LHS Basketball Team Falls Short in Topeka Invitational
photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
Lawrence High junior Avery Johnson dribbles the ball against Highland Park. The Lions fell to the Scots during the Topeka Invitational at Hayden High School on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024.
Topeka — It was far from a picture-perfect rematch of last year’s Topeka Invite title game on Thursday, as Highland Park rolled by the Lawrence High boys basketball team 75-44 in the first round of this year’s tournament at Hayden Catholic.
Matching Highland Park’s energy throughout the first quarter, the Chesty Lions went into the second quarter down just six points. But LHS (1-8) lost its early momentum and just couldn’t find an answer for the Scots (5-0) in the second half. Senior Zaxton King led the Lions with 13 points, finishing just 4-for-11 from the field.
LHS head coach Nick Wood felt his team came out focused on the game plan.
“We knew (Highland Park) was going to play fast, play hard and get after us defensively and continue to be relentless throughout the entire game,” Wood said. “(LHS) was ready for that and we understood that their team hadn’t faced a lot of adversity out of the gate.”
The final result was quite a departure from the tipoff, which featured juniors Jaylen Parks (nine points) and Banks Bowen (five points) knocking down early 3s to keep LHS within two possessions, down 20-14 at the start of the second quarter.
photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
Lawrence High junior Banks Bowen shoots the ball against Highland Park. The Lions fell to the Scots during the Topeka Invitational at Hayden High School on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024.
But to the Lions’ dismay, Highland Park took things up another notch after that.
Combining for 36 total points, senior Tamir Anderson and junior Jacorey Robinson led the Scots on a 21-9 run past LHS, and they had a comfortable 43-25 lead at halftime. Senior Mister Cannon came off the bench in the second quarter, finishing the game with 10 points.
“We turned the ball over too much and that led to way too many easy transition buckets for them and it just snowballed,” Wood said. “Turnovers lead to easy buckets, then we can’t sit back as much and we’ve got to get out and guard them man to man.”
The Scots, who outscored LHS 15-7 in the third quarter, closed the game for good with continued production by Robinson in the lane.
Late in the game, LHS junior Aden Ramirez (eight points) added two 3s off the bench. Senior Gordon Fineday and sophomore Edward Roman Nose each added a layup.
photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
Lawrence High junior Aden Ramirez drives the ball against Highland Park. The Lions fell to the Scots during the Topeka Invitational at Hayden High School on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024.
LHS (1-8) will return to face Topeka West on Friday at 2 p.m. Topeka West lost to Shawnee Mission North on Thursday.
BOX SCORE:
LHS 14 9 14 7 – 44
HPHS 20 21 21 13 – 75
Lawrence High (44) Zaxton King 4-11 4-4 13; Avery Johnson 1-5 2-2 5; Banks Bowen 2-5 0-0 5; Josh Galbreath 0-1 0-0 -; Jaylen Parks 4-6 0-0 9. Totals: 15-33 8-8 44.
Topeka-Highland Park (75) Amari Taylor 4-6 0-0 8; Jamon Wilson 1-2 0-0 2; Mikey Williams Jr. 4-6 0-0 8; Jacorey Robinson 8-11 1-2 17; Tamir Anderson 8-11 0-0 19. Totals: 34-49 2-3 75.
3-point goals: LHS: 6-17 (); HPHS: 5-13 (). Turnovers: LHS 12, HPHS 3. Fouled Out: None.
LHS Girls Secure Second Win at Spring Hill
With one of its key starters, Brynnae Johnson, out with an injury, the Lawrence High girls basketball team picked up a second consecutive win, rolling past Spring Hill 53-24 Wednesday on the road.
The Lady Lions (5-4) limited the Broncos (3-6) to just 10 total points in the first half and had stormed to a 20-point lead by the break behind seniors Cyrenity Hardy (18 points) and Delilah Barnes (eight points).
LHS head coach Jeff Dickson was impressed with his group’s resilience to step up and adapt to the lineup change. He singled out Hardy and Barnes for their help tying the team together on the floor.
“(Barnes) really set the tempo and stage,” Dickson said. “(Hardy) was exceptional on both ends of the floor.”
Down the stretch, junior Nyasia Ramos (six points) and senior Miri Pickman (three points) helped LHS cement the win from behind the arc.
LHS travels to Topeka-Seaman next Thursday.