Topeka — Lexi Hileman got her hands on the missed free throw with 11.3 seconds remaining and looked to outlet to Alli Armitage. Armitage was covered, so Hileman looked to the other side.
“Lindy! Lindy!” she yelled through the frantic noise in the gym at Seaman High School.
Lindy Arndt backtracked, took the outlet pass, dribbled down the left side, then cut into the lane. Emporia High was down one, and there was time for a shot and maybe a putback. Arndt stopped in the middle of the lane, pumped once and put up a guarded 10-footer. The ball softly hit the back iron, bounced straight up high and stayed in the air long enough to add more heart-stopping suspense to an ending that already had its share.
Then it bounded off the side of the iron, and Seaman came away with the rebound underneath and dribbled out the last second and a half. The Vikings had held on for a 45-44 win, and Emporia High’s admirable comeback — the Spartans were down 12 at the end of three quarters — had fallen just short.
“I thought she had a pretty good look at it,” EHS coach Bill Nienstedt said. “And then it bounced once, and I thought it was going to go in on the bounce down. I thought it was a good job by Lexi to find her in transition... and then I thought Lindy did what she was supposed to. She attacked the basket and got a shot up.”
The Lady Spartans’ comeback from a 37-25 deficit at the end of the third was a product of better defense and big plays at both ends of the floor. With Emporia trailing 42-32, a four-point trip down the floor with just over five minutes left kicked the comeback into high gear.
Sarah Kolmer was fouled inside and went to the line for two shots. She made the first and missed the second, but grabbed her own rebound underneath and kicked out to Rachelle VanGundy on the left wing. VanGundy launched a guarded three and nailed it, bringing the Spartans to within 42-36.
Emporia’s full-court pressure forced a turnover on the next possession when Emily Gatewood caught a pass just over the halfcourt line, then dribbled back behind it for a backcourt violation. On the next possession, VanGundy missed a three, Arndt grabbed a rebound and missed, and Hileman grabbed another board and was fouled. She hit one of two free throws to whittle the lead to five. Two Armitage free throws with 3:40 remaining brought EHS to within 43-39, and Hileman hit two more with 2:58 to go to make it 43-41.
Hileman went to the line again after being fouled by Kara Lee — Lee’s fifth foul — with 58.6 seconds left and the Spartans trailing 44-41. Hileman hit both charities, and at the other end, EHS grabbed a miss by Haleigh Tenpenny and called timeout with 45.9 seconds left.
After the timeout, VanGundy found enough daylight to launch a three from the right wing. There was some contact, and VanGundy hit the deck, but only well after the shot’s release did the whistle finally blow. With the score 44-43 in favor of Seaman and 30.3 seconds left, VanGundy was going to the line for three free throws.
With the Viking crowd screaming loudly, VanGundy made the first one to tie the score at 44. Then the second one hit off the side of the tin, and the third one rattled out.
“I felt confident that I was gonna make both of ’em, and they both felt good when they left my hand,” VanGundy said.
The Vikings rebounded and called timeout, and then with 11.3 seconds left, Erin Greenwood drew a foul on Hilary Heinrichs on a shot near the top of the key. Greenwood made the first and missed the second, and Hileman rebounded, setting up the drama of the final seconds.
Hileman led the second-half charge for Emporia, scoring all of her game-high 12 points after the half and knocking down 6-of-7 big second-half free throws. Arndt scored seven points for the Spartans, all in the first half, and Heinrichs also added seven. Getting to the line was a big part of the EHS comeback; Emporia made 23-of-34 from the stripe.
“I’ve been working on my free throws,” Hileman said. “I knew somebody had to step up and make plays in the fourth quarter, because we needed somebody to bring our team up, we needed a leader. And tonight, I felt like it was my job to be our team leader.”
The comeback may not have saved Emporia (5-3, 3-2) from a second straight Centennial League loss, but it gave them a better feeling about this loss than Friday’s 15-point defeat to Shawnee Heights. Emporia was down 27-19 at halftime on Tuesday and didn’t get any closer than eight points down during the third quarter.
“We didn’t weather the storm very well when we got in foul trouble in the second quarter,” Nienstedt said. “We just didn’t play well there for awhile, and that ended up being too big a margin for us to come back from.”
Friday night, the Spartans will try to stop their losing skid when they take on Washburn Rural (8-0, 4-0), the top-ranked team in Class 6A.
“We have what everybody thinks is the best team in Kansas coming to our place,” Nienstedt said. “We have to play our best basketball, but I know our kids will give us some good days of practice, and we’ll be ready to go Friday.”
Seaman girls 45, Emporia 44
Emporia 12 7 6 19 — 44
Seaman 11 16 10 8 — 45
Emporia (5-3, 3-2) — Armitage 0-2 4-4 4, Miller 0-2 2-2 2, Arndt 2-9 3-4 7, Heinrichs 2-6 3-7 7, Hileman 3-6 6-7 12, VanGundy 2-6 1-3 6, Leihsing 1-1 1-3 3, Scheve 0-0 0-0 0, Kolmer 0-1 1-2 1, Waldner 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 10-33 23-34 44.
Seaman (5-3, 4-0) — Greenwood 3-4 5-7 11, Tenpenny 4-12 0-0 8, Sowards 2-8 1-5 6, Gatewood 2-5 1-2 6, Lee 1-1 1-2 3, Brooks 1-5 1-2 3, Slimmer 1-2 2-2 4, Eakes 0-0 0-0 0, Blocker 1-2 0-0 2, Johnson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 16-40 11-20 45.
3-point goals — Emporia 1-6 (VanGundy 1-5, Armitage 0-1), Seaman 1-9 (Sowards 1-5, Gatewood 1-1, Tenpenny 0-3). Total fouls — Emporia 20, Seaman 24. Fouled out — Lee, Blocker. Technical foul — Emporia bench.