Area roundup
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Originally published 12:52 p.m., January 29, 2008
Updated 12:52 p.m., January 29, 2008
The Emporia Middle School boys “A” team advanced to the championship game of the first Mid-Kansas Boys’ Middle School Basketball Tournament before losing to McPherson, 41-31, in the final game. In the second round of the tournament, EMS defeated Manhattan-Anthony, 29-25.
The Vikings played good defense in the first half, mixing in some half-court man and full-court, 2-2-1 defense to hold Anthony to 12 first-half points.
“We played good help defense, challenged every shot, and rebounded well throughout the entire game,” EMS coach Wade Redeker said.
EMS led just 16-12 at the break, though, partially because Anthony played some tough zone defenses.
In the second half, EMS received contributions from its bench players on defense.
“They came into the game, gave the starters a rest, battled on the boards, and did all the little things they needed to do in that game,” Redeker said.
EMS’s defense came in handy, because the team struggled to score.
In the fourth quarter, the Vikings played a box-and-one on Anthony’s best shooter. EMS’s Tim Eichler did a good job on defense, taking the Anthony player out of the game.
Anthony scored just six points in the final frame.
Brittian Moore scored 11 points for EMS.
In the championship game, EMS jumped on McPherson early, and at the end of the first quarter, the Vikings led 10-5.
In the second quarter, McPherson rushed EMS with a trapping defense, and the Vikings failed to score in the quarter, falling behind 16-10 at intermission.
The Vikings continued to struggle to score in the third quarter. Collin Thomsen had four of the team’s seven points in the third frame, but the score at the end of the third period was 27-17. In the fourth quarter, EMS played full-court man and trapping zone defenses to try and pull closer, but McPherson made few mistakes, holding on for the 41-31 win.
The “A” team’s record is now 8-2. EMS travels to Topeka to play on back-to-back nights this week against Shawnee Heights on Wednesday and Northern Hills on Thursday.
The EMS “B” team lost to Salina South in the second round of the tournament, 48-12. Nathan Cuellar had six of the Vikings’ 12 points.
In the third round game, the “B” team fell to McPherson, 26-21. EMS led 10-4 in the first quarter but couldn’t hold the advantage.
“We had one of our best offensive performances of the season, but it just wasn’t enough,” Redeker said. “Our defense continues to be tough and we work harder on defense than the teams we face. We just struggle putting the ball in the hole.”
Cody Dix led all scorers with nine points, while Nick Vega added four. Christian Romero, Ramon Rivera, Jerry Parks, and Naman Wajid all scored in the game.
5 area youngsters take free-throw championships
Five area youths from Emporia and Olpe won local championships at the 2008 Knights of Columbus Free-Throw Championship on Sunday at Emporia High School. The winners have earned the right to compete at the district level.
The winners were: Colleen Smith and Tanner Taylor in the 10-year-old division; Jordon Guion in the girls 11-year-old division; Nick Nelson in the boys 12-year-old division; and Bethany Bowman in the girls 13-year-old division.
All youngsters age 10-14 were eligible to participate.
District competition will be held at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 10, at the Sacred Heart Church parish center. Winners have the opportunity to move on to the state and international levels.
ESU’s Rossbach named female track athlete
of the week
Emporia State’s Jonel Rossbach was honored with the MIAA’s female track athlete of the week, the conference announced Monday.
Rossbach won the 5,000-meter run at the Iowa State Open on Friday, winning the event by a full minute with a time of 17:26.24. That mark ranks as the second-fastest in Division II this season.
Rossbach followed that with a third-place finish in the 3,000-meter run on Saturday. Her time of 9:50.39 broke a 20-year old school record.
ESU’s Jaclyn Sill was the MIAA’s female track athlete of the week for the previous two weeks.