Just one week after the Emporia High girls suffered their first loss of the season — a 62-53 setback at Junction City — the Lady Spartans have the chance to prove they learned from it.
The second-ranked Lady Spartans (8-1, 4-1 Centennial League) appeared a step slow on defense at times against then-ninth-ranked (Class 6A) Junction City and could never come up with the big shots when they needed them most. EHS got to within two points of the Lady Jays eight times in the third quarter and even tied the score twice, but never could gain a lead, and Junction City pulled away in the fourth quarter as chants of “overrated” echoed from the Junction City student section.
Now, the Lady Spartans face another fierce test on the road, as they travel to Topeka on Friday to take on fourth-ranked (Class 6A) Washburn Rural (5-2, 4-0).
“It’s on the road and we know they’re good,” EHS sophomore Lindy Arndt said Tuesday, “but if we come ready to play and if we come out and play how we play and play defense, then we should be all right.”
The Lady Spartans didn’t look as if they had learned much from the loss to Junction City when they faced Leavenworth on Tuesday. Though they won handily, 57-29, the Lady Spartans appeared sluggish and unfocused against the Lady Pioneers, something senior Sadie Webb said couldn’t happen against Washburn Rural.
“We’re going to have to play as a team,” Webb said. “We can’t have three or four people do their jobs on defense and then have one person not box out or not guard their man well.
“Washburn Rural is a good team, and they’ll pound us if we do that.”