West set to tackle balanced Topeka Invitational field

Veteran Topeka West boys basketball coach Rick Bloomquist has confidence that if his Chargers play like they can, West can compete with every team in the Topeka Invitational Tournament, which gets underway Thursday at Hayden.

But the flip side of that is that Bloomquist also knows that if the Chargers aren't on top of their game, it could be a long week.

Topeka West garnered the top city seed for the tournament with a 4-1 record at the time of seeding, but Bloomquist's Chargers will look to bounce back with a strong tournament performance after a tough 60-55 Centennial League loss last Friday at Rural.

"You always look forward to the (Topeka Invitational), but we just want to play," Bloomquist said after the Rural loss. "We've got to use this game and the (tournament) to help catapult us into the playoff system. That's the whole thing.

"I told the kids that if (the Rural) loss happened to us in February, we're in trouble. But Washburn Rural did us a favor in January and we can recover, and we need the tournament to help us recover."

There doesn't seem to a clear-cut favorite to claim the Topeka Invitational title, but West is one of five schools that will take winning records into the three-day event, and every team in the field has between three and six wins.

The 4-2 Chargers open the tournament at 3 p.m. Thursday against St. Marys (5-4), while Highland Park (6-2) will take on Kansas City-Washington (4-6) at 4:30 p.m., Lawrence (4-3) will face host Hayden (3-4) at 6 p.m. and Wichita Northwest (4-6) will close out the first round at 7:30 p.m. against Topeka High (4-3).

"I really believe we can beat anybody we play," Bloomquist said. "But I also believe we can get beat by anybody we play. If we play the way we did the first half (against Rural), we'll get beat a lot, which we don't want to do."

Junior Trevion Alexander leads Topeka West with an 18.2-point scoring average, while sophomore Elijah Brooks averages 16.8 points for the Chargers.

Sophomore Juan'Tario Roberts leads Highland Park with an 18.4 scoring average, while junior CJ Powell averages 15.5 points.

Senior King Sutton is Topeka High's leading scorer with a 13.7 average, while senior Da'Vonshai Harden averages 10.8 points.

Senior John Roeder averages a team-high 11.5 points for Hayden.

The West-St. Marys winner will advance to a 7:30 p.m. semifinal Friday to play the Northwest-Topeka High winner, while the Lawrence-Hayden winner will face the Highland Park-Washington winner in a 4:30 p.m. semifinal.

The tournament championship game is set for 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

McPHERSON INVITATIONAL

Seaman's boys (0-7) will face Derby (6-2) at 3 p.m. Thursday in the opening round of the McPherson Invitational.

The winner of that game will advance to a 6:30 p.m. semifinal on Friday to face the winner of the 4:45 p.m. first-round game between Free State (6-2) and Junction City (3-3).

On the other side of the bracket, top-ranked (Class 5A) Carroll (8-0) will take on Wichita North (0-9) in the opening round, while host McPherson (6-3) will face Blue Valley (5-4). The winners of those two games will play an 8:15 p.m. semifinal on Friday.

The tournament championship game is set for 7 p.m. Saturday.

Sophomore Dagen Brewer leads Seaman with a 10.1 scoring average, while senior Eric Patterson averages 7.9 points.

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS AT DODGE CITY

Shawnee Heights' boys will trek to Dodge City for the 77th annual Tournament of Champions at the United Wireless Arena.

The T-Birds (4-3) will face host Dodge City (3-7) at 7 p.m. Thursday in a first-round game, with the winner advancing to a semifinal Friday (2:30 or 6 p.m.) to face the winner of the 2 p.m. first-round game between Campus (8-0) and Wichita East (5-5).

On the other side of the bracket, Manhattan (7-1) will play Maize (4-5) in a 3:30 p.m. first-round game Thursday, while Miege (5-1) will take on Wichita Heights (4-6) at 8:30 p.m. The winner of those two games will advance to 7:30 p.m. semifinal Friday.

The championship game is set for 5 p.m. Saturday.

Senior Nasier Anderson is averaging 13.3 points in three games for Shawnee Heights, while junior Harvey Davis averages 10.6 points and senior Marquis Barksdale 10.4 points for the T-Birds.

ORANGE AND BLACK CLASSIC AT COLBY

Highland Park's girls (3-6) will open their tournament bid at 8:15 p.m. Thursday against Goodland (4-5).

The Highland Park-Goodland winner will advance to a 3 p.m. semifinal on Friday to face the winner of the first-round game between Scott City (7-1) and Hays (2-6).

On the other side of the bracket, Beloit (3-4) will face Valley Center (2-6) in a 4:45 p.m. first-round game Thursday, while host Colby (9-0) will take on Denver School of Science and Technology: Green Valley Ranch at 6:30 p.m. The winner of those two games will play a 6:30 p.m. semifinal on Friday.

The tournament championship game will be played at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Senior Dariauna Carter averages 13.6 points and sophomore Aisya Taylor 12.4 points for Highland Park.