Torres, Childs big reasons for Spartans’ recent success
By Michael Ashford
Thursday, January 24, 2008
If one were handing out nicknames for the members of the Emporia High boys basketball team, it might be appropriate to label Jacob Torres as “Mr. X.”
The 6-foot sophomore guard, who began his first season as a full-time varsity player as somewhat of an unknown to outsiders, appears to be coming into his own for the Spartans, who are on a four-game winning streak thanks in large part to role players like Torres.
“Jacob right now is the ultimate X-factor,” EHS coach Rick Bloomquist said. “He’s has been so important to this basketball team in every aspect of the game. He’s been so valuable to the success we’ve been having lately.”
Torres’ breakthrough appeared to come nearly two weeks ago when the Spartans traveled to Junction City at a time when EHS seemed to be simply treading water. The Spartans entered the game against the Blue Jays with a 4-4 record, and at times had looked sluggish and lackadaisical, especially on offense.
But it was during that game that the Spartans changed their offense to a three-man motion look, and almost immediately, Torres made his presence felt. He hit a 3-pointer to open the game and then knocked down another just minutes later, and EHS went on to blast Junction City, 64-42.
Then, last week at the Ralph Miller Classic in Chanute, Torres stepped up his game, particularly on the defensive end of the court. When the Spartans took on Centennial League foe Shawnee Heights in the championship game of the tournament, Torres was assigned to guard one of Heights’ top scorers, Matt Kobbeman. In playing all 32 minutes, Torres held Kobbeman to just four points and chipped in eight points of his own, as the Spartans went on to defeat Heights, 64-55.
“Right now, I’m just real comfortable,” Torres said. “I’m just another guy that’s going to hustle and do his part, and make baskets when I’m open.”
Coinciding with Torres’ emergence has been the renaissance of senior Brandon Childs’ season over the last four-game stretch.
The athletic, 6-foot-3 forward not only has looked better rebounding the ball, but perhaps his biggest contribution has been providing a shot of energy when he is out on the court. This after he saw his playing time decrease earlier in the season when Coach Bloomquist was upset with Childs’ effort at times.
“I’ve just got to play hard and do the dirty work. Everything else will take care of itself,” Childs said. “I don’t need to score a lot of points. I just need to do what needs to be done, and we’ll get wins.”
It is that team-first attitude that has Bloomquist excited about what Childs could potentially have in store for the remainder of the season.
“He’s too good of an athlete to just get by. He’s a tremendous athlete,” Bloomquist said. “My job is to get that tremendous athleticism out of him, and I think we’ve really only hit the tip of the iceberg with him. There’s so much more he can do, but I’m happy with the way he’s playing right now.”
The Spartans (8-4, 3-2 Centennial League) re-enter league play on Friday when they travel to Topeka to take on rival Washburn Rural (4-6, 1-3). Bloomquist said he was excited with his team’s recent run of good play, and now, he’d like to see the Spartans take it one step further.
“Since Junction City, we’ve been very consistent,” he said. “Consistency is a sign of greatness, and this team is not great yet. If we want to be great, we need to show some consistency.”
With EHS getting bigger and better contributions from Torres and Childs, as well as sophomore Greg Canales, it has opened the floor up for guards Caydrick Bloomquist and Taylor Euler. Bloomquist scored a whopping 98 total points at the Ralph Miller Classic while Euler had potentially his best game of the season in the second game of the tournament against Goddard when he scored 24 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had just one turnover in a 75-44 EHS victory.
“The reason we’re having success is not because Caydrick and Taylor are scoring better,” Rick Bloomquist said, “it’s because those two (Torres and Childs) — especially those two — have upped their level of play. And then you throw in Canales, who, when we put him in a better position where he was more comfortable, and it’s just helped everybody.
“We’re just trying to continue to build on what we know we can do now.”
playbook (anonymous) says...
Think if they had Seth and Jacob !!!! Good job Jacob ! We are proud of you ! Keep getting the Good Grades and Praying to God for his Blessing he Bestow on you each and Everyday!
January 25, 2008 at 11:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )