarter to open up a commanding 58-18 advantage. The Trojans doubled up the Chargers 22-11 in the third quarter to take an 80-29 advantage and a running clock was used throughout the fourth quarter.
"I thought the girls did a great job working on some things,'' Topeka High coach Hannah Alexander said. "At the beginning of the game we kind of struggled to hit some of those shots that we normally hit, so I told them to let us talk through our defense and we started getting some steals in our fullcourt trap and I think that kind of loosened them up a little bit.
"We just looked a little tight in the beginning, so it was good to see them get involved and let the defense talk rather than worrying about the offense and then things started flowing once they did that.''
Junior Kiki Smith scored 32 points in Topeka High's 85-31 romp past Topeka West Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High senior Tae Thomas scored 23 points in the Trojans' 85-31 win over Topeka West Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High, No. 8-ranked in Class 6A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, improved to 3-0 overall and in the league as Trojan standouts Kiki Smith and Tae Thomas combined for 55 points.
Smith, a junior, scored a game-high 32 points with four 3-pointers while Thomas added 23 points with a pair of 3s. Both players did their damage in three quarters as neither player played in the fourth quarter.
Junior Adisyn Caryl also cracked double figures for the Trojans with 10 points.
Junior Azaryah Duncan led Topeka West (0-3, 0-3) with nine points while senior Whitley Benson and sophomore Rebecca Bearman scored seven points apiece and sophomore Zoe Clark added 6.
Topeka High will travel to Emporia on Tuesday for a Centennial League contest while West will play a non-league contest at Shawnee Heights.
TOPEKA HIGH GIRLS 85, TOPEKA WEST 31
Topeka High 24 34 22 5 -- 85
Topeka West 10 8 11 2 -- 31
Topeka High (3-0, 3-0) -- Caryl 4 2-3 10, Thomas 9 3-4 23, Shields 1 1-2 3, Smith 12 4-5 32, Wiley 0 0-4 0, Leesman 0 0-0 0, Baird 3 0-0 7, Zimmerman 1 2-4 4, Fulton 1 0-0 2, Sharpe 0 0-0 0, Mwangi 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0-0 0, Benning 2 0-0 4. Totals 33 12-22 85.
Topeka West (0-3 0-3) -- Duncan 3 5-8 9, Benson 2 2-4 7, Clark 1 3-4 6, Ford 1 0-0 2, Bearman 2 3-6 7, Hopper 0 0-0 0, Sanchez 0 0-1 0, Mays 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 13-23 31.
3-point goals -- Topeka High 7 (Smith 4, Thomas 2, Baird), Topeka West 2 (Benson, Clark) Total fouls -- Topeka High 19, Topeka West 15. Fouled out -- none.
