TOPEKA — Following a 60-53 loss to Hayden on Tuesday night, Emporia High junior Caydrick Bloomquist was afraid the Spartans were starting to slip.
“It’s really redundant, and I hate to say it, but we need to get some team chemistry,” Bloomquist said. “It’s the same thing that was happening at the beginning of the season, where we’re not playing as a team.”
While Bloomquist believed some of the Spartans’ problems went back to a lack of teamwork, the stats showed one glaring reason for why the Emporia High boys lost a game in which it had a five-point lead on several occasions in the second half.
Hayden out-rebounded Emporia, 34-20, which included the Wildcats grabbing 13 offensive rebounds that led to 10 second-chance points for Hayden.
EHS coach Rick Bloomquist said it came down to breakdowns defensively near the basket.
“Our interior, as far as defending people and trying to guard people and get steals, we’re just too passive,” Rick Bloomquist said. “Offensive rebounds killed us, and they have all year. We didn’t put a body on anybody and block out.
“The other teams are working harder than us on the inside.”
It was a seesaw battle throughout, as neither team’s biggest lead reached more than five points until less than a minute remained in the game. With Hayden holding a 53-48 edge and just 1 1/2 minutes left, the Spartans (6-5, 1-4 Centennial League) had to start fouling, sending the Wildcats to the free-throw line 10 times only to see Hayden (10-2, 5-1) convert on seven of those chances.
“We didn’t respond to anything. We just went through the motions,” Rick Bloomquist said. “I don’t think we competed at all as a team. I thought we had some kids that made some adjustments, like I thought Cayd and Taylor Euler played well within the offense. But we are a bad basketball team right now.”
Hayden led at halftime, 28-25, thanks to a 3-pointer late in the half by Caleb Dishman. Despite the deficit at the break, Caydrick Bloomquist said he believed the Spartans had played a good half of basketball. After all, EHS shot 10-for-19 (53 percent) from the field in the first 16 minutes.
“We played, in my opinion, a great first half,” Caydrick said. “Even though we were down at the half, I thought we still played well.”
The Spartans came out in the second half and put together a 10-2 run on the strength of 3-pointers from Bloomquist and Euler that gave EHS the lead at 35-30. The Spartans had maintained that five-point edge a few minutes later at 40-35, but then the Wildcats closed out the third quarter on a 11-2 spurt that gave them the lead for good at 46-42.
From there, the Spartans stayed close but could never gain back the lead, and were forced to start fouling. Caydrick Bloomquist led Emporia with 19 points, while Euler finished with 14 points and Troy Pierce chipped in 10. Caleb Dishman led Hayden with 19 points.
“There’s only one way we can go, and that’s to come back up,” Rick Bloomquist said, “and hopefully we can come back stronger.”
Centennial League
Tuesday at Hayden
Emporia 15 10 17 11 — 53
Hayden 15 13 18 14 — 60
EMPORIA (6-5, 1-4 Centennial League)
D. Cox 2-5 0-0 4, C. Bloomquist 7-15 3-4 19, T. Euler 5-13 2-2 14, B. Childs 0-0 1-2 1, T. Pierce 4-8 2-2 10, K. deBlonk 0-1 3-4 3, E. Dorsey 1-1 0-0 2, J. Davies 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 19-46 11-14 53.
HAYDEN (10-2, 5-1)
S. Feighny 2-3 2-2 6, J. Flynn 3-10 6-10 13, A. Taylor 6-12 1-3 15, C. Dishman 8-17 1-1 19, D. Weissbeck 1-1 0-1 2, J. Dodds 1-2 3-4 5, T. Chilson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-46 13-21 60.
3-point goals — Emporia 4-15 (Bloomquist 2-7, Euler 2-7, Davies 0-1), Hayden 5-12 (Flynn 1-5, Taylor 2-2, Dishman 2-5). Rebounds — Emporia 20 (Pierce 6), Hayden 34 (Feighny, Dishman 8). Assists — Emporia 6 (Bloomquist 2), Hayden 6 (Flynn 2). Turnovers — Emporia 7, Hayden 9. Totals fouls — Emporia 17, Hayden 12. Fouled out — None.