The Chieftains improved to 1-1 on the season.

Tonganoxie played its second game of the tournament Tuesday night against Bishop Ward, but the game continued past The Mirror’s press time. With a win, THS would play at 8:30 p.m. Friday in the finals. With a loss, it would play at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Ronnie Grizzle led the Chieftains with 15 points against Highland Park. What’s even more impressive is that the junior forward doesn’t even start.

“She was a real force around the basket,” Tonganoxie coach Randy Kraft said of Grizzle. “A lot of (Highland Park’s) focus was on her, which opened up the rest of our game. She’s given us a presence with some size and strength around the basket.”

Senior Shannon Carlin added 11 points, while senior Tracie Hileman and junior Chrissie Jeannin added nine a piece.

Kraft said the Chieftains’ defensive pressure vastly improved from their opening loss against the Basehor-Linwood Bobcats. That was evident in the amount of points Highland Park scored in the third quarter on Monday: One.

“In the third quarter, we turned it up,” Kraft said. “We did a better job of keeping the ball in front of us and not giving up easy shots or offensive rebounds.”

Tonganoxie 62, Highland Park 31
Scoring by quarter
Tonganoxie 19 11 23 9 — 62
Topeka-Highland Park 12 6 1 12 — 31