Double vision: EHS squads set for rematches against Shawnee Heights
By Michael Ashford
Originally published 02:05 p.m., January 31, 2008
Updated 02:05 p.m., January 31, 2008
The Emporia High girls and boys basketball teams will think they’re seeing double on Friday when they travel to take on Shawnee Heights.
In the past two weeks, both the Spartans and the Lady Spartans won separate tournament titles by defeating Shawnee Heights in the championship games of those respective tournaments.
The EHS boys achieved the first victory, beating the Thunderbirds, 64-55, in the title game of the Ralph Miller Classic in Chanute on Jan. 19.
The EHS girls followed with a 46-41 victory over the Heights girls this past Saturday to win the Glacier’s Edge Tournament at Emporia High School.
Players on both EHS squads agree the quick turnaround gives Friday’s matchups a certain element of familiarity between the two teams.
“It’ll be tough playing them a week later back at their place,” sophomore Lindy Arndt said.
Added sophomore Greg Canales, “They’re going to be real pumped up to play again this soon.”
For the Lady Spartans, their victory is a little more fresh in their minds, as is the way they managed to squeeze out the win after staving off a late Heights rally.
Emporia jumped out to a 15-1 lead by the end of the first quarter and still led by double digits midway through the fourth quarter, but back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers from the Lady T-Birds closed Emporia’s advantage to just two points with 34 seconds left in the game.
It took a late steal and a pair of free throws by senior Sadie Webb to hold Heights at bay, making staying focused a point of emphasis during this week’s practice.
“They had our attention anyway, and I think that showed by how sharp we were early against them,” EHS girls coach Bill Nienstedt said. “Our kids know that they (Heights) are good, and that game certainly proved it.
“We’re going to be in hopefully a lot more situations that are pressure-packed as we come down the stretch this season, and we have to learn from that — that getting excited and getting rattled is something you can control, and that if you control it, the game’s a lot easier to play.”
The Emporia boys have had a bit more time since they last faced the Thunderbirds, but that doesn’t mean they don’t remember just how tough it was to get the victory over Heights.
In winning the Ralph Miller Classic for the second year in a row, EHS needed a defensive switch from a man to a zone look to slow the T-Birds before the Spartans went on a fourth-quarter run to take the victory.
The Emporia boys, now on a five-game winning streak, hope to take the lessons learned from that game, as well as the ones from last Friday’s hard-fought 53-46 victory over Washburn Rural, and parlay them into another victory.
“I think we’re pretty much going to play them straight up like we did in Chanute,” Canales said. “We’ll just play them and adjust during the game. We know we’re going to have to come out and just fight.”
If the Spartans and Lady Spartans hope to pull off another sweep of the Heights girls and boys, this time on the same night, Arndt said showing improvement over the last matchup against the T-Birds would be perhaps the most important factor in the outcome — which could be the case for both EHS squads.
“It’ll be a tough game,” Arndt said. “We’ll have to work real hard and be focused — that’s the main thing. If we do those things and we play together, then we should be able to pull it off.”