The Emporia High boys basketball team lost the handle on the ball and on Bellevue East’s Jonathon Hicks in the second half of Thursday night’s season opener.
Luckily — and more importantly — the Spartans didn’t lose the handle on the game.
Despite committing 12 turnovers and allowing Hicks to go off for 18 points in the second half — he had 2 points in the first half — Emporia held on to win 59-58 in the first round of the Paul Terry Classic.
“I’ll definitely take the win, even if it’s ugly,” sophomore guard Taylor Euler said. “For the first game of the season, you maybe expect a game like that, but not with this team. We’re a better team than that. We made a lot of mistakes that our team isn’t going to make in the future.”
Hicks’ shooting heroics set up a wild ending, as his sixth 3-pointer of the second half pulled the Chieftains to within 1 at 58-57 with 19 seconds left after Emporia High (1-0) had built a 5-point lead in the fourth quarter. Hicks finished 6-of-9 from behind the arc to help give him a team-high 20 points.
“We had a hard time finding (Hicks),” EHS coach Rick Bloomquist said. “We knew where he was and tried to face guard him, and he still got open. He shot it well. The scouting report didn’t show that he shoots that well either.”
After Caydrick Bloomquist made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 59-57 with 11 seconds left, Bellevue East’s John Bryan quickly drove down the court and went in for a layup, only to get fouled by Emporia’s Troy Pierce.
Bryan toed the free-throw line with a chance to tie the game, and after making the first shot, his second try bounced off the rim and into a crowd of rebounders. Pierce and Bellevue East’s Jarrell Crayton each fought for the ball as they had all night before it went out of bounds off Crayton, giving the Spartans the ball with 6 seconds left.
“I don’t think I ever touched it,” Pierce said, “but that’s all right.”
Seth Torres was fouled on the inbounds, but missed both of his free throws to give the Chieftains one last hope. James Wallace grabbed the rebound for the Chieftains off the second missed free throw but never got a clean handle on it, and time expired before he could get a shot off, giving the Spartans their first win of the season.
Emporia’s sloppy play in the second half overshadowed what had been an efficient night for the Spartans starting with the second quarter.
Emporia held a 19-18 lead heading into the second period, and a Caydrick Bloomquist 3-pointer just 12 seconds into the quarter sparked an 11-0 Spartan run that put EHS up 30-18 with 5:12 left in the half.
“Coach had told us that this team can’t go with us and that we were the better team,” Euler said. “We finally came out with that mentality and nothing was going to stop us, and we made that run.”
Bellevue East drew to within five by halftime at 35-30 though thanks to the emergence of the sloppy play that would plague the Spartans in the second half.
In all, Bloomquist said he couldn’t be too concerned with his team’s performance, saying his team’s problems could be cured simply by playing more games together.
“I’m not angry, because I don’t think we played lazy. I think we really had great effort, and I didn’t have to coach effort,” he said. “But I’m a little frustrated with some of the things we did. Our shot selection got a little crazy at times ... and we weren’t taking them with any sort of continuity to our offense.
“That being said, you’re definitely never going to be your best the first game out.”
Emporia High plays again at 7:30 tonight against Olathe East. At halftime of the game, Emporia’s Paul Terry will be posthumously inducted into the Kansas State High School Activities Association Hall of Fame.
In the other two games, Olathe East held on for a 58-57 victory over Basehor-Linwood while Blue Valley West throttled Junction City 57-28.
Late run dooms EHS girls in season opener
A 14-0 run that was sandwiched around halftime and another 5-0 spurt early in the fourth quarter by Shawnee Mission East proved to be too much for the Emporia High girls in their season opener on the road, as the Lady Spartans fell, 36-34.
The Lady Spartans led 15-8 in the middle of the second quarter when the shots stopped falling as Shawnee Mission East scored the next 14 points from that point into the early stages of the third quarter to go up 23-15. However, EHS battled back to take a 1-point lead at the end of the third quarter, and each team traded baskets back and forth for the lead.
Then, Shawnee Mission East ran off a quick 5-0 run to give itself some slight separation, and managed to keep EHS at bay for the rest of the game.
“Those five quick points probably proved to be the difference for them,” EHS coach Bill Nienstedt said. “It gave them just enough of a cushion to be comfortable.”
Nienstedt said he was pleased with the effort his squad showed, but that he was “disappointed with our execution.” Shawnee Mission East out-rebounded EHS and had six fewer turnovers.
“Effort kept us in the game in spite of our problems with not handling the ball well and not running our offense,” Nienstedt said. “Other than three trips down the court late in the game when we didn’t guard well, I thought we defended well. We need to rebound better and take better care of the basketball.”
Sadie Webb led Emporia with 11 points, while Jessica Muckenthaler chipped in 9 and Nichole Naab added 6. Shawnee Mission East’s Rachel Kaegi led all scorers with 14 points.