Northwest, South lose in first round of Topeka West tournament

Northwest seemed to be in an ideal position to pull off a major upset in Thursday’s first round of the Topeka boys basketball tournament.

But a few missed free throws, a couple of untimely turnovers and some missed three-pointers helped turned the tide down the stretch as Lawrence, ranked third in Class 6A, escaped with a 65-57 victory.

Northwest (4-6) was tied with Lawrence 25-all at the half and the Grizzlies led 38-37 at the start of the fourth quarter. Senior Demarquez Phillips then hit a three-pointer to put Northwest up 49-46 with 4:55 remaining.

But Northwest couldn’t close things out, hitting 3 of 9 free throws in the game and going 24 of 65 from the field.

“We’re going to shoot those threes because we’re confident enough to make them,’’ Northwest coach Bryan Chadwick said. “Our biggest thing is we’ve got to make sure we keep rebounding and that we make free throws. If we make our free throws, we’re right there.

“Our league gets us ready for this. Lawrence is a good team, but we were right there.’’

Lawrence (10-1) got a huge fourth quarter from senior star guard Justin Roberts, who scored nine straight points to put Lawrence in front 55-49 with 3:15 left. Roberts scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth before fouling out late in the game. Senior Fred Brou added 18 points for the Lions while senior Price Morgan had nine points and 15 rebounds.

Junior Luke Carter had 18 points off the bench to lead Northwest, while sophomore Jalen Smith added 16 points and junior Michael Duncan 11. Northwest will play at 3:15 p.m. Friday against Kansas City Washington, a 77-59 loser to Topeka.

Highland Park 58, South 57 – Highland Park (6-4) looked to be on the verge of blowing out South (4-6) late in the first half, with the Scots opening up a 29-14 lead.

The Scots were still up 13 at the half, but South came roaring back to take a two-point lead twice late in the third quarter and the Titans got within a point twice down the stretch.

Highland Park held on, however, as senior Malik Keith scored a game-high 26 points (four three-pointers). Senior Daishoun Fox added 11 points for the Scots, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

“It got ugly quick,’’ Highland Park coach Jason Jones said of South’s comeback. “We talked at halftime that the first three minutes of the third quarter were going to be huge. I knew they were going to come out swinging and they did, and we didn’t respond very well.

“But in tournament play it’s all about getting to that next game and we did that.’’

Junior Jariah Taylor led South with 16 points while senior Dawson Gunter added 10 points. South will play at 5 p.m. Friday against Topeka West, which lost to Olathe South 53-46.

This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 10:27 PM with the headline "Northwest, South lose in first round of Topeka West tournament."