photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Lawrence High coach Nick Wood claps for his team during the game against Highland Park. The Lions fell to the Scots during the Topeka Invitational at Hayden High School on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024.

Topeka – Bouncing back from a first-round loss to 5A favorite Highland Park, the Lawrence High boys basketball team put together a commendable effort in a 54-46 loss to Topeka West in the second round of the consolation bracket on Friday at Hayden Catholic.

The Chesty Lions (1-8) opened with arguably their best start of the season, building on early 3-point shooting by senior Zaxton King and junior Jaylen Parks to command a 16-15 lead on the Chargers (5-4) through the first quarter.

LHS head coach Nick Wood was proud of how his group responded from Thursday’s showing and got right back to business.

“There’s no doubt the boys came out ready to play a basketball game,” Wood said. “We were hitting shots, matching their level of energy and (LHS’) play allowed us to stay within in that game the rest of the way out.”

Parks (six points), knocking down two 3s mere minutes separated from the jump, set the tone for LHS early on and King (26 points) followed with a 3-point basket of his own. Without junior Banks Bowen in the starting lineup, senior Gordon Fineday (four points) got the start to help challenge T-West (7 of 14) from the field early.

The second quarter didn’t include the same spark from LHS’ offense, as a short-range jump shot by Josh Galbreath (four points) and a single free-throw by sophomore Aden Ramirez (1 point) made up the Lions’ entire offensive production.

Five points, including a 3, by junior Jalen Foy (17 points) helped T-West claim a 22-19 lead by halftime. The second quarter also saw LHS sophomores Edward Roman Nose (two points) and Devin Foster pick up valuable minutes.

As the shots quit falling, Wood felt his boys stuck to their game plan and didn’t panic or let their mistakes snowball.

“We believe in our roster,” Wood said. “That allowed for guys like Eddie, Aden and Devin to step up. I think all three played really well and provide some really good stuff for us.”

King bolstered LHS’ chances with a big second-half performance, laying down 20 points after the break to keep the Chargers within an arm’s length the rest of the way. Even with King’s increased efforts – including a foul behind the three-point line – the Lions entered the fourth quarter down 10 points.

T-West met roadblock after roadblock in the fourth quarter, fouling King two more times behind the arc and allowing an 8-0 run by the Lions just two minutes back onto the floor.

A 3-pointer by junior Avery Johnson (3 points) and a two-pointer by Fineday added to the pressure, as LHS seemingly zeroed in on T-West, down 38-36, with just over four minutes remaining.

Senior Johnny Young (13 points) came to the rescue for T-West late, adding seven points down the stretch. Worsening the finish were three LHS turnovers, totaling 13 by the final bell.

“We’re turning the ball over way too much, ultimately, to go win a basketball game right now,” Wood said. “That’s the unfortunate part of our growth process. Until we clean it up, it’s going to be the same story.”

LHS hosts Olathe South on Friday, Jan. 26. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

BOX SCORE:

LHS 16 3 9 18 – 46

T-West 15 7 16 16 – 54

Lawrence High (46) Zaxton King 7-15 9-12 26; Avery Johnson 1-8 0-0 3; Gordon Fineday 2-3 0-0 4; Josh Galbreath 1-3 2-4 4; Jaylen Parks 2-3 0-0 6. Totals: 14-36 12-18 46.

Topeka West (54) Johnny Young 5-9 3-4 13; Caden McGee 0-0 0-0 -; Keimani Paul 5-9 0-0 11; Jalen Foy 7-12 0-0 17; Caleb Noonoo 2-5 0-0 4. Totals: 22-41 5-8 54.

3-point goals: LHS: 6-20 (); T-West: 5-14 (). Turnovers: LHS 13, T-West 11. Fouled Out: None.

Free State boys bounce back against Bishop Carroll at McPherson Invite

The Free State boys basketball team took down Bishop Carroll 64-37 in the second round of the McPherson Invitational on Friday night, giving the team a 1-1 record in tournament play after Thursday’s loss to Derby.

The Firebirds (4-6) led from start to finish after opening the game on a 7-0 run, and they never looked back against the Golden Eagles (3-8), who despite cutting the lead to five midway through the third quarter, could not overtake Free State’s relentless defense and shot making, which both proved to be the difference down the stretch.

Korbin Dowdell led the way with 14 points for the Firebirds, while Bennett Nagel chipped in with 11 second-half points to push the Firebirds to a tournament victory Friday afternoon.

The Firebirds wasted no time, immediately taking a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game thanks to five early points from Dowdell.

Despite a late opening quarter surge from Bishop Carroll, Free State commanded the rest of the first quarter, as a 3 from Dash Johnson extended the Firebirds’ lead to 18-10 through the first eight minutes.

Free State’s consistent shooting from beyond the arc helped the team maintain its sizeable advantage. The Firebirds finished with six 3-pointers in the first half, two from Johnson and one each from four other Firebirds.

Along with the 3s, Dowdell added several more points to close out the first half, accumulating 10 points in the first 16 minutes to help Free State lead 32-22 at the break.

The Golden Eagles started strong in the third quarter with five early points, prompting a Free State timeout as the lead shrunk to 32-27 with five minutes left in the period.

However, two 3s from Nagel helped extend the lead to 41-31 late in the third, and then a 6-0 run for the Firebirds bumped the advantage to 16 points going into the fourth quarter, with FSHS maintaining all the momentum heading into the home stretch.

Devon Hamilton knocked down two 3s of his own to push Free State’s lead to over 20 midway through the fourth, and several free-throws later, the Firebirds completed a wire-to-wire victory.

The Firebirds will now prepare to take on Topeka Seaman in the fifth place game Saturday afternoon with tipoff set for 12:35 p.m. at McPherson High School.

Baldwin High knocks down Seabury boys in BIT title game

Arguably the area’s best game of the week fell in favor of the Baldwin High boys basketball team, which defeated 1A favorite Bishop Seabury 60-56 in the Baldwin Invitational title game on Friday in Baldwin City.

Headlining the night was senior Talan Torrez, leading the Bulldogs (8-2) with a game-high 23 points followed by senior Joey Ziembicki’s 19 points. Torrez knocked down a pair of free-throws late in the game and recovered his own rebound to help send Baldwin ahead 56-52 with 14 seconds left.

A crucial 3-pointer by Seabury junior Jace Smith (eight points) cut the game back within a possession, but a foul against senior Aidan Page doomed the Seahawks’ overtime hopes and sophomore Cooper Carr (12 points) put the game away at the free-throw line.

Baldwin head coach Donald Blanchat felt his two key seniors – Torrez and Ziembicki – took the game into their own hands.

“Those two guys are always going to be a threat,” Blanchat said. “And (Carr) does a great job of passing the ball which really enables those guys… To have those two seniors at home in our home tournament – kind of a last go around – is a really cool thing.”

Seabury (7-2) struggled from the field, finishing the night just 12 of 28 and 3 of 8 behind the arc. Page and Junior Chase Honarvar led the Seahawks with 13 points apiece, followed by sophomore Jace Hoffman with 11 points.

Ziembicki set the tone right away for the Bulldogs, knocking down two early 3s to help claim a 15-12 lead by the end of the first quarter. Seabury, which put up a splatter of 2s in the first quarter, benefited from Smith and Hoffman behind the arc in the second quarter.

Baldwin, ahead 21-19 early in the second quarter, continued its 3-point barrage thanks to Torrez. The 6-foot-1 senior dropped seven points to help the Bulldogs stay out front 32-30 at halftime despite a late first-half surge by the Seahawks.

Seabury and Baldwin stayed at each other’s throats through the third quarter, with Ziembicki adding two more 3s to his resume and Peterson checking in with two 3s of his own to set up a tight ballgame with the Bulldogs leading 45-43 heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter came down to the free-throw line, with Torrez and Carr nailing 6 of 7 shots from the charity stripe to help escape Seabury’s late stand.

Seabury head coach Trey Johnson felt his team’s late glass presence ultimately doomed a game’s worth of grit going up against a 4A opponent.

“I think overall we played like we wanted to play,” Johnson said. “We were ready for them to just sag off and have (Carr) in the middle on defense… We’re just disappointed with the ending and not rebounding that free-throw.”

Seabury travels to Cair Paravel on Tuesday, Jan. 23; Baldwin travels to Wellsville on Thursday, Jan. 25.

BOX SCORE:

BSA 12 18 13 13 – 56

BHS 15 17 13 15 – 60

LHS swimmers crowned champs on senior night

A dominant showing by the Lawrence High boys swim and dive team headlined senior night on Wednesday at the LHS Natatorium. Seniors recognized included Luke Velte, Jack Tell, Alex Gordon-Ross, Kaden Douglas and Cole Ahlander.

The Chesty Lions (419 points) won 10 total events en route to a first-place team finish over visitors Olathe North (298 points), Topeka High (293 points), Topeka-Hayden (182 points) and Topeka West (89 points).

Six Lions finished the night with first-place individual medals:

• Senior Alex Gordon-Ross won the 200-yard freestyle (2:18.75).

• Senior Luke Velte won the 50-yard freestyle (23.88).

• Sophomore Alex Oral won the 100-yard butterfly (1:02.22).

• Junior Ryan Lane won the 100-yard freestyle (53.05).

• Sophomore Hugo Cowardin won the 500-yard freestyle (5:45.77).

• Senior Jack Tell won the 200-yard individual medley (2:22.29) and the 100-yard breaststroke (1:13.07).

LHS also captured gold medals in all three relays – the 200-yard medley relay (1:49.97), 200-yard freestyle relay (1:40.27) and the 400-yard freestyle relay (4:00.85).

LHS will join Free State, Topeka High, Olathe South, Salina South, Junction City and Hays on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at the Capitol Federal Natatorium in Topeka.