The THS girls basketball team had just battled Piper in a back-and-forth affair, with the Chieftains eventually coming away with a 37-33 victory.

Seniors on the THS girls basketball team notched a victory against the Piper for the first time in their high school careers. It’s a feat that many senior classes before them couldn’t claim.

Tonganoxie defeated Piper for the first time since the 2012-13 season. That game, a 41-37 THS victory, took place on Dec. 11, 2012. Since then, the Pirates strung together 20 straight victories against the Chieftains. During five different seasons, Piper won three games, the third coming in substate play. Those games might have ended the Chieftains’ seasons in the past, but this year’s team is experiencing some momentum as winners of three of its last four.

After the game, THS coach Mitch Loomis praised his team for its toughness. He also said he was happy for the seniors, as they’ve endured some of those lopsided losses in recent years against Piper. The Pirates went 90-6 during a four-year span from 2016-17 to 2019-20. Piper reached the state semifinals in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced cancellation of the final two rounds. PHS also hasn’t had a losing season since 2010-11, but Friday’s game dropped the Pirates to 3-8 on the season.

Tonganoxie, meanwhile, improved to 5-7 and picked up its first Frontier League victory of the year. THS won three straight heading into this week’s action.

THS senior Raegan Seba led all scorers with 17, while fellow senior Hattie Baldock also was in double figures with 10.

Seba also led all scorers in the Heritage Christian Academy game on Jan 25 at THS. Seba had 23 points, nine of which came from three three-pointers. Emma Sunderland also was in double figures with 10, while Chyanne Aaron scored nine. She chipped in two more three’s in the victory.

Tonganoxie won the game, 44-28.

THS was home again Tuesday against Shawnee Heights (6-5) after The Mirror’s print deadline. The team then is on the road Friday at Bonner Springs (6-6) and back home Tuesday against Jeff West (9-4).

TONGANOXIE 37, PIPER 33

Score by quarters

Piper 9 9 8 7 — 33

Tonganoxie 6 15 4 12 — 37

Individual scoring

Piper — A. Vallejo 2 1-1 5, T Vallejo 2(2) 0-0 6, Roth 1 0-0 2, Grann 4(2) 5-6 15, Covington 1 1-1 3, Collins 1 0-0 2. Totals 11(4) 6-7 33

Tonganoxie — Hattie Baldock 5 0-0 10, Emma Sunderland 0 2-4 2 Raegan Seba 4(1) 8-8 17, BrooklynLang 2(1) 0-0 5, Chyanne Aaron, 1(1) 0-0 3. Totals 12(3) 10-12 37