Though the boys dropped their quarterfinal game against a shorthanded Bonner Springs team, THS bounced back with while dealing with some adversity of its own.

Tonganoxie was without head coach Phil Jones for the final two games of the tournament due to COVID-19 protocols. THS also was without the services of Caleb Clark and Talon Langford, but assistant Chris Reid-Pinson stepped in and led Tonganoxie in Jones’ absence.

The Chieftains were supposed to play Metro Academy in the consolation semifinals, but Jeff West had to exit the tournament early for the second consecutive season due to COVID-19 protocols.

That meant that Tonganoxie would play Wamego first on Thursday and then Metro Academy on Saturday in a round-robin schedule.

Tonganoxie went back and forth against Wamego in that Thursday game. The teams battled for four quarters and needed overtime before THS eventually won, 53-52.

THS then played against a Metro team the Chieftains had defeated earlier in the season. In the rematch, Tonganoxie got off to a hot start, but Metro answered and then built a big lead.

The Chieftains were down, 51-40, in the fourth quarter, but THS roared back, at one point getting four points back-to-back with a free throw and a three-pointer before the Mavericks could get another possession.

Despite the furious rally, Metro was able to get one more point and eventually held on for the 52-51 victory.

THS went 1-2 at the tournament and essentially tied for fifth place, as all three consolation teams went 1-1 after the Jeff West departure. Tonganoxie was 7-5 on the season heading into Tuesday’s home game against Heritage Christian after The Mirror’s print deadline.

Tonganoxie will then have a week break from competition.

THS girls take down Bishop Ward

Tonganoxie kept pace with top-ranked Wamego in the quarterfinals last week, at least in the first half. But the then-No. 1 ranked team in Class 4A put the game out of reach in the second half. Wamego went on to win, 63-22, sending THS to the consolation bracket.

Tonganoxie bounced back well against Holton in the consolation bracket, though both teams didn’t get out to the best of starts.

Holton had a 2-0 lead after the first quarter and then THS responded in the second quarter and took a 9-8 lead into halftime.

The teams were neck-and-neck in the second half, but the Wildcats held on for the 35-32 victory.

On Saturday, THS bounced back with a 34-16 victory against Bishop Ward. That win moved THS to 3-7 on the season. The Chieftains played against Heritage Christian after The Mirror’s print deadline Tuesday. THS will play a makeup game Friday at home against Piper with a return to Frontier League action against the Pirates in the THS gymnasium.