The 69传媒 High boys survived a scare from Topeka High at home Wednesday night, walking away with a 65-60 victory after leading by double-digits earlier in the half.
With roughly 10 minutes remaining, the 69传媒 High boys owned an 11-point edge over Topeka High, en route to its third win of the new year. But just as rapidly as a pedestrian can slip on a icy sidewalk, the Indians69传媒 feet went out from under them.
A nine-point lead through 24 minutes was shaved to one at the 5:00 mark. Alert! Alert!
But the Indians, who often struggle offensively, were on the way to a season-high point total in a victory against winless Topeka High. MHS is now 4-1 when it scores 60-plus points and 5-8 overall. The Tribe averaged 54.5 points through a dozen games and hit that mark with nearly three and a half minutes left on the clock Wednesday night at MHS.
That69传媒檚 when Noah McFadden worked the interior to hit the 18-point mark on his way to a 24-point performance to boost the Indians. The 6-foot-4 junior nailed three first-half 3-pointers before he muscled up in the fourth with Topeka on a hard charge.
69传媒淗e played probably his hardest, (most) consistent effort he69传媒檚 given,69传媒 MHS coach Benji George said. 69传媒淏ecause when he plays hard, he really impacts the game defensively with his length. He did a great job on the boards tonight69传媒 he put those phases of the game together.69传媒
The Trojans were on the mark with their first three shots of the fourth. Jalen Aldridge69传媒檚 steal led to potential game-tying free throws, but he missed both.
69传媒淲e69传媒檙e just not bringing the proper effort to our zone,69传媒 George said. 69传媒淭he tighter we are defensively, the better we look. We69传媒檙e not the kind of team that can spread out defensively, I don69传媒檛 think. We did a good job of turning them over.69传媒
McFadden returned from foul trouble and scored eight straight to stretch the MHS lead to seven as the clock neared 1:00.
Sophomore Henry Witt tacked on nine points with Sam Spiegel another eight. For MHS, the road beckons for three straight: Emporia on Friday and then Washburn Rural, Topeka next week before a Feb. 14 home date against Topeka Hayden.
MANHATTAN 65,
TOPEKA 60
Topeka (0-13) 69传媒 18; 10; 10; 22 69传媒 60
69传媒 (5-8) 69传媒 16 ;16; 15; 18 69传媒 65
INDIVIDUAL POINTS
Topeka 69传媒 Elisha Guest 19, Robert Dingle 0, Octavian McFadden 7, Jalen Aldridge 8, David Villegas 3, Stuart Campbell 0, Bryson McComas 21, Jack Trotter 2. Totals: 60 (20-51).
69传媒 69传媒 Will Carpenter 3, Sawyer Newton 7, Vince Doering 4, Noah McFadden 24, Henry Witt 9, Landon Knopp 7, Carter Goodpasture 1, Tim Washington 2, Sam Spiegel 8. Totals: 65 (18-58).
