Emporia High girls basketball coach Bill Nienstedt doesn’t believe his team is feeling any pressure from its 0-2 start to the 2006-07 season.
Instead, Nienstedt sees an opportunity for the winless Lady Spartans to carry some extra incentive into the remainder of their schedule because of that blank space in the win column.
“I think it’s a motivating factor,” Nienstedt said. “I don’t know that it creates any pressure, but it’s a motivator, because nobody likes to be 0-2.”
Granted, the Lady Spartans haven’t had many opportunities to create more victories lately. They only played two games in the month of December thanks to the postponement of the Paul Terry Classic because of a snow and ice storm, and haven’t played a game since a 63-58 road loss to Topeka High on Dec. 12 because of finals week and then winter break.
But EHS will get the chance to make up some of that ground starting today, as the Lady Spartans take on Olathe North at 7 tonight at White Auditorium in the first round of the rescheduled Paul Terry Classic.
“I’m so ready; I’m pumped,” sophomore guard Alli Armitage said. “We’re kind of tired of practicing. We’re ready to play again.”
In the weeks since Emporia’s last action, Nienstedt said his squad worked hard on interior defense and rebounding, two areas which severely hurt the Lady Spartans in the loss to Topeka High.
Against the Lady Trojans, Emporia was out-rebounded 41-21, many of which were offensive rebounds that led to easy put-backs for Topeka High post players Myah Sprew (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Jackie Hoyt (22 points, 9 rebounds).
“A lot of rebounding is just wanting the ball more than the other kid does,” Nienstedt said. “We’ve worked quite a bit on toughness and being more physical. Technique-wise, we’ve worked on trying to prevent the ball from getting into the post. When it gets in the post, we have to help, and when we help, it makes it tougher to rebound.”
Tonight’s game will be the first chance for EHS to prove it has learned from its losses, though its opponent will be hungry for a victory as well. Olathe North enters tonight’s contest winless as well, sporting an 0-4 record, which includes a 63-13 loss to Washburn Rural on Dec. 12.
Emporia, on the other hand, has no defeat as one-sided as the beating Olathe North took at the hands of Washburn Rural. The Lady Spartans’ two losses came by a combined seven points, with both setbacks coming on the road. Though it will be played in White Auditorium, tonight’s game will be the first “home” game for Emporia this season.
After a tough few weeks of practice, Armitage said the Lady Spartans were ready to play again and show that they have improved with all the practice they have had lately.
“I think we’ve gotten a lot better, and we’re ready for a win,” she said. “We’re going to go out there and try our hardest and do what we have to do to get a win. We’ve just worked on everything, and we’re ready to go out there and play somebody now.”