Foul Play: EHS inside game struggles in loss to Indians
Saturday, February 17, 2007
MANHATTAN — Emporia High’s Dillon Cox would have liked to have been able to comment on just how physical Friday night’s game against Manhattan actually was.
The problem was, Cox barely played, as he — along with just about every other Spartan low-post player — was saddled the entire game by fouls.
“I really didn’t have enough time to get in there and get in the flow of the game,” Cox said.
That was part of the story for the Spartans, who had Cox, Troy Pierce and Brandon Childs all finish with at least four fouls, as EHS fell to the Indians, 62-54.
However, EHS coach Rick Bloomquist said it was the Spartans’ own effort that led to the loss, which ended a five-game winning streak for Emporia (11-6, 6-5 Centennial League).
“It’s our own fault that we got in foul trouble, because collectively, we didn’t work very hard together,” Bloomquist said. “Manhattan played very well. They played harder than we did, they played smarter than we did, they played with more purpose and they played with more passion. That’s probably the difference in the game.”
The problems started early for EHS, as Cox picked up his first foul less than 2 minutes into the game. By the 4 1/2-minute mark of the second quarter, with Manhattan leading 23-20, Cox already had three fouls and Pierce had two.
That sent Cox to the bench for the rest of the half, but his substitute, Brandon Childs, picked up two quick fouls in less than a minute of playing time.
Manhattan (9-9, 6-5) continued to add to its lead thanks to the hot shooting of Sam Kenney. Kenney finished the first half with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, which included two 3-pointers, in helping the Indians gain a 32-24 edge at halftime.
The lack of a steady inside game hampered the Spartans, as did Manhattan’s zone defense. As a result, guards Caydrick Bloomquist and Taylor Euler accounted for 18 of Emporia’s 24 points at the break.
“It was tough to go inside with their big guys down low, especially with that zone packing it in,” Caydrick Bloomquist said. “When we did get it inside, it worked a few times, but it was tough to even get it in there.”
Manhattan kept Emporia at arms length the entire third quarter, only letting the lead dip below seven points twice. The Indians led, 41-24 after three quarters, and then exploded out of the gate in the fourth quarter with an 11-3 run that put Manhattan up by 15 points and all but spelled the end for Emporia.
Though Emporia whittled the lead down to eight points with a 7-0 run, the Indians made 8 of 11 free throws after that to keep the Spartans at bay.
“They had a great run, and that was the turning point of the game. We fought back hard ... but once they got that run on us, it was just real tough for us to come back.”
During the deciding run, Manhattan’s Jackie Carmichael scored four of his game-high 20 points on two layups in which he beat the Emporia High post defense like he had all game long.
“We knew that he was the main guy we’d have to try and stop. We just really didn’t do that,” Cox said. “We didn’t really have anybody that could match up with him.”
Coach Bloomquist said the loss to the Indians wasn’t one to dwell on, but said he was concerned with the lack of energy and focus after the Spartans had been playing so well as of late.
“This isn’t a downer,” he said. “I’m just disappointed in the fact that we had been playing so hard lately with the inside-outside game, and collectively, we weren’t in sync as far as work ethic goes.”
Centennial League
Friday at Manhattan
Emporia 12 12 10 20 — 54
Manhattan 15 17 9 21 — 62
EMPORIA (11-6, 6-5 Centennial League)
K. deBlonk 3-12 0-0 6, D. Cox 1-2 0-0 2, C. Bloomquist 5-11 0-0 15, T. Euler 7-17 2-2 20, T. Pierce 4-5 1-3 9, B. Childs 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-49 3-5 54.
MANHATTAN (9-9, 6-5)
M. Giller 3-7 2-2 9, B. Briggs 2-5 7-10 11, S. Kenney 4-8 3-4 13, D. Wilkinson 2-3 0-1 5, T. Sherman 1-4 0-0 2, J. Carmichael 8-12 4-7 20, B. Larsen 0-1 0-0 0, M. Ingmire 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-41 16-24 62.
3-point goals — Emporia 9-26 (deBlonk 0-4, Bloomquist 5-11, Euler 4-11), Manhattan 4-9 (Giller 1-3, Kenney 2-5, Wilkinson 1-1). Rebounds — Emporia 27 (Pierce 7), Manhattan 24 (Briggs, Carmichael 6). Assists — Emporia 9 (deBlonk 5), Manhattan 5 (Briggs 3). Turnovers — Emporia 17, Manhattan 10. Total fouls — Emporia 20, Manhattan 11. Fouled out — Emporia: Cox.