EHS girls roll past Manhattan, 57-26
Lady Spartans’ sophomore Lindy Arndt scores 14 on 7-of-8 shooting
By Michael Ashford
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Lindy Arndt was tired of hearing how she needed to take on more of a scorer’s mentality, so she did something about it.
She scored more.
Over the past two games, the Emporia High sophomore has attacked the basket with more assertiveness than ever, the latest example being Friday night’s game against Manhattan.
Arndt went 7-of-8 from the field to score 14 points in helping Emporia roll over Manhattan, 57-26. This after scoring 17 points against Washburn Rural on Tuesday.
“I’ve been hearing it a lot that I need to score more,” Arndt said, “and so these past couple of games, I’ve really been trying to be more aggressive on the offensive end.
“It felt really good when I attacked the rim.”
Arndt spearheaded a dominating effort by the Lady Spartans, who turned a 9-7 lead at the end of the first quarter into an 11-point edge by halftime, and the margin only grew from there. She was particularly impressive in the first half, as she missed her first shot attempt of the game and then ran off five straight makes to close the half.
It was a welcome sight for EHS coach Bill Nienstedt, but it also left him wanting more.
“We hadn’t said anything to her that we hadn’t been saying all along,” EHS coach Bill Nienstedt. “We still thought there we times where she was a little lackadaisical, but she has become more assertive. We keep reminding ourselves that she is just a sophomore, but she has been playing awfully well.”
After a sluggish opening quarter that saw the Lady Spartans (13-4, 6-4 Centennial League) take a two-point advantage into the second frame, Arndt got things rolling with a layup that kicked off an 8-minute stretch in which EHS outscored Manhattan, 13-4, with Arndt scoring eight points. EHS went into the locker room ahead, 22-11, and had held the Lady Indians (10-7, 6-4) to just 4-of-14 shooting while forcing 14 Manhattan turnovers.
“That set the tone for the rest of the game,” Arndt said of Emporia’s scoring spurt before halftime. “Everything just fell into place after that.”
Out of the break, Emporia continued to press down on the gas pedal, getting out on a 17-6 run to open the third quarter to get the lead out to 20 points at 39-19 with 2 minutes left in the period. The run was started by a Lexi Hileman jumper in the lane and capped by three consecutive field goals by senior Sadie Webb, with two Nichole Naab free throws in the middle.
Webb’s three straight shots keyed a 14-point half after she only scored two points on two free throws in the first half. After Manhattan went to a zone defense out of a timeout, Webb knocked down a couple of baseline jumpers and a shot from just outside the free-throw line on her way to leading all scorers with 16 points.
“Sadie can punish you if you want to play zone,” Nienstedt said. “She’s a mighty good shooter.”
After Webb’s final basket of the third period put EHS ahead by 20, the Lady Spartans’ lead only dipped below that mark twice more, with Arndt’s final basket with 55 seconds left providing the game’s largest margin and the final score at 57-26.
“I thought it was a methodical, big victory,” Nienstedt said. “You look up at the end, and we whipped them pretty good. And they’d been playing pretty well.”
The outcome gave Emporia’s three seniors a memorable sendoff, as it was the final home game for Webb, Naab and Brittany Meza.
“It was really special,” Webb said. “It was really nice to have a good game like that to end our careers here.”
Emporia High plays a make-up game against Topeka High at 4:30 p.m. today in Topeka.
Emporia 57, Manhattan 26
Friday at EHS
Manhattan 7 4 10 5 — 26
Emporia 9 13 17 18 — 57
Manhattan (10-7, 6-4 Centennial League) — Caitlin Gilliland 0-3 0-2 0, Liz Kennedy 2-6 2-2 6, Christy Nelson 5-14 2-2 13, Catherine Carmichael 2-7 0-2 4, Megan Schnee 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Donohoue 0-1 0-1 0, Michelle Woods 0-0 0-0 0, Kelsey Longpine 1-2 1-2 3, Toya Nelson 0-1 0-1 0, Chinazo Ehie 0-1 0-1 0, Kiley Rupe 0-1 0-0 0, Meghan Winkler 0-1 0-0 0, Jordyn Holle 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 10-39 5-13 26.
Emporia (13-4, 6-4) — Alli Armitage 1-2 0-1 3, Sadie Webb 5-10 6-7 16, Lindy Arndt 7-8 0-0 14, Nichole Naab 4-16 2-2 10, Lexi Hileman 1-3 2-2 4, Hilary Heinrichs 0-3 0-0 0, Brittany Meza 1-3 0-2 2, Rachelle VanGundy 3-5 1-1 8, Ashley Leihsing 0-1 0-0 0, Courtney Waldner 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-52 11-15 57.
3-point goals — Manhattan 1-6 (Kennedy 0-2, C. Nelson 1-4), Emporia 2-10 (Armitage 1-1, Webb 0-1, Naab 0-3, Meza 0-1, VanGundy 1-3, Waldner 0-1). Rebounds — Manhattan 31 (Carmichael 11), Emporia 33 (Heinrichs 5). Assists — Manhattan 4 (4 tied at 1), Emporia 11 (Arndt 3). Turnovers — Manhattan 26, Emporia 12. Total fouls — Manhattan 14, Emporia 16.