It was hard for Lexi Hileman to describe just how poorly she thought the Lady Spartans played against Seaman Friday night.
Instead, the EHS junior really could only bury her head in her hands and shake her head.
Imagine if the Lady Spartans had lost.
Though Emporia played about as sloppy as it had all season, the fourth-ranked Lady Spartans did enough to get past Seaman, 44-23.
Still, the way EHS earned the victory left Hileman and the rest of the team feeling somewhat perplexed afterward.
“Yikes,” Hileman said. “I don’t even know what to say. It was a mess. That’s about the only thing you can say. We just didn’t play well tonight.”
Most of Emporia’s problems began with a lackluster performance on the offensive end of the court. Emporia shot just 10-of-27 from the field and committed 20 turnovers.
“We just weren’t focused and we weren’t running our stuff and doing the things we should’ve been doing right,” junior guard Alli Armitage said. “Things didn’t seem together at any point. I don’t know if we were tired or just not focused or what.”
Though the Lady Spartans held Seaman to just 9-of-31 shooting (29 percent) and forced 29 Seaman turnovers, EHS coach Bill Nienstedt said much of his squad’s troubles offensively came as a result of a lethargic showing on defense.
“We didn’t defend well enough that we could get some flow and rhythm offensively off of our defense,” Nienstedt said. “Then, when it became five-on-five on offense, we weren’t alert, we traveled, we threw the ball away. We just weren’t sharp.”
Emporia (12-3, 5-3 Centennial League) opened the game with a 6-0 spurred by two baskets from Nichole Naab. The Lady Spartans stretched that lead out to 11-4 heading into the second quarter, and that’s when the Lady Spartans’ offensive troubles surfaced.
EHS made just one basket in the second frame when Ashley Leihsing hit a running jumper with 2 1/2 minutes left before halftime. The Lady Spartans missed all five of their other shots.
However, Emporia was able to continue to build on its lead thanks to a strong performance at the free-throw line. Seven Seaman fouls in the period sent the Lady Spartans to the charity stripe 14 times, and Emporia knocked down 13 of those freebies on its way to outscoring the Lady Vikings 15-8 in the quarter to go into halftime ahead 26-12.
As has been the norm this season, EHS made more free throws than Seaman attempted. In this case, Emporia hit 23 of 29 free throws, while Seaman (4-12, 1-8) only attempted eight, hitting four.
“When we did attack, we attacked fairly well. We could’ve attacked more,” Hileman said. “We got to the free-throw line and made our free throws, and that’s a plus.”
In the second half, Seaman never threatened Emporia’s lead, as the Lady Spartans’ advantage dipped to 14 twice but never got any lower.
Still, the end result, though it was a 21-point victory, was not nearly good enough in Nienstedt’s view.
“We looked tired,” Nienstedt said. “We don’t look like we’re in very good shape right now for some reason. We look tired, and it’s not because we’re spending too much time here (at practice), I guarantee you that.
“I think maybe we need to get after it a little bit more in practice.”
Naab led all scorers with 10 points. Lindy Arndt added nine points and Hileman finished with eight, while Ariel Johnson paced Seaman with seven points.
Emporia 44, Seaman 23
Friday at EHS
Seaman 4 8 7 4 — 23
Emporia 11 15 7 11 — 44
Seaman (4-12, 1-8 Centennial League) — Erin Greenwood 0-1 1-2 1, Rachael Solis 1-4 0-0 2, Jessica Sowards 0-2 0-0 0, Emily Gatewood 2-5 0-0 4, Ariel Johnson 3-3 1-2 7, Stephanie Slimmer 1-8 0-0 3, Kylie Shughart 0-1 0-0 0, Jamie Eakes 1-2 2-2 4, Kourtni Blocker 1-5 0-2 2, Morgan Minihan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 9-31 4-8 23.
Emporia (12-3, 5-3) — Alli Armitage 0-2 3-4 3, Sadie Webb 0-7 4-4 4, Lindy Arndt 3-6 3-4 9, Nichole Naab 4-7 1-2 10, Lexi Hileman 2-2 4-5 8, Brittany Meza 0-0 2-2 2, Rachelle VanGundy 0-1 6-6 6, Hilary Heinrichs 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Leihsing 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 10-27 23-29 44.
3-point goals — Seaman 1-7 (Sowards 0-1, Gatewood 0-1, Slimmer 1-5), Emporia 1-3 (Armitage 0-2, Naab 1-1). Rebounds — Seaman 27 (Blocker 7), Emporia 19 (Heinrichs 4). Assists — Seaman 3 (3 tied at 1), Emporia 3 (3 tied at 1). Turnovers — Seaman 29, Emporia 20. Total fouls — Seaman 22, Emporia 12.