TOPEKA — Just when the Emporia High girls seemed primed to deliver the knockout blow to the Washburn Rural Lady Blues on Friday night, the Lady Spartans lost their offensive punch.
Washburn Rural ran past Emporia in the second half on its way to a 52-44 victory thanks to a shooting performance by the Lady Spartans that was as cold as the frigid night air outside Washburn Rural High School.
“We had a lead and we lost it,” senior Nichole Naab said. “Our shots weren’t falling. They came out in the second half trying to slug us in the mouth, and we couldn’t keep a lead.”
After taking a 30-24 lead into halftime thanks to a 21-8 second-quarter scoring burst, the Lady Spartans’ offense floundered in a big way in the second half. Emporia hit just two field goals — going 2-for-18 (11 percent) from the field — and only scored 14 points in the final 16 minutes, allowing Rural to run away with the game.
“We knew there were going to be runs — that we were going to have some and that they were going to have some,” junior Lexi Hileman said. “We were just hoping that we would come out on top in the end, but that didn’t happen.”
Perhaps most perplexing about the way Emporia’s offense disappeared in the second half was how well the Lady Spartans played offensively to get their lead in the first place.
Rural led by seven, 16-9, at the end of the first quarter thanks to eight points from LaSharra Riley, a 6-foot-2 junior who has already committed to play basketball at Oklahoma State.
But then Emporia hit the Lady Blues with an offensive and defensive wave that the Lady Blues could not seem to figure out.
After Laura Caby’s jumper put Rural ahead 18-6, Emporia went on a 17-0 run, which was capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Rachelle VanGundy, to jump past Rural on the way to a 26-18 lead midway through the second quarter. During the stretch, EHS forced turnovers on six straight Rural possessions.
“They had come out and really slugged us in the mouth to start the game ... and it would have been really easy for our kids to lay down,” EHS coach Bill Nienstedt said, “but they’re not made that way. They’re not the type of kids who are going to quit.”
Riley scored Rural’s final six points of the second quarter to help the Lady Blues close Emporia’s lead to four at 28-24 with 14 seconds left in the half, but Emporia’s Hilary Heinrichs hit a turnaround baseline jumper at the buzzer to send the game into halftime with the Lady Spartans leading, 30-24.
“We were playing really good,” Naab said. “We were energized going into the half. We were pumped. We were glad to be in the position that we were in.”
Out of halftime, though, Rural regrouped, and in the third quarter started to slowly chip away at Emporia’s armor.
With 1 minute, 57 seconds left in the third quarter, Rural still had not made up any ground on the Lady Spartans, as a Hileman free throw put EHS ahead, 36-30. However, the Lady Blues closed the gap to just two points heading into the final frame when Maggie Holmberg hit 1 of 2 free throws and Allison Babcock sank Rural’s first 3-pointer of the game, making it 36-34 EHS at the end of the third.
Rural then tied the game at 36 with Holmberg’s putback off a Riley miss, and then the Lady Blues snatched the lead with Alexa Bordewick’s 3-pointer from the right wing that put Rural ahead, 39-36, and EHS never led again.
When Naab hit a 3-pointer with 16.4 seconds left that drew EHS to within four at 48-44, it ended a 6-minute, 5-second span in which EHS did not hit a shot from the field. But Rural kept Emporia at bay by closing out the game out by hitting 13 of 16 free throws in the final 4 minutes.
“They played a lot more physical defensively in the second half,” Nienstedt said, “and we just didn’t finish in the post, and we didn’t get to the foul line when we threw it into the post either.”
Not helping Emporia’s cause was the fact that its starting point guard, Alli Armitage, did not suit up because of back/hip problems, and Armitage’s backup, Brittany Meza, is nursing a sore foot.
“We had kids who we were asking to do things that they haven’t done much,” Nienstedt said. “Our lineup was funny. It hurt us in offensive continuity.”
Webb and Hileman led Emporia with 11 points each. Emporia’s third-leading scorer, Lindy Arndt, was held scoreless, going 0-for-3 from the field.
Riley led the way with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
The Lady Spartans now have nearly a week off before they play host to the Glacier’s Edge tournament at Emporia High School, which starts next Thursday.
Washburn Rural girls 52, Emporia 44
Friday at Topeka
Emporia 9 21 6 8 — 44
Washburn Rural 16 8 10 18 — 52
Emporia (8-2, 4-2 Centennial League) — Meza 1-5 1-1 3, Webb 3-10 4-4 11, Arndt 0-3 0-0 0, Naab 4-8 2-2 11, Hileman 2-3 7-11 11, VanGundy 2-7 0-0 6, Heinrichs 1-1 0-0 2, Leihsing 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-38 14-18 44.
Washburn Rural (7-2, 6-0) — Longstaff 2-4 0-0 4, Riley 7-13 6-7 20, Caby 1-5 0-0 2, Lewis 0-2 0-0 0, Bordewick 2-2 1-2 6, Zordel 1-5 5-6 7, Holmberg 1-4 1-2 3, Barrett 0-0 0-0 0, Babcock 2-2 3-4 8. Totals 16-37 16-21 52.
3-point goals — Emporia 4-10 (Meza 0-2, Webb 1-1, Arndt 0-1, Naab 1-2, VanGundy 2-4), WR 2-5 (Lewis 0-1, Bordewick 1-1, Holmberg 0-2, Babcock 1-1). Rebounds — Emporia 21 (Hileman 5), WR 31 (Riley 12). Assists — Emporia 5 (5 tied at 1), WR 8 (3 tied at 2). Turnovers — Emporia 13, WR 15. Total fouls — Emporia 17, WR 14.