Nienstedt: Lady Spartans not physical enough in 55-50 loss
By Michael Ashford
Saturday, February 2, 2008
TECUMSEH — If Friday night’s game between the Emporia High girls and Shawnee Heights had been a boxing match, the Lady Spartans would have needed the services of a cut doctor time and time again.
At least, that’s how EHS coach Bill Nienstedt saw it.
“We didn’t respond real well when the game became kind of a fist fight, so to speak,” Nienstedt said. “We weren’t strong with the ball and we weren’t strong defensively, and they hurt us by being really, really, really physical. We need to respond better than that when those things happen.”
As a result, the physically superior Lady Thunderbirds handed EHS a 55-50 loss, leaving Emporia winless on the road in three tries this season.
It didn’t help that the Lady Spartans went most of the game without one of their “prize fighters.”
Senior Sadie Webb fell and hit her head hard on the court trying to take a charge with 3 minutes left in the second quarter, knocking her out of the game with a concussion.
“It was a very, very physical game, and Sadie gives us a physical presence,” Nienstedt said. “When we lost her, we struggled to match their physical play.
“She took a heck of a blow to the head. We’ll have to be really careful with her.”
When Webb went out of the game, EHS was trailing 16-13. Though the Lady Spartans responded by taking a 17-16 lead almost 2 minutes later, Heights closed out the first half with a 6-2 run, with all six points coming on a pair of three-point plays by Cierra Ceazar.
By halftime, Heights had turned a 6-4 deficit at the end of the first quarter into a four-point lead, an 8-minute span that Nienstedt said ended up being the defining stretch of the game.
“They outplayed us so badly in the second quarter,” he said. “That’s where things got away from us, and from then on, we were fighting uphill.”
Added Rachelle VanGundy, who scored all 10 of her points in the first half: “We had breakdowns in the second quarter that ended up being the difference. Our effort wasn’t as great as we would have liked it to have been.”
That seemed to spill into the third quarter, as Heights again took it to the Lady Spartans (11-3, 4-3 Centennial League), outscoring EHS 14-7 in the frame to go up by 10 at 36-26 heading into the fourth quarter. But the Lady Spartans responded, thanks in part to sophomore Lindy Arndt.
Arndt scored eight straight points for Emporia to open the fourth period after being held to just four points the previous 24 minutes, which helped bring EHS back to within four points at 38-34 with 5 1/2 minutes left.
Then, Emporia went on a 9-4 run over the next 2 minutes, eventually taking the lead on a three-point play by Nichole Naab that put EHS ahead 43-42 with 3:14 left.
“We were executing on offense and got the shots we needed,” Arndt said. “We defended a lot better too. We still believed we could do it.”
Nicole Tomes gave Heights (10-4, 4-3) the lead again with a basket, and then Naab tied the game at 44 with a free throw, setting up a sequence for Heights that eventually spelled doom for the Lady Spartans.
On Heights’ next possession, both Emily McGinnis and Taylor Floyd missed open looks at the basket, with Arndt pulling down the rebound after Floyd’s miss.
But Floyd stole the ball and put in a layup, putting the Lady Thunderbirds up 46-44. Tomes then stole the inbounds pass, made a layup and was fouled by Arndt, and with the made free throw, Heights went ahead 49-44.
“We gave them easy points,” Arndt said. “We should have been more careful with our passes. If those had gone differently, things might have been different down the stretch.”
Nienstedt said he did not see the sequence, as he was trying to call timeout before both turnovers.
Free throws from Naab and Alli Armitage drew Emporia back to within three points, but Heights went 6-for-10 from the free-throw line in the final minute to seal it.
Naab led EHS with 13 points, while Arndt had 12 points to go with six rebounds. Tomes and Sami McHenry each finished with 14 for Heights.
“We fought, and I’m proud of that,” Nienstedt said, “but we’ve got to learn to fight before we get punched in the mouth.”
Shawnee Heights 55, Emporia 50
Friday at Shawnee Heights
Emporia 6 13 7 24 — 50
Shawnee Heights 4 18 14 19 — 55
Emporia (11-3, 4-3 Centennial League) — Brittany Meza 0-0 0-0 0, Sadie Webb 1-3 0-0 2, Lindy Arndt 4-8 4-5 12, Nichole Naab 3-11 7-10 13, Lexi Hileman 2-5 0-0 4, Hilary Heinrichs 0-1 3-4 3, Rachelle VanGundy 5-12 0-0 10, Alli Armitage 1-6 1-2 4, Ashley Leihsing 1-2 0-0 2, Amber Miller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-49 15-21 50.
Shawnee Heights (10-4, 4-3) — Nicole Tomes 5-10 4-6 14, Sami McHenry 5-5 4-7 14, Sara Schreiner 0-1 2-2 2, Taylor Floyd 1-4 2-2 4, Jordan Bigham 3-4 0-0 6, Angelina Guerrero 0-1 0-0 0, Emily McGinnis 0-4 1-2 1, Cierra Ceazer 4-6 3-4 11, Lauren Torrez 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 19-37 17-25 55.
3-points goals — Emporia (Naab 0-3, VanGundy 0-6, Armitage 1-5), SH 0-1 (McGinnis 0-1). Rebounds — Emporia 32 (Arndt 6), SH 20 (Floyd 4). Assists — Emporia 9 (Naab 4), SH 6 (Ceazer 3). Turnovers — Emporia 21, SH 21. Total fouls — Emporia 19, SH 17.