Guard scores 11 of his 19 in final quarter as Emporia defeats Topeka High
The final minutes of close games for Emporia High’s boys are like a broken record, only more predictable. No matter what he’s done the rest of the game, whether he’s made 15 shots in a row or missed 15, Taylor Euler is the Spartans’ senior leader, and the guy who’s expected to make the plays at the end.
Euler missed 10 of his first 12 shots, plus his first two free throws, in Friday night’s Centennial League opener against Topeka High at EHS. But as a tight, low-scoring game wound down, there was no doubt about who would get the ball and be entrusted to make the plays at the end of the game.
Euler did it at both ends, scoring 11 fourth-quarter points and taking a key charge with four minutes to go, sending the Spartans into the holiday break with a 44-37 win.
“I think that just comes with the responsibility of being the senior leader and the captain,” Euler said. “When it’s crunch time and we need a bucket, I’ve gotta be the one to take over, and I’ve gotta be the one to demand the ball and have it in my hand. Because I have a lot of confidence that I’m gonna be able to get by my man and make the shot.”
The first three quarters featured the rare sight of a game played at breakneck pace without many points going on the board. Topeka High led 7-6 at the end of the first quarter and 17-16 at half, with both teams pushing the tempo and drawing plenty of iron but little net. Euler and his backcourt mate, Jacob Torres, were both ice-cold before the half, going a combined 2-for-13.
The Trojans led by five at one point early in the second quarter, but Emporia closed the lead to one and stayed with THS as both teams traded misses and possessions that ended without shots. Marcus Jamison netted an on-the-run layup in the final minute of the first half to give EHS a 16-15 lead, but Topeka’s Collin Robinson answered with a reverse layin to regain the lead for the Trojans just before the break.
That half wasn’t exactly the kind of start coach Rick Bloomquist wanted to see out of the Spartans to start league play.
“I think we’ve had too much prosperity in the past two weeks,” Bloomquist said. “We’ve played well. Even the teams we’ve lost to, we’ve played well. We’ve played very admirable, we beat a nice Bellevue (East) team. I don’t know if we handle prosperity very well, because when they gave us adversity on the defensive end, we struggled with it.
“The good side of it is, the second half, mentally, some of us stepped up — especially Taylor, and I think (Torres) did, too.”
Topeka High held the lead through the equally low-scoring third quarter until about 18 seconds remained, when Euler grabbed a steal at midcourt and drove for a layin to tie the game at 23-23. He then hit a jumper about 20 seconds into the fourth quarter to give EHS its first lead since Jamison’s second-quarter basket. A jumper by Olian Alexander made it 26-25 Topeka High, but Euler drove for a layup to give the Spartans the lead back.
A rebound and stickback by Greg Canales made it 29-26, and with 4:07 remaining, Euler got in front of a driving AJ Barber to take a charge under the basket. The foul was Barber’s fifth, and after getting off the deck and celebrating, Euler then buried a three from the right wing to give EHS its biggest lead yet at 32-26.
“The guys did a really good job of getting (Barber) out of control, so by the time he got to me under the basket, he was completely out of control,” Euler said. “If I just stepped in front of him and took a hit — I mean, he’s one of their best players. He’s been on varsity for three or four years now. To have him out in crunch time... that was really big for us, big momentum swing.”
The Spartans pushed their lead to seven when Torres posted up, dribbed into the lane, was fouled as he made the shot and hit the ensuing free throw to make it 35-28.
Topeka High closed to within 37-35 with just over two minutes to play, but the Spartans made enough stops and free throws, including four by Euler in the final minute, to put the game away.
Euler finished with 19 points for the game despite just 6-of-17 shooting from the floor, and Canales had 13 before fouling out with 2:07 remaining. Onzay Branch led the Trojans with 12 points but finished just 3-of-13 from the field.
Bloomquist, who had recently been sticking with a rotation of eight players in the Spartans’ recent tight games, went deeper into the bench this time, using 12 players.
“I was trying to find somebody,” Bloomquist said, laughing. “There’s a difference between using somebody and trying to find what I was looking for. ... A lot of it was out of urgency. I was very urgent for me to find some continuity someplace, and that’s what I was doing. And I think we did.”
He was particularly happy with the minutes contributed by freshman center Ryan Huth.
“He came in and really gave us some solid minutes,” Bloomquist said. “For a freshman to do that, the first (league) game of the year, to play as many minutes as he did is impressive. And the thing about Ryan is that he gave us stability, he gave us poise, he gave us fundamentals, and he played the game of basketball the way it should be played.”
Emporia High boys 44, Topeka High 37
Topeka High 7 10 6 14 — 37
Emporia 6 10 7 21 — 44
Topeka High (0-4, 0-1) — Bryant 0-4 0-0 0, Anderson 0-1 1-2 1, Wright 3-7 0-0 7, Jordan 0-0 0-0 0, Mady 0-1 0-0 0, Barber 1-4 0-0 2, Branch 3-13 6-9 12, Robinson 2-3 0-2 4, Alexander 4-9 1-2 9, Boyd 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 14-43 8-15 37.
Emporia (3-2, 1-0) — Euler 6-17 5-8 19, Golden 0-2 0-0 0, Jamison 2-3 0-0 4, Torres 2-10 3-6 7, Canales 5-6 3-5 13, Gentz 0-3 1-2 1, Childs 0-1 0-0 0, Essex 0-0 0-0 0, Huth 0-0 0-0 0, Bartlett 0-0 0-0 0, Naab 0-0 0-0 0, Thomsen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-41 12-21 44.
3-point goals — Topeka High 1-16 (Wright 1-4, Bryant 0-4, Alexander 0-3, Barber 0-2, Branch 0-2, Anderson 0-1), Emporia 2-12 (Euler 2-7, Torres 0-3, Gentz 0-2). Total fouls — Topeka High 17, Emporia 14. Fouled out — Barber, Canales.