Emporia High boys basketball coach Rick Bloomquist had seen enough.
Midway through the third quarter, his team — trailing by 12 points — had just committed two turnovers in a row and had given up three easy baskets to Leavenworth, which had forced the EHS coach to call two timeouts within 10 seconds of each other.
He issued a warning to the Spartan players in the huddle: One more turnover, and the JV squad goes in.
“Those were probably the two fastest timeouts I’ve called back-to-back,” Bloomquist said. “We just weren’t getting the effort we needed. I told them, ‘I’ll give this game up. If you don’t think I’m serious, try me.’”
On the very next EHS possession, the Spartans yet again turned the ball over, which led to another Leavenworth layup. Bloomquist emptied his bench.
The sight of their JV teammates at the scorer’s table lit a spark like none other in the players on the court, because from that point on, the No. 8-ranked (Class 5A) Spartans outscored the No. 8-ranked (Class 6A) Pioneers, 44-15, to win the game going away, 74-59.
“We all looked over our shoulder and saw them (the JV players) and realized that that would be the most embarrassing thing — to give up on the game like that,” said sophomore Taylor Euler, who finished with a game-high 15 points. “Once we saw that, we got a little fire underneath us and we all played as a team and we just attacked. Finally, we were the aggressors.”
Baskets from Caydrick Bloomquist and Troy Pierce soon after cut the lead to 10 points, and though the third period ended with Leavenworth still holding a nine-point advantage at 50-41, it was clear that the Spartans were playing better basketball. EHS only committed one turnover in the final three minutes of the period.
Not long after he had sent the five JV players to midcourt to check in, Bloomquist brought all five back to the bench. His message rang loud and clear.
“We had about three good possessions where they played with some spark, and I’m not stupid — I don’t have a Ph.D, but I’m not stupid — and so I brought those kids back,” he said. “Obviously, we got the jump-start we needed.”
In the fourth quarter, the Spartans (12-7) were simply dominant, particularly on defense.
Using full-court pressure, Emporia forced Leavenworth into taking rushed shots and committing seven turnovers, which led to numerous lay-ins and easy baskets for the Spartans.
Emporia shot out of the gates in the period, going on an 11-6 run to close to within four points at 56-52 when Seth Torres hit a mid-range jumper.
A basket on the other end by Zack Riggins pushed Leavenworth’s lead back to six points before the Spartans made their final crushing push.
Torres hit a three from the left wing to make it 58-55, and then Euler scored on a three-point play of his own when he drove to the hoop and made a reverse layup as he was fouled by Caprest Rhone. Euler hit the free throw to tie the game at 58 — the first tie since it was 9-all in the first quarter.
A left-baseline jumper by Jacob Davies off a long rebound gave Emporia its first lead of the night at 60-58 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the game, and from that point on, the Spartans never trailed. The Spartans outscored Leavenworth, 33-9, in the fourth period.
“We were finally attacking them, and they were helpless,” Euler said. “It was a lot of fun being out there.”
Twelve of Emporia’s final 14 points came from the free-throw line, as the Spartans suffocated the Pioneers on defense and forced turnovers, which meant Leavenworth had to start fouling.
Despite playing full-court defense for more than a quarter, senior Dillon Cox said none of the players felt fatigued during the comeback.
“I don’t think anybody got tired. I don’t think anybody could have gotten tired,” Cox said. “There was just so much adrenaline going.”
“I want to give all the credit to the kids because they played hard,” Bloomquist added. “They stayed with it through thick and thin. They went after it. We haven’t come back like that all year. I was happy that they proved me wrong.”
Along with Euler, Cox (10) Kyle deBlonk (12), Torres (13) reached double-figure scoring for EHS. In his first start of the year, senior Eric Dorsey chipped in seven points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
EMPORIA boys 74, LEAVENWORTH 59
Emporia 11 14 16 33 — 74
Leavenworth 13 21 16 9 — 59
EMPORIA (12-7)
K. deBlonk 1-4 10-12 12, C. Bloomquist 3-19 1-2 8, E. Dorsey 3-4 1-2 7, T. Euler 6-13 3-4 15, T. Pierce 3-3 1-1 7, D. Cox 4-6 2-4 10, S. Torres 2-5 8-8 13, J. Davies 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 23-55 26-33 74.
LEAVENWORTH
A. Branch 3-8 0-0 7, I. Johnson 3-4 0-1 7, C. Rhone 4-15 2-2 12, C. Brown 5-11 3-4 13, C. O’Neill 3-5 0-2 6, B. Dougherty 3-5 1-1 7, Z. Riggins 2-4 1-4 5, Z. Kowalewski 0-5 0-0 0, O. Palu 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 24-58 7-14 59.
3-point goals — Emporia 2-17 (deBlonk 0-2, Bloomquist 1-9, Euler 0-3, Torres 1-3), Leavenworth 4-17 (Branch 1-6, Johnson 1-2, Rhone 2-5, Dougherty 0-1, Kowalewski 0-3). Rebounds — Emporia 38 (Dorsey 8), Leavenworth 37 (Rhone, Riggins 6). Assists — Emporia 5 (Euler 2), Leavenworth 7 (Branch, Rhone 2). Turnovers — Emporia 17, Leavenworth 25. Total fouls — Emporia 17, Leavenworth 29. Fouled out — Leavenworth: Rhone, Brown.