After spending the offseason reviewing tape of last year’s team, Emporia High boys basketball coach Rick Bloomquist came to one conclusion.
The Spartans’ most defining trait a year ago was that they were consistently inconsistent.
“There’s no question we were very inconsistent,” Bloomquist said. “I think for the most part, we played hard and we tried to play together, but I watched tape over the summer, and I never got a feel for the team. That’s what I’m hoping to improve on. I want to improve on being more consistent. Hopefully, with the senior leaders that we have this year, we can establish that.”
Emporia High returns its top two scorers and its top rebounder from a year ago, and with five seniors on this year’s squad, the 19th-year head coach said he believed his team had a good jump on creating the team chemistry he desired.
“Cosmetically, if you look at the X and O parts of it, we’ve got a solid nucleus to work around,” Bloomquist said. “The big thing is that the seniors have to buy into what their roles are. That’s probably the biggest thing, is a senior buying into a role. I think that helps establish chemistry.”
It all starts with 6-foot senior guard Caydrick Bloomquist, a second-team All-State selection a year ago after he averaged 16.4 points and 2.4 assists per game.
Caydrick, who is just 16 3-pointers away from tying the school record of 159 set by Wes Book, is again expected to be the Spartans’ go-to scorer this season.
But after opposing teams made Caydrick their focus defensively last season, it could be even more difficult for him this season to get open looks.
Caydrick said he didn’t mind the increased attention, as long as he was doing other things to help the team.
“I’m not disappointed if I’m not scoring a set amount of points each night. If we’re losing, I’m not happy,” he said. “I always try to see how many steals I can get, see if I can take more charges, just the little things that add up to the big things. That all comes together, and that just proves all of your hard work, and it puts it all together.
“The points will come. Then your team will win. Then everybody will be happy.”
Caydrick will be joined in the backcourt by another veteran, as junior Taylor Euler returns after averaging 14.8 points and 3.1 assists per game last season.
The Spartans lose Kyle deBlonk to graduation but expect seniors Matt McAnarney and Eric Reimer and junior Jacob Torres to see most of the minutes at the guard spot vacated by deBlonk.
A lot of Emporia High’s success this season could depend on how well senior center Troy Pierce handles himself around the basket after dropping 20 pounds since football season.
His dropped weight has been the talk of preseason practices, as Pierce apparently has been showing off his trimmed-down figure with slam-dunk showcases every now and then.
“He’s like a little dunking machine out here,” Rick Bloomquist said. “He’s dunking all over the place and running the floor a lot better. He’s going to be better.”
Pierce, who averaged 9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game last season, said losing weight was not a planned thing, but added that he had noticed a change in his game through the first several practices.
“It just happened. I couldn’t even tell until people started talking to me about it,” Pierce said. “I feel pretty good out there, and hopefully that continues.”
With the departure of Dillon Cox, Coach Bloomquist is left to search for someone who can fill his “warrior” role in the low post opposite Pierce.
It appears to be a two-man race between senior Brandon Childs, an excellent jumper, and sophomore Greg Canales, who has drawn the praise of his teammates and coach leading up to tonight’s season-opener against Leavenworth.
Rick Bloomquist said he had a clear expectation of what he was looking for out of his “warrior,” adding that finding the right match could be the key to the entire season.
“The warrior role ... he doesn’t have to be the toughest guy or the biggest guy on the floor, but he has to be the guy who plays his role to the max,” the coach said. “My warrior is not going to get any glory, and he has to accept that, but he’s going to be one of the most important players on the floor. I think if we have that warrior, it would make this team more complete.”
However, everyone associated with the Spartans program agrees, the component that was missing from last year — that consistent competitiveness game in and game out — must become routine if EHS hopes to build on its up-and-down 12-9 season last year.
“This is a talented group, and we have the chance to be a really good team this year,” Euler said. “Last year, we weren’t very close as a team ... and that was a big part of the inconsistency. This year is totally different. We all get along. Another person’s success is our success.
“Team chemistry is the biggest thing.”