TOPEKA — They aren’t the most athletic team around, and certainly aren’t the biggest. But if the Emporia High boys aren’t the scrappiest team in the Centennial League, it’s hard to imagine who’s going to out-heart them. Topeka West couldn’t do it.
Using a huge second-half step-up from forward Jacob Golden and a whole lot of poise and moxie, the Spartans left an ice-cold first half behind and came back from a seven-point halftime deficit to win their first league road game 45-38 on Tuesday night at Topeka West.
“Two words. One, scrappy — three words: (scrappy), guts and grit,” Spartans coach Rick Bloomquist said. “I’m really proud of ’em.”
Like several EHS opponents thus far, Topeka West had more to offer in the way of size — frontliners Alex North, Tyrell Brown and Greg Bailey all stand 6-foot-4 or taller — and athletic ability. The Spartans were never dead in the water, but they certainly could have been after a first half in which they launched 16 3-pointers and made just two, shooting an atrocious 6-for-23 from the floor.
Topeka West built a 21-14 lead by halftime, with the Spartans struggling to effectively implement coach Rick Bloomquist’s new offense, designed to get other people involved in the scoring besides Taylor Euler, Jacob Torres and Greg Canales. In the first quarter, those three players took all of the Spartans’ shots. At halftime, Euler and Torres were a combined 2-of-12, and Canales had a team-leading six points.
The Spartans needed to scrap, and they needed someone to give them a spark. Golden — who came off the bench after starting the first five games — would be the guy.
Known for being a defensive prescence, Golden scored 11 second-half points, nearly tripling his previous output for the entire season, and made a couple of simply astounding plays.
“My legs are getting better,” Golden said. “My shinsplints are finally cleared up. I feel more confident going to the basket, and I was just really pumped up. Our teammates are getting real enthusiastic on the bench, keeping us all pumped up on the floor. Once you get that adrenaline going, you can do some amazing things.”
After scoring on a short jumper early in the half, Golden knocked down a 3-pointer, his first of the year, to bring Emporia to within 25-23. On West’s ensuing possession, Torres grabbed a steal, and the Spartans worked the ball around until Euler had a good look at a three, which he nailed to give the Spartans a 26-25 lead, their first since very early in the game.
The Chargers retook the lead 30-28 on a three-point play by Brown, but Canales knocked down a jumper to tie the game at 30 at the end of three quarters.
A Torres 3-pointer in the first minute of the fourth gave the Spartans a 33-31 lead, and Golden responded to a West basket with a lefthanded drive and layup to re-take a two-point lead.
West scored five straight points before Euler drove the baseline, leaped high for a layin and was fouled with 3:02 left to go. His and-one free throw made it 38-38. Then came what Bloomquist called the play of the game.
Euler attempted a 3-pointer from the left corner that hit off the back iron and dropped in front of the rim. Golden — leaping between and against two of the tallest Chargers — got the fingers of his right hand on the ball and tipped it in to give Emporia a 40-38 lead with around 2:20 left to play.
With just over a minute and a half left, Brown missed a jumper, and Golden fought two West players for a long rebound. He went to the deck for the ball, got his hands on it and called timeout before a tie-up could be called.
Emporia turned the ball back over when Golden was called for an offensive foul, but North airballed a 3-pointer out of bounds with 46.3 seconds left. Euler was fouled with 33 seconds remaining and knocked down both free throws to give Emporia a 42-38 advantage.
Brown launched a 3-point attempt from the left wing that bounded over the top of the backboard with 20 seconds remaining. Topeka West fouled Torres, who made 1-of-2 free throws to make it 43-38, and Euler added two more free throws in the final seconds.
“I mean, really, the only thing is the shots weren’t going in,” Bloomquist said of the first half. “We weren’t making baskets, (but) we were playing hard. And our body language, our attitude, our confidence — I could see it in their eyes, they still had their confidence. And they did it from the beginning to the end. And so the intangibles won this basketball game. ... We were tougher, we played with more intensity, we wanted to win.”
Euler overcame a 3-of-17 shooting night to finish with a team-high 13 points. Golden and Canales, who had 10, joined him in double figures. Bailey led Topeka West with 11 off the bench, and North had 10.
The Spartans finished 17-of-47 (36 percent) from the floor, but ultimately got it done, scoring the game’s final 10 points.
“We’re a team,” Golden said. “That’s what we are. We’re coming together. Come February, we’re gonna get there.”
Emporia High boys 45, Topeka West 38
Emporia 5 9 16 15 — 45
Topeka West 10 11 9 8 — 38
Emporia (4-2, 2-0) — Gentz 1-3 0-0 2, Euler 3-17 5-5 13, Jamison 0-1 0-0 0, Torres 2-6 1-2 7, Canales 5-10 0-1 10, Childs 1-3 0-1 2, Golden 5-7 0-0 11, Huth 0-0 0-1 0, Essex 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-47 6-10 45.
Topeka West (2-3, 0-2) — Lopez 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 2-8 3-6 7, Kruger 1-7 0-0 3, Smith 2-3 1-2 5, North 4-11 1-2 10, Bailey 5-8 1-3 11, Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Adams 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 15-45 6-13 38.
3-point goals — Emporia 5-24 (Euler 2-11, Torres 2-6, Golden 1-2, Canales 0-2, Gentz 0-2, Childs 0-1); Topeka West 2-13 (Kruger 1-6, North 1-5, Brown 0-1, Lopez 0-1). Total fouls — Emporia 15, Topeka West 17. Fouled out — Brown.