Emporia High started fast — and then Washburn Rural continued faster.
A 16-7 lead for the Lady Spartans at the end of the first quarter made it look like Emporia was game to hand Rural its first loss of the year. Then that notion was all but eradicated in a nightmarish 28-1 second-quarter blitz by the Junior Blues that saw Rural guard Alexa Bordewick put up 18 of those points.
The Spartans regrouped at halftime and outscored and outplayed Rural in the second half, but that one jaw-dropping quarter was all the Blues needed to come away with a 62-52 win, giving EHS three straight Centennial League losses.
“I just know that we weren’t real physical the second quarter, and when things started to go bad, we had trouble righting the ship,” EHS coach Bill Nienstedt said. “And I was awfully pleased at the way we played in the second half. Against a team like Rural, though, you can’t have a quarter where you just get absolutely dominated.”
Emporia was the more aggressive and better team in the opening eight minutes. The Spartans, led by Lexi Hileman’s defensive work down low, did a fine job of containing Rural’s star post, LaSharra Riley, in the first half, and three unanswered baskets to end the first quarter put EHS up nine. Hileman knocked down a 15-footer from the left baseline to make it 12-7, Alli Armitage grabbed a steal and found Lindy Arndt on the run for a layup, and Arndt got fouled inside and sank both free throws for a 16-7 advantage.
The start of the second quarter marked the start of the Alexa Bordewick Show, as the 5-foot-6 guard grabbed the game by the throat. Bordewick was uncontainable both on the drive and around the arc. Emporia called timeout after Bordewick drove inside, was fouled on a score and completed a three-point play to pull Rural within 17-16.
But the timeout didn’t help. Bordewick drove inside again to make it 18-17 Rural, a Riley basket resulted in another three-point play and a four-point deficit for EHS, and then Bordewick nailed a three to make it 24-17 Rural with around two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the half. But the Blues still weren’t done — Allison Babcock added a 3-pointer, Taylor Zordel drove for another traditional three-point play and Bordewick added another drive for a score and another three — her fourth of the quarter. The Blues ended their stunning run with a 35-17 lead at the half.
“We could’ve just really done without that second quarter,” said EHS forward Hilary Heinrichs. “We kind of got complacent with our lead in the first quarter, and we just didn’t come out on fire. Nienstedt warned us that they would come out with a big run, and just come out on fire, and they would have more energy than us. And we didn’t handle it well.”
At halftime, Nienstedt stressed being more physical and that the Spartans, in a game that already had two runs, had another one in them.
“We just told each other, ‘Keep staying up, stay pumped up, and let’s finish this, let’s win,’” said guard Amber Miller.
An 8-2 minirun helped the Spartans close the gap to seven in the third quarter. Heinrichs found Hileman on a nice hi-lo look underneath the basket, and Armitage hit two free throws following a technical foul on Rural coach Bill Annan to make it 39-28. Rachelle VanGundy then hit a jumper from the left corner, and Heinrichs hit Arndt with a close-in bounce pass underneath to make it 39-32. But meanwhile, with Bordewick quieting down in the third quarter following an EHS defensive adjustment, Riley was heating up inside. She scored 11 of her 14 points in the second half and helped Rural regain a 47-35 lead by the end of the third quarter.
The Spartans kept fighting, and an Armitage 3-pointer from the left corner cut the lead to 54-47 with just under four minutes remaining. But they couldn’t get any closer.
Arndt had 16 points for Emporia, Hileman and Armitage each had 12, and Hileman had nine rebounds. Rural got to the line 31 times, making 24, and shot just under 50 percent (16-of-33) from the field.
The Lady Spartans host Leavenworth today at 2:30 p.m. with the hope of snapping their three-game skid. After today’s game, the Glacier’s Edge Tournament, beginning on Jan. 29, will bring their next game action.
“We need to beat somebody,” Nienstedt said. “Obviously, we’re in a stretch of our season where we’ve played three really good teams here in a short period of time, and getting ready to play a fourth game... I hope our kids are just anxious to get an opportunity to compete.”
Despite being 3-3 in league, the Spartans still have their eyes on the Centennial League crown.
“I think we can still do that, definitely,” Arndt said. “I think this just might have been maybe a rough patch in our season, but things are coming together. We’ll continue to get better every day, and with that I think we can still (become) league champions.”
Washburn Rural girls 52, Emporia 42
Washburn Rural 7 28 12 15 — 62
Emporia 16 1 18 17 — 52
Washburn Rural (9-0, 5-0) — Bordewick 9-18 7-10 30, Zordel 1-2 4-5 6, Riley 4-7 6-8 14, Holmberg 1-3 0-0 2, Ladenburger 0-2 3-4 3, Babcock 1-1 4-4 7, Scott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-33 24-31 62.
Emporia (5-4, 3-3) — Armitage 3-10 4-4 12, Miller 0-4 2-2 2, Arndt 6-14 4-6 16, Heinrichs 3-7 2-4 8, Hileman 6-12 0-0 12, VanGundy 1-5 0-0 2, Kolmer 0-1 0-0 0, Leihsing 0-1 0-0 0, Scheve 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-54 12-16 52.
3-point goals — Washburn Rural 5-10 (Bordewick 5-8, Holmberg 0-2), Emporia 2-12 (Armitage 2-8, VanGundy 0-4). Rebounds — Washburn Rural 16 (Holmberg 5), Emporia 29 (Hileman 9). Total fouls — Washburn Rural 15, Emporia 24. Fouled out — Riley. Technical foul — Washburn Rural bench.