February hasn’t necessarily been a month to love for the Chieftains this year, as THS had lost two in a row and was 1-3 overall in the month heading into Tuesday’s game.

But Tonganoxie got off to a good start and kept pace on its way to a 59-37 Frontier League victory against the Cyclones, who fell to 4-14 on the season.

Tonganoxie scored in double figures in all quarters but the third when THS scored seven, but the Chieftains also limited the Cyclones to four that quarter. THS then went into overdrive, scoring 21 in the fourth and putting the game out of reach and sweeping the season series. THS also won at home Jan. 7 against Ottawa, 67-52.

Zane Novotney again was hot from three-point range, connecting on five three-pointers on his way to a game-high 21 points. Mikey Conroy also was in double figures with 11.

Jake Titus led OHS with 15 points.

The victory moved Tonganoxie to 11-8 with one game left in the regular season.

Tonganoxie was the No. 6 seed in the Class 4A East Bracket as of Thursday morning.

THS plays No. 3 Paola (13-6) on Thursday on Senior Night in a game rescheduled from this past Friday.

No. 4 Wamego (13-7) and No. 5 Holton (12-8) have completed their schedules.

Paola likely will stay on the No. 3 line even if the Panthers beat the Chieftains and No. 3 Bishop Miege falls Friday in the Stags’ regular-season finale. Miege is 14-5, but even if BMHS and Paola were to finish with identical 14-6 records, the Stags would have the tiebreaker, as Miege’s average offensive production and average defensive production is about 67.3-54.1. Paola would have to make up a considerable margin. While Miege is averaging +13 points a game, Paola has a positive advantage of about 4.5 (48.6-44.0).

No. 5 Holton is around +6.5 (49.05-43.5) and No. 6 Tonganoxie is around +4 (54.4-50.5). No. 7 Labette County (11-8) and No. 8 Atchison (10-8) are at +0.5 and +1.2 respectively, so there’s still a chance for more movement.

Tonganoxie is expected to host a substate semifinal game next week against a lower seed, which right now is No. 11 Parsons (7-12), but there still are games to be played tomorrow and Friday in 4A.

TONGANOXIE BOYS 59, OTTAWA 37

Score by quarters

Tonganoxie 16 15 7 21 — 59

Ottawa 7 13 4 13 — 37

Individual scoring

Tonganoxie — Talon Langford 2 0-0 4, Isaiah Holtahus 1 0-0 2, Cuyler Kietzman 2(1) 0-0 7, Andrew Willson 3 1-1 7, Caleb Clark 2 0-0 4, Mikey Conroy 3(1) 2-2 11, Zane Novotney 2(5) 2-3 21. Totals — 15(7) 5-6 59

Ottawa — Chase Bloomer 0(1) 0-0 3, Janathan VanStoden 0 1-2 1, Jake Titus 6 3-5 15, Andrew White 0(1) 0-0 3, Noah McCullough 4(1) 0-1 11, Reese Fogle 0 2-2 2, Carter Mason 1 0-2 2. Totals 11(3) 6-12 37

THS GIRLS CAN’T OVERCOME SLOW START

The Tonganoxie High girls basketball team lost by six earlier this season against Ottawa, so Tuesday looked to be a chance to get a late-season victory in the rematch with the Cyclones.

That unfortunately didn’t happen for THS, which couldn’t overcome a bad start.

Ottawa doubled up Tonganoxie, 54-37, dropping the Chieftains to 6-13 with a game left in the regular season Thursday.

THS will face Paola on Senior Night in a game rescheduled from this past Friday. The Panthers are 11-8. Paola currently is the No. 10 seed in the 4A East Bracket for substate, while Tonganoxie is the No. 15 seed and is projected to play No. 2 Wamego (18-2) in the substate semifinals next week.