After already being the hero in one overtime Tuesday night, Emporia High sophomore guard Alli Armitage was more than happy to spread the wealth in a second extra frame.
As such, the combination of give-and-take was enough to lift the Emporia High girls basketball team to a 61-57 double-overtime victory over Topeka High.
With the Lady Spartans trailing Topeka High, 57-56, in the second overtime, EHS ran an out-of-bounds play out of a timeout.
The ball was played in to Armitage, who got the ball on the left wing. Armitage drove through the lane, sucking in the Topeka High defense with her.
Standing about eight feet from the basket was a wide-open Jessica Muckenthaler.
“I knew I was guarded, and when I saw her (Muckenthaler), I said, ‘There you go,’” Armitage said. “I gave it all to her and put all my confidence in her.”
Armitage passed to Muckenthaler, who sank the jumper to give Emporia the lead with 6 seconds left.
“Alli did a good job of penetrating,” Muckenthaler said. “She really drew in the defense, and I just happened to get the shot.”
Following Muckenthaler’s shot, Topeka High’s Jackie Hoyt signaled for a timeout. But there was a problem — the Lady Trojans didn’t have any more timeouts. The result was a technical foul on Topeka High, which put Sadie Webb to the line to shoot a pair of free throws.
Webb nailed both shots, and Muckenthaler added another free throw with 4.8 seconds left, giving EHS the four-point victory.
“We just kept fighting and fighting,” Armitage said. “We never gave up and we put all of our hearts into it. It was a big win.”
It was Armitage who perhaps showed the most fight in the first overtime, as she scored all five of Emporia’s points in the frame to bring the Lady Spartans back from a 49-46 deficit.
Her first points came on a three-point play in which she drove hard to the basket and banked in a shot off the backboard while being fouled by Topeka High’s Myah Sprew. Armitage sank the free throw to pull EHS even with the Lady Trojans at 49-49.
On Topeka High’s next possession, Rachael Bachman stepped in front of a pass and tossed the ball ahead to Armitage. With one defender to beat, Armitage faked a pass to the left, which froze the defender long enough for her to get the easy lay-in.
“That’s kind of my signature move,” Armitage said. “I always do that, but I haven’t really used it in any games. It was kind of my first time.”
Topeka High’s Danielle Sicard hit a running jumper with 32 seconds left in the first overtime to send it into a second extra period, which set the stage for Armitage’s biggest assist of the game.
The win was big for the Lady Spartans (9-5, 3-4 Centennial League), who achieved victory despite once again being substantially out-rebounded by the Lady Trojans, 45-31. Topeka High (7-8, 3-5) out-rebounded EHS, 41-21, in the two schools’ first game this season, a 63-58 THS victory.
“We had to keep challenging and challenging and challenging our kids to try to battle harder on the boards,” EHS coach Bill Nienstedt said. “You’ve got to give them credit for being so good on the boards against us, because I think we’ve done a pretty doggone good job lately of rebounding the ball. They just go after it with such ferociousness.”
Nichole Naab led EHS with 20 points, while Muckenthaler just missed a double-double with 15 points and eight rebounds. Topeka High’s Hoyt finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds, both game-highs.
Centennial League
Tuesday at EHS
Topeka High 15 11 15 5 5 6 — 57
Emporia 13 16 7 10 5 10 — 61
TOPEKA HIGH (7-8, 3-5 Centennial League)
S. Patton 2-4 0-0 4, D. Sicard 5-13 0-0 10, I. Morrison 0-7 0-0 0, J. Hoyt 8-23 8-8 26, M. Sprew 2-7 0-0 4, A. Slough 3-3 0-0 6, C. Nelson 1-2 0-0 3, L. Hamilton 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 22-60 8-8 57.
EMPORIA (9-5, 3-4)
J. Muckenthaler 4-17 7-8 15, A. Armitage 3-8 1-1 7, R. Bachman 1-4 0-0 3, S. Webb 2-8 6-10 10, N. Naab 8-11 2-2 20, L. Hileman 1-3 1-2 3, L. Arndt 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 20-54 17-24 61.
3-point goals — TH 4-8 (Hoyt 2-5, Nelson 1-2, Hamilton 1-1), Emporia 3-10 (Muckenthaler 0-1, Armitage 0-3, Bachman 1-1, Naab 2-4, Arndt 0-1). Rebounds — TH 45 (Hoyt 14), Emporia 31 (Muckenthaler 8). Assists — TH 7 (Patton 3), Emporia 11 (Muckenthaler 6). Turnovers — TH 19, Emporia 14. Total fouls — TH 18, Emporia 15. Technical fouls — TH: Team. Fouled out — None.