The fact that the Emporia High boys basketball team will square off tonight against two Division I signees in Highland Park’s Kyle Weems and Lamont Austin doesn’t mean a whole lot to EHS junior Caydrick Bloomquist.
But the fact that Highland Park is the No. 1-ranked team in Class 5A and boasts Sports Illustrated’s title as being the best team in the state of Kansas? Now that is enough to get Bloomquist’s attention.
“We’re not worried about individual players, we’re worried about the team, because they are a good team,” Bloomquist said. “We can think like that and be afraid (of Weems and Austin), but we’re not going to. We’re just going to go out there and play hard against a good team.”
The Spartans (3-2, 1-1) will certainly have their hands full when they face the Scots at 7:30 tonight in Topeka, as Highland Park so far has earned every bit of the preseason accolades bestowed upon it this year. The Scots (6-0, 2-0) are scoring at a 63 points-per-game clip while holding opponents to 42 points per game, including Friday night’s 74-38 thrashing of Washburn Rural.
Weems had 25 points against Rural on 11-of-14 shooting from the field, while Austin added 9 and junior Adrian Herrera knocked down five 3-pointers on his way to 17 points.
An imposing team all around for sure, yet EHS coach Rick Bloomquist said he believed the Scots were beatable.
“We’ve always had good games with Highland Park, always. They respect us and we respect them,” Bloomquist said. “We lost last year on a last-second shot. We missed a layup at the buzzer to win at Highland Park, and that was with most of the same players.
“My kids will be ready.”
Perhaps it is good news, then, that Emporia is coming off a lackluster performance in a 59-53 comeback victory over Topeka West on Friday, as it offered the Spartans the chance to get the bad game out of their system. EHS trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half before a 12-2 run in the third quarter tied the game and helped propel the Spartans to the win.
Senior Dillon Cox said the effort was there against Topeka West in Emporia’s first game back from winter break, but added that the Spartans could not fall behind by double digits to Highland Park and expect the same type of comeback.
“We were down 10 points to Topeka West, and we came back and won by 6,” Cox said. “That’s a 16-point swing somewhere in there, and now we know what it takes. But it’s going to take even more against Highland Park.
“This is going to be a tough game — the biggest game of the year so far.”
Coach Bloomquist said for the Spartans to be successful, it will take steady defensive performances from the EHS guards against Weems and Austin and creating matchup problems inside with Spartan center Troy Pierce against the Scots’ Ty Modupe.
“With Highland Park, they want to get up and down the floor. We don’t want to get up and down the floor as much as they do, but guard-wise and perimeter-wise, we match up well, I think,” he said. “We have to stay in front of them.
“The fact is they’re not supposed to get beat. If they do, then it’s on (Highland Park coach Ken Darting), not us. We’ll be OK.”
The Emporia High girls face Highland Park at 6 tonight hoping to cleanse themselves of the bad taste that Friday night’s 64-62 overtime loss to Topeka West left.
Highland Park, with its 1-5 record overall and 0-2 mark in Centennial League play, offers much of the same look that Topeka West did when it faced the Lady Spartans. Topeka West was 2-3 entering its game with Emporia, and it appeared the Lady Spartans were well on their way to victory with an 11-point third-quarter lead before the Lady Chargers roared back to stun EHS in overtime.
So how do the EHS coaches plan to combat that scenario from playing out again?
“We remind them of the game against Topeka West. It’s that simple,” coach Bill Nienstedt said. “This is a very similar scenario. Hopefully, we’ll show some growth and maturity and be better prepared to play a full game.”
The Highland Park girls have had a tendency to commit a lot of turnovers this season, including 31 in Friday night’s 61-24 loss to Washburn Rural. Coupled with what is sure to be a game in which the Lady Spartans focus on their defense — they were out-rebounded 44-32 and only forced six second-half turnovers against Topeka West — and the focus becomes clear for Emporia High.
“So many of the problems we had up there came from not being mentally tough and backing down a little bit when we were challenged. Obviously, statistically, it manifested itself in rebounding and field-goal percentage, but its a mindset more than anything,” Nienstedt said.
“It wouldn’t matter who were playing (today), we need to get back out there and play and try to play the way we’re supposed to play, which is to pressure as much as we can and try to contain people off the dribble and box out and rebound.”