Spartans win on senior night, look like a
contender again
Now that the new-and-improved Emporia High boys basketball team is rolling, it was Seaman’s turn to take the beating.
The Spartans made senior night a memorable one by dominating the Vikings the same way the Vikings did them last month. A 24-point, 12-rebound performance by junior center Greg Canales and a 23-point, 10-assist effort from senior point guard Taylor Euler led the way as Emporia scalded Seaman, 73-60.
Make it two straight games that the Spartans (10-9, 7-5 Centennial League) have won easily while playing cohesive, team-oriented basketball, and this one was a perfect treat for the fans who came to say goodbye to EHS’s six seniors.
“What you envision of your last game on your home court is exactly how we played tonight,” Euler said. “Just leave it on the court, and you have a really good taste in your mouth when you leave the building.”
Playing with the perfect balance of scorer’s mentality and pass-first unselfishness, Euler showed fitting leadership for his final game in the EHS gym. He finished 6-of-11 from the floor, took just two first-half 3-pointers, and 10 of his points came on perfect free throw shooting. He played the same way in Emporia’s 58-42 win at Topeka High last Friday — but this performance was even better.
“Taylor controlled the game offensively,” EHS coach Rick Bloomquist said. “... I’m proud, because Taylor’s probably took the blunt end of my coaching wrath more than anybody has. And he has really responded. I mean, he’s responded like a real athlete.”
Depending on your point of view, though, Canales may have been even more impressive. The 6-foot-6 center dominated the boards in the first half, grabbing eight of his rebounds, then went off offensively in the second half, tossing in 18 of his points. He finished 10-of-12 from the field, the kind of performance, in quantity and quality, that Bloomquist wants to see.
“Lately, I know he’s been talking about it in the paper — ‘Feed Greg, feed Greg’ — and I’ve really taken advantage of it,” Canales said. “We tweaked our offenses a little bit, and it’s really playing to my advantages.”
A scorching 8-of-12 start from the field in the first quarter got Emporia out to a 21-12 lead. Three-pointers by Bryce Childs, Jacob Torres and Euler keyed the start, along with midrange jumpers by Euler and Brandon Gentz. In the second quarter, two free throws by Childs, a tip-in by Canales off a Torres miss and another Canales basket inside produced an 8-0 run that gave Emporia a 32-19 halftime edge.
Seaman star guard Bryce Simons, who rang up 31 points in the Spartans’ memorably bad 76-64 loss at Seaman on Jan. 13, was ably contained by the EHS defense in the first half Tuesday. Emporia double-teamed and harassed Simons out of their zone defense every time he got the ball on the perimeter, and he got off just five first-half shots, making one. Simons got his shot going in a big way in the second half, burying six 3-pointers and finishing with 25 points, but his early struggles helped set the tone.
“We know Bryce is that kind of player — at anytime, he’s gonna get hot,” Euler said. “But I think that we held him long enough to where we hadn’t won or got it wrapped up, but we had enough of a cushion to where we were trading baskets and it wasn’t gonna matter.”
Emporia’s lead grew to 52-33 by the end of the third quarter, with Canales scoring 11 points in the period. Perhaps his most impressive play came when he slipped to the basket on a screen for Euler, got the pass and got fouled as he scored underneath, hitting the free throw to make it 42-30. Canales added seven more points in the fourth.
That loss to Seaman in January was the first of three defeats Bloomquist considers “embarrassments” that the Spartans have endured — the others being the loss to Andover Central at the Ralph Miller Classic and last week’s loss to Topeka West at EHS. But Bloomquist, in motivating EHS for senior night, focused less on the negatives of the past and more on the positives of the present.
“He was more concerned about carrying over what we did on Friday against Topeka High and bringing that to this game tonight,” said Torres, who finished with nine points.
They did so, and it made for a fun night for seniors Euler, Torres, Darnell Bartlett, Marcus Jamison, Isiah Essex and Jacob Golden, who’s out for the season with a knee injury.
“It’s a mixture of happiness and sadness, really,” Torres said. “I’m really not ready for the season to be over.”
It isn’t yet, with a game at Manhattan left on Friday before substate begins next week. And the Spartans are playing their best basketball of the year.
“The way they’re playing right now is very infectious,” Bloomquist said. “Once you get that taste of what they’re tasting right now, all I have to do is remind ’em. ... I think the taste they have, it’s like a dog or a wolf getting his first taste of blood — they like it. I think my kids like what they’re feeling right now.”
Caydrick Bloomquist
to have surgery
Bloomquist’s son, former Emporia High star guard Caydrick Bloomquist, will have surgery because of complications from the digestive ailment Crohn’s disease, Rick Bloomquist said. The surgery will probably come in the next three to four weeks. Caydrick has been in and out of the hospital in recent weeks battling a recurring infection.
“They’ve gotta make sure his infection goes down, and they’ve gotta get him more nutrients in his body before (the surgery),” Rick Bloomquist said. “He’s got too much infection in his intestines to do it right now.”
Rick Bloomquist said his son’s doctor is optimistic about the surgery.
“That’s the resort we didn’t want to get to at first, but it keeps coming back,” he said.
The younger Bloomquist, a senior at EHS last season, originally went to Hutchinson Community College, then transferred to Butler County Community College, where he played in a handful of games this semester. The elder Bloomquist said his son would try to receive a medical redshirt to regain his freshman season.
Emporia boys 73, Seaman 60
Seaman 12 7 14 27 — 60
Emporia 21 11 20 21 — 73
Seaman (7-12, 3-9) — Lambrecht 0-3 0-0 0, Rea 2-14 2-2 7, Searcy 2-4 0-2 4, Simons 8-17 3-4 25, Hurla 4-10 2-2 12, Vanderbogart 3-6 1-1 7, McDaniel 0-2 0-0 0, Besser 1-2 0-0 2, Swoboda 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 21-59 8-11 60.
Emporia (10-9, 7-5) — Gentz 2-4 3-4 7, Childs 2-7 3-4 8, Euler 6-11 10-10 23, Torres 2-5 3-4 9, Canales 10-12 4-6 24, Jamison 0-3 0-0 0, Huth 1-1 0-0 2, Essex 0-0 0-0 0, Bartlett 0-0 0-0 0, Thomsen 0-0 0-0 0, Ruiz 0-0 0-0 0, Reimer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-43 23-28 73.
3-point goals — Seaman 12-29 (Simons 6-11, Hurla 2-3, Vanderbogart 2-3, Rea 1-8, Swoboda 1-1, Lambrecht 0-2, Searcy 0-1), Emporia 4-6 (Torres 2-3, Euler 1-2, Childs 1-1). Fouled out — None.