[ HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL ]

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Dec 12, 2001 by Rick Peterson Capital-Journal

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

CHRIS OCHSNER/The Capital-Journal

Topeka West's Ariana Scales, top, reached over to tie up Washburn Rural's Jenna Lawless in the second half of their non-league game Tuesday night at Rural. Scales scored 20 points in the Chargers' 49- 39 win.

CHRIS OCHSNER/The Capital-Journal

Washburn Rural's Ryan Koontz, left, tried to slow Topeka West's Johar Moss, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds Tuesday in West's win.

By Rick Peterson

The Capital-Journal

Topeka West hung around and hung around and then hung Washburn Rural out to dry.

Behind most of the game, including a 10-point deficit twice in the second quarter, West took control with a 14-0 fourth-quarter run, turning a three-point deficit with five minutes remaining into an 11- point lead on the way to a 52-44 non-league win at Rural.

"We went on a nice little spurt, fueled by our defense and our press," said first-year Topeka West coach Chad Eshbaugh, whose team evened its record at 2-2. "We were able to get some turnovers and some layups and turned a game that we were down a little bit into a lead for us.

"We've been playing these close games all year and I think it really paid some dividends tonight. I talked to the fellas about not just counter-punching with everybody in the fourth quarter, but trying to throw a knockout punch. Tonight they threw a knockout."

Rural, which led 24-20 at the half and 34-31 at the start of the fourth quarter, went up 37-34 on a basket from senior Matt Muller with about five minutes left.

The Junior Blues would not score again until just 44 seconds remained.

Junior Johar Moss fueled West's decisive rally, scoring seven of his team-high 15 points in the final period. Moss also grabbed 11 rebounds on the night.

Junior guard Michael Williams added 13 points and sophomore guard Reed Hein 10 for the Chargers. Both Williams and Hein hit two free throws in the final 30 seconds after Rural had cut West's lead to six points.

Muller led all scorers with 18 points, hitting 8 of 13 shots from the field, but he was the only Junior Blue to crack double figures.

Rural senior Ryan Koontz had averaged 25 points in his first two games, but he was held to 5 points Tuesday night on 2-of-8 shooting from the field.

Rural (0-3) will open Centennial League play at home Friday night against Emporia, while Topeka West will be at home for an I-70 League game against Manhattan.

Topeka West...........8....12....11....21 --- 52

Washburn Rural........8....16....10....10 --- 44

Topeka West (2-2) ---

Wash 1-6 3-6 5

Moss 7-14 1-4 15

Dupigny-Leigh 1-5 0-0 2

Hein 2-6 5-6 10

Williams 5-16 2-4 13

Hysten 0-0 0-0 0

Cowdin 0-2 2-2 2

Adams 2-4 0-0 4

Granville 0-1 0-0 0

Scott 0-0 1-2 1

Rogers 0-0 0-0 0

Gilbertson 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals 18-54 14-24 52.

Washburn Rural (0-3) ---

Koontz 2-8 0-0 5

Swedlund 1-3 2-2 4

Simpson 1-4 0-0 3

Muller 8-13 2-4 18

Tarvin 3-8 1-1 8

Cooley 0-0 0-0 0

Gallagher 1-4 0-0 2

Sisk 1-3 2-4 4

Schoonover 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals 17-44 7-11 44.

3-point goals --- Topeka West 2 (Hein, Williams), Washburn Rural 3 (Koontz, Simpson, Tarvin). Total fouls --- Topeka West 12, Washburn Rural 21.

Topeka West girls 49, Washburn Rural 39

After blowing a 21-point halftime lead last Thursday in a loss to Salina South, Topeka West bounced back in a big way Tuesday night, handing perennial Class 6A power Washburn Rural a double-digit loss on its home court.

West led 24-21 at halftime and by as much as 14 late in the third quarter, then withstood several Rural mini-runs to improve to 3-1 on the year.

"Thursday night we didn't take care of the basketball game. We flat blew one," Topeka West coach Mike Goehring said. "I told them (tonight) that it was going to be a gut check, (and) 'either step up or we're going to go home disappointed.' We stepped up defensively, we had some good defensive stands, we had good boards when we needed them and then we took care of the ball at the end."

Senior standout Ariana Scales led the Chargers with 20 points, including 15 in the second half --- 10 in the third quarter when West built a 41-30 cushion. Scales also pulled down 11 rebounds.

Junior Lindsey Ogden added 13 points, hitting 5 of 7 shots from the floor, and sophomore Emily Sherwood scored 10 points and also was 5 of 7 from the field. Sherwood grabbed 8 rebounds.

As a team, West shot 54 percent from the field, connecting on 20 of 37 attempts.

Washburn Rural (2-2) got 10 points from senior Kristin Underwood, but the Junior Blue standout hit just 4 of 15 shots.

Rural plays host to Emporia on Friday. Topeka West will be at home on Thursday to take on Manhattan.

Topeka West...........10....14....17....8 --- 49

Washburn Rural........11....10....9.....9 --- 39

Topeka West (3-1) ---

Marten 0-1 0-0 0

Sherwood 5-7 0-0 10

Scales 7-15 4-6 20

Molander 3-5 0-0 6

Ogden 5-7 3-5 13

Velez 0-3 0-3 0.

Totals 20-37 7-14 49.

Washburn Rural (2-2) ---

Swatek 0-1 0-0 0

Schmidt 0-2 0-0 0

Underwood 4-15 2-2 10

Fenton 3-7 1-1 8

White 4-8 1-2 9

Pecis 0-0 0-0 0

Tinkel 2-5 0-0 4

Lawless 3-4 0-1 7

Morse 0-0 1-2 1.

Totals 16-42 5-8 39.

3-point goals --- Topeka West 2 (Scales 2), Washburn Rural 2 (Lawless, Fenton).