You can see it on the faces and in the steps of the members of the Emporia High basketball team.
There is a renewed sense of energy surrounding the squad, and it all starts with one word: fun.
Ever since Friday’s 64-42 victory over Junction City in which the Spartans unveiled their new motion offense, “fun” has been the favorite buzzword to describe just how things are going for the EHS players.
“That was the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” Jacob Torres said.
Added Taylor Euler: “Oh man, that was a lot of fun. A lot of fun.”
Coach Rick Bloomquist has a theory on why his players are having such a good time, even though EHS is just 5-4 on the season. It’s because, he said, the Spartans are more comfortable in the new offense.
“Junction City was the first time we really enjoyed playing the entire game together instead of laboring,” Bloomquist said. “We didn’t labor as much offensively, so the game turned out to be fun. The kids really like it (the offense); the kids are really comfortable with it.”
To put it in the simplest of terms, Emporia’s change offensively has been to that of a more fluid offense, one where constant motion is the name of the game. As Torres described it, “If you don’t have the ball, you’re moving, you’re setting a pick, you’re going to the other side of the court. Before, we were standing around, and that kind of slowed down the offense.”
It also put EHS big men Greg Canales and Brandon Childs in a position where they are more comfortable — close to the basket alongside center Troy Pierce. That much was evident against Junction City, as Childs scored eight points and Canales added six in what was easily Emporia’s most balanced scoring effort of the season.
“The most important thing is that it’s made Brandon and Greg much more comfortable within the offense,” Bloomquist said. “They’re not having to be robotic. They’re not passing and catching and thinking, they’re just playing.”
But for all the excitement over the recent changes, the Spartans still are a team just above .500 heading into this week’s Ralph Miller Classic in Chanute, which begins Thursday and runs through Saturday.
While Emporia’s losses have come to some pretty stiff competition — No. 2-ranked (Class 6A) Leavenworth, Tulsa (Okla.) Memorial, No. 1-ranked (Class 4A) Hayden and No. 1-ranked (Class 5A) Highland Park — Bloomquist said now he must caution his players against believing that all the Spartans’ problems are solved.
“We’ve got to guard against prosperity,” he said. “I think handling prosperity is worse than handling adversity. We played well against Junction City, and if we can guard against prosperity and keep focused about what we’re supposed to do, then we’ll play OK down at the tournament. But, we have to understand that we have to maintain that chemistry.”
The Spartans are the defending champions of the Ralph Miller Classic, as they defeated Andover Central, 67-48, in last year’s title game.
This year, not only do the EHS players have hopes of repeating as champions, but they also seek to carry on what they believe is the start of something good.
Basically, they’re ready to have a little more fun.
“We just want to try to build off our performance against Junction City and try to do the same things — ball movement, player movement, making the first easiest pass and get easy buckets,” Euler said. “After the Ralph Miller Classic, we go back into league play. We want all the momentum we can going back into league play, and so hopefully we can get some more wins and come back and challenge for a league title.”