The Emporia High girls basketball team took control of Friday night’s game against Topeka High with a 21-0 run in the second quarter, and yet, coach Bill Nienstedt wanted more — much more — from his team.
Perhaps most surprising was that Nienstedt was upset with his team’s defensive showing in the No. 2-ranked (Class 5A) Lady Spartans’ 65-51 victory.
“We still don’t guard well, they (Topeka High) just missed shots and made some inexperienced decisions,” Nienstedt said. “We’ve got so much room to grow defensively still.”
The coach eventually took a step back and credited his squad for the way it played in the game-changing run to start the second period that turned a 18-17 Topeka High lead into a 38-18 EHS advantage with 3 minutes left in the half.
“I thought our depth and conditioning were a factor in that run,” Nienstedt said. “We got easy baskets in transition because we were able to sub, and our subs did a good job. By that point, our starters came back in, and some of them were fresh, and their kids looked pretty tired.”
After the frenetic pace of the first quarter — the two teams combined for 31 shots and the lead changed three times to go with five ties — it was only Emporia that could keep it going.
Topeka High (1-2, 1-2 Centennial League) took a one-point lead at 18-17 on a basket by Lexie Hamilton, and then Emporia unleashed an offensive wave that sank the Lady Trojans.
Nichole Naab and Alli Armitage each hit 3-pointers to help EHS get the lead for good and push the advantage to 27-18, which forced a Topeka High timeout. Not long after, Naab hit on a short jumper that put Emporia (4-0, 1-0) ahead, 35-18, forcing yet another Topeka timeout.
Out of the break, the Lady Trojans were issued a technical foul for having six players on the court once play began, and after Rachelle VanGundy hit 1 of 2 free throws and Hilary Heinrichs scored on the ensuing possession for EHS, the Lady Spartans’ lead had ballooned to 20 points at 38-18.
“Things were going well for us on offense,” sophomore Lindy Arndt said. “Things seemed to be going well for us on both ends. Not too much was going wrong.”
Meanwhile, the Lady Trojans went cold from the field after making eight of their first 17 shots. Topeka High went 0-for-5 from the field while Emporia was making its run, with most of its shots coming from well beyond the three-point line.
“For a while, they didn’t get back in transition very well, and we kept pushing it up the gut and attacked them,” Heinrichs said. “That got people layups and opened up a lot of things and got them frustrated.”
Perhaps the bigger story in the first half was the job EHS did defensively on Topeka High freshman Jessica Blake, who had been averaging 22 points per game this season. Blake finished with just three points in the first half, with her lone basket a 3-pointer at the buzzer that make it 40-23 EHS going into halftime.
Blake got hot in the second half, hitting three straight 3-pointers to help close the gap to 45-32 — she eventually finished with 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting — but Emporia turned away any threat Topeka High made at the Lady Spartans’ comfortable lead.
Heinrichs finished with her best game this season, notching her first double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
“I felt like I did something offensively and defensively. I wasn’t just a one-sided player,” she said.”
Emporia girls 65, Topeka High 51
Friday at EHS
Topeka High 16 7 13 15 — 51
Emporia 17 23 16 9 — 65
Topeka High (1-2, 1-2 Centennial League) — Blake 6-17 0-1 17, Redmond 2-8 0-0 4, Patterson 2-2 0-0 4, Patton 2-13 0-2 4, Hamilton 6-6 1-1 14, Lutz 3-10 0-0 8, Sprew 0-1 0-0 0, Vosburgh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-57 2-5 51.
Emporia (4-0, 1-0) — Armitage 2-2 1-3 7, Webb 4-6 1-2 9, Arndt 7-8 2-4 16, Naab 7-14 2-2 18, Hileman 2-5 0-0 4, VanGundy 0-5 1-2 1, Heinrichs 5-6 0-0 10, Meza 0-2 0-0 0, Leihsing 0-0 0-0 0, Scheve 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-48 7-13 65.
3-point goals — TH 7-25 (Blake 5-14, Redmond 0-1, Patton 0-2, Lutz 2-8), Emporia 4-8 (Armitage 2-2, Naab 2-3, VanGundy 0-2, Meza 0-1). Rebounds — TH 30 (Patton 9), Emporia 32 (Heinrichs 10). Assists — TH 11 (Blake 7), Emporia 13 (3 tied with 3). Turnovers — TH 14, Emporia 15. Total fouls — TH 11, Emporia 10. Technical fouls — TH: Bench, Patton. Emporia: Armitage.