TOPEKA — When tempers flared and things got a little heated during the third quarter of Tuesday night’s game against Hayden, that’s when things got fun for the Emporia High girls basketball team.
The Lady Spartans delivered the knockout punch — figuratively speaking — in the third period, outscoring the Lady Wildcats by nine in the frame to help turn a two-point halftime deficit into a 56-50 victory.
“Things got a little testy there in the third, but I think it was fun,” senior Sadie Webb said. “We just out-toughed them tonight.”
In doing so, the third-ranked (Class 5A) Lady Spartans picked up what might be their biggest victory of the season so far when the opponent — Hayden is ranked 10th in Class 4A — and the location — EHS was 1-3 on the road this season — are considered.
“I saw a lot of toughness and I saw some confidence — I saw a lot of growth,” EHS coach Bill Nienstedt said. “I thought we just competed really, really hard.”
Emporia’s victory was keyed by a stellar defensive effort, led by the individual work of senior Nichole Naab. Naab defended Hayden’s second-leading scorer, Aubree Luebbe, all night long and held Luebbe to just two points, which came on two free throws. Luebbe, who came in averaging 12.4 points per game, went 0-for-3 from the field.
“She’s tough to guard,” Naab said. “Coach told me to watch for the three and make her drive. I don’t even really remember her shooting the ball, so I guess that’s mission accomplished.”
But while Naab and the Lady Spartans certainly got the job done on defense all game long, it was during the second half — and more specifically, the third quarter — where EHS got rolling offensively despite some tense moments.
Emporia trailed at halftime, 21-19, even though it had forced Hayden into 15 turnovers in the first 16 minutes.
While the turnover situation didn’t change much out of the break, the Lady Spartans’ offensive production found new life. EHS forced Hayden into turnovers on its first three possessions of the second half and scored nine straight points to burst out to a 28-21 lead with 5 minutes left in the third period. EHS would never trail again.
“We didn’t play real well in the first half,” Nienstedt said, “and we came out and socked them in the mouth to start the second half and never let up.”
Soon after, though, was when things got dicey.
After the two teams traded baskets, which made it 30-23, Emporia was called for four fouls within a 1-minute, 15-second stretch, the last of which gave Hayden’s Lindsay Biggs a three-point play that closed Emporia’s advantage to 30-26. Emporia answered with a put-back basket in traffic by Webb, a play on which Nienstedt believed a foul should have been called.
For Nienstedt’s protest, he was given a technical foul, and Jayde Reid hit both free throws to make it 32-28. A foul on Emporia’s Brittany Meza put Hayden into the bonus with 3 minutes left in the quarter, with Jordyn Montgomery hitting 1 of 2 free throws to draw Hayden even closer at 32-29.
During a timeout in between Montgomery’s free throws, the Emporia huddle was animated as ever after a lively discussion with EHS assistant Beau Welch, and the Lady Spartans came out with a fire previously unseen earlier in the game.
Emporia closed the third quarter with an 8-4 run that made it 40-33 heading into the final frame. The run featured another technical foul, this time on Hayden coach Wes Meier.
“We were just thinking that we had to dominate them every play,” Naab said. “We were just playing hard.”
After a 3-pointer by Michelle Sommer 30 seconds into the fourth quarter drew the Lady Wildcats to within four at 40-36, EHS again flexed its offensive might by scoring on six of its next seven possessions. Still, Hayden drew to within two at 50-48 on a basket by Corrinne Stringer with 3 1/2 minutes left, but Webb closed out the game by going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line while the Lady Wildcats could only muster two more free throws the rest of the way.
“I was very calm,” Webb said of her mindset at the free-throw line late in the game. “I just went out there and told myself that I was going to put them in.”
Webb led all scorers with 19 points, while Naab added 10 and Arndt and Lexi Hileman each chipped in nine.
“It feels great to get a win like this,” Webb said. “We felt good tonight, and this gets us fired up.”
Emporia 56, Hayden 50
Tuesday at Topeka
Emporia 8 11 21 16 — 56
Hayden 10 11 12 17 — 50
Emporia (15-4, 8-4 Centennial League) — Alli Armitage 1-4 0-0 2, Sadie Webb 6-10 7-8 19, Lindy Arndt 4-11 1-2 9, Nichole Naab 4-6 2-4 10, Lexi Hileman 3-6 3-5 9, Brittany Meza 0-2 0-0 0, Rachelle VanGundy 2-3 0-0 5, Hilary Heinrichs 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Leihsing 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-44 13-19 56.
Hayden (15-4, 8-4) — Aubree Luebbe 0-3 2-2 2, Michelle Sommer 3-6 0-0 8, Lindsay Biggs 4-5 3-6 11, Jordyn Montgomery 1-1 1-2 3, Corrinne Stringer 5-8 1-2 11, Morgan Trobough 1-1 0-0 2, Jayde Reid 4-7 5-6 13. Totals 18-31 12-18 50.
3-point goals — Emporia 1-4 (Armitage 0-1, Meza 0-1, VanGundy 1-2), Hayden 2-5 (Luebbe 0-1, Sommer 2-3, Stringer 0-1). Assists — Emporia 11 (Arndt 4), Hayden 5 (Luebbe 2). Turnovers — Emporia 15, Hayden 24. Total fouls — Emporia 19, Hayden 14. Fouled out — Emporia: Hileman. Technical fouls — Emporia: Bench; Hayden: Bench.