TECUMSEH — Emporia High arrived at Shawnee Heights on Friday night believing it was a different team than when it lost to Heights 55-40 at EHS on Jan. 9. The Lady Spartans proved their point and got a little revenge for their first Centennial League loss of the year.
Ten unanswered points in the final minutes of the first half gave Emporia a lead it wouldn’t surrender, as the Spartans survived a late comeback to beat the T-Birds 38-30 and win their fifth straight game.
The matchup a month ago had been one in which EHS still was trying to implement a full-court, press-and-run attack. These days, the Spartans’ defense is more halfcourt-oriented, and refinement of their defense was a big reason they rolled through last week’s Glacier’s Edge Tournament. There was also the matter of bringing more energy to the floor; the Heights loss had been one in which coach Bill Nienstedt and the Spartans thought some players weren’t giving their all. So, for this one, the Spartans had two things on their minds:
“Revenge, and play hard,” EHS center Lexi Hileman said. “Revenge was the number one thing, and they beat us at home, which is never good. So we wanted to come out, be strong and just kick ’em from the get-go.”
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