Alli Armitage could have made a fuss, could have pled her case, could have complained to the officials.
She could have, but she didn’t.
With her team trailing to No. 2-ranked (Class 6A) Junction City by three points with just 20 seconds left, the Emporia High sophomore guard curled around a screen set by her teammate, Nichole Naab, and got a pass from Rachael Bachman on the right wing.
Armitage raised up to launch a three, but was bumped in mid-air, and the shot fell well short of the basket. The crowd roared as the officials’ whistles blew, thinking that Armitage would head to the free-throw line with a chance to tie the game.
Instead, it was ruled that Naab had been pushed into Armitage by Junction City’s Brittany Hess, and Naab, not Armitage, would shoot just a one-and-one instead of three free throws, much to the displeasure of the EHS coaching staff and the fans.
Naab missed the free throw, and Junction City survived perhaps its biggest scare of the year by defeating EHS, 46-42, to remain undefeated at 16-0 overall and 9-0 in the Centennial League.
Afterward, Armitage said the call on her three-point attempt was the right one.
“Actually, no, I didn’t get fouled,” she admitted. “There was nothing else I could have done about it.”
Just two days after upsetting No. 4-ranked Washburn Rural, the Lady Spartans (10-7, 4-6) played well enough throughout the entire game to come close to pulling of their second upset of a top-5 team in three days.
However, after holding Junction City’s dynamic sisterly duo of Dani and Alex Hoover to a combined 12 points for most of the game, one defensive mishap allowed Dani Hoover, a senior, to deliver the blow that broke Emporia’s back late.
A put-back by Lexi Hileman — one of several on the night for EHS — off a missed Lindy Arndt layup put the Lady Spartans ahead, 42-41, with 3 minutes left to play.
“All of our posts knew we had to go get boards and be physical in the post,” Hileman said, “because if we weren’t, they were going to push the tempo.”
With her team trailing by one, Dani Hoover got free of the Emporia High defense on the Blue Jays’ next possession, as she received a pass from her sister, Alex, on the left wing and drained a guarded 3-pointer to give Junction City the lead at 44-42 with 2 1/2 minutes left. Before that shot, Hoover, who finished with a game-high 10 points, had missed her previous six shots.
“They ran a flare screen for her, and we didn’t get over the top of it quite quick enough,” EHS coach Bill Nienstedt said. “She had just enough space to make obviously a huge shot by an awfully good player.”
A turnover by Arndt gave the ball back to the Blue Jays, who were content to play keep-away from the Lady Spartans. However, the end of the game was not without controversy, even before Armitage’s late missed 3-pointer.
With Junction City holding the ball out near mid-court, the Lady Spartans were applying pressure to try to force a turnover. However, a whistle blew to stop play, and it was ruled that EHS senior Jessica Muckenthaler had fouled Dani Hoover, even though it appeared Muckenthaler was not near the play at the time.
Though Nienstedt and the officials argued for several minutes, Hoover eventually went to the line and hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it 45-42, setting up Armitage’s last-ditch effort from behind the three-point arc.
“We just needed to get some kind of shot up,” Armitage said. “Even if it was a layup, it would have gotten us closer.”
Though they came so close to upsetting another ranked team, the Lady Spartans were hardly downtrodden, knowing they had played so well against one of the best teams in the state.
“I’m proud of our kids. I thought we out-competed them,” Nienstedt said. “I thought we defended exceptionally well against an awfully potent team.
“We battled and battled, and we played like champions tonight.”
The Lady Spartans will face Manhattan (11-6, 6-4) on the road at 6 tonight.
Centennial League
Thursday at EHS
Junction City 19 6 12 9 — 46
Emporia 14 7 16 5 — 42
JUNCTION CITY (16-0, 9-0 Centennial League)
D. Hoover 3-12 2-4 10, E. Testa 1-3 3-4 5, A. Hoover 2-6 1-2 6, B. Hess 2-3 0-0 4, M. Luthi 4-10 1-2 9, M. Clark 1-1 0-0 2, A. Smith 1-1 0-0 2, L. Lawrence 2-4 2-2 6, A. McKenzie 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 17-42 9-14 46
EMPORIA (10-7, 4-6)
J. Muckenthaler 3-8 1-2 7, A. Armitage 1-4 2-5 4, R. Bachman 1-1 1-2 3, S. Webb 1-1 4-6 6, N. Naab 2-6 2-2 6, L. Hileman 3-4 2-2 8, L. Arndt 3-6 2-2 8. Totals 14-30 14-21 42.
3-point goals — JC 3-7 (D. Hoover 2-4, A. Hoover 1-2, Lawrence 0-1), Emporia 0-5 (Muckenthaler 0-2, Armitage 0-2, Naab 0-1). Rebounds — JC 27 (Smith 5), Emporia 23 (Muckenthaler, Hileman 6). Assists — JC 8 (Three tied at 2), Emporia 5 (Arndt 2). Turnovers — JC 16, Emporia 16. Total fouls — JC 17, Emporia 13. Fouled out — Emporia: Muckenthaler.