Rarely is Taylor Euler going to regret a shot he takes, and his final shot Friday night against Washburn Rural is no exception. It was a look he liked — a long one, but one that felt good leaving his hand.
Euler had space and time in front of him when he launched a straight-on, wide-open 30-footer with around seven seconds remaining and Emporia High trailing Washburn Rural by two. The shot missed and bounded to the right side, where the Junior Blues came away with a long rebound and finished off a 47-45 win at EHS.
“At first, after I shot it, I thought it might have been a little deep,” said Euler, who led the Spartans with 20 points. “But I mean, it was on-line, it felt good, and I’d shoot the same shot if I had to do it again. Nobody had a problem with it, it’s kind of what we drew up. It just didn’t go in.”
After trailing by eight early, Emporia had kept itself in the game with its trademark mixture of Euler, amoeba defense and general scrappiness. The Spartans trailed 23-19 at the end of an ugly first half, then edged ahead about midway through the third quarter. Center Greg Canales, who came off the bench for the first time this year, started the second half and got the mini-comeback going with a scoop shot and a jumper that helped cut the lead to 26-23. Euler drove for a layup to cut the lead to one, and Jacob Golden found Jacob Torres on a lob over the top for a layup to give the Spartans a 27-26 lead.
After Rural surged back ahead with back-to-back buckets, Golden added a 3-pointer from the left side to tie the game at 30 with about 2:25 left, but Brett Ash answered with a 3-pointer to give Rural the advantage at the end of the third.
Another Ash three about one minute into the fourth quarter — one of six threes he had en route to a 20-point night — pushed Rural’s lead back to six, but the Spartans wouldn’t go away. Canales scored on the run with a lefthanded layin and was fouled, making the and-one foul shot with 6:10 left to pull EHS within 36-35. As the minutes dwindled away, Washburn Rural kept getting baskets they needed — like Ash’s final three from the top of the key to make it 45-39 with under three minutes to go — and the Spartans kept responding.
“In the last couple of minutes, we just had to keep our composure and go with what had been working for us, which was Taylor again,” Torres said. “When it comes down to the last couple of shots, it’s him, it’s his team.”
The Spartans trailed 45-43 when Euler fouled Ash with 54.2 seconds to go, and he made both ensuing free throws. Coming out of an Emporia timeout with 23.3 seconds left, Canales missed a jumper from just behind the free throw line, which Torres rebounded underneath and banked back in to cut the lead to two with 13.3 remaining.
Brandon Gentz fouled Tate Vobach, sending him to the line for a 1-and-1 with 11.3 ticks left. Vobach missed the front end, and Torres rebounded. He dribbled across halfcourt and got jumped, so he handed off to Euler near the left sideline.
“We knew they were gonna double-team me off the free throw,” Euler said. “So we said, ‘Skip, just bring it down,’ and he dribbled right to those two guys, and it ended up being like a triple team.”
Euler dribbled toward the middle, found space and launched his would-be game-winner from outside the 620 area code. When it caromed down the baseline toward the right corner, Marcus Jamison fought for an offensive board, but Rural’s Trent Annan came away with it, and the Spartans had lost their second straight game.
Bloomquist generally liked his team’s defense after a poor showing on that end in Tuesday night’s loss at Seaman. The Spartans held 6-foot-8 Bobby Chipman, Rural’s leading scorer, to just 10 points, thanks in part to several point-blank misses by Chipman underneath. But Bloomquist thought the key to the game was that Ash got too many open looks.
“Every game we play, I think, is gonna be like the game we’ve been playing,” Bloomquist said. “It’s gonna be in the 40s and the 50s, and it’s gonna come down to who has the last couple possessions. And I think I’ve resigned to the fact that we’re gonna have to be a team who has to score low.
“We’re not gonna score big, and we’re gonna have to rely on the kind of defense we’re playing. I thought our defense was good, for the most part.”
Torres, honored as EHS’s Winter Sports King at halftime, had 13 points to back Euler. Senior Isiah Essex replaced Canales in the starting lineup, and Bloomquist liked how he responded in his first career start.
“I was really psyched out,” Essex said, “and zoned and determined to play hard.”
Bloomquist also liked how Canales responded to his benching, with strong all-around play and seven big second-half points. After the Seaman game, Bloomquist wanted to see a more competitive effort from the Spartans, and he saw a return to the type of game Emporia (5-4, 3-2) has become known for, even if it ended with a loss.
“There comes a time where you have to make your kids understand that they have to be accountable,” Bloomquist said. “I’m not afraid to lose. I don’t wanna lose... I think it’s important that you understand you can become more of a winner if you’re not afraid to lose, if you compete all the time. That’s all I want. I couldn’t handle Seaman because we didn’t compete.”
The Spartans will travel to Chanute on Thursday for the Ralph Miller Classic, where they will take on Joplin in the first round at 4:45 p.m.
Washburn Rural boys 47, Emporia 45
W. Rural 16 7 10 14 — 47
Emporia 11 8 11 15 — 45
Washburn Rural (4-5, 2-3) — Jackson 0-3 0-0 0, Chipman 4-10 2-2 10, Annan 0-2 0-0 0, Ash 6-11 2-2 20, Ediger 6-7 0-1 10, Drake 1-1 0-0 3, Werner 0-1 0-0 0, Vobach 2-6 0-1 4. Totals 19-41 4-6 47.
Emporia (5-4, 3-2) — Gentz 1-2 0-0 2, Essex 0-0 0-0 0, Euler 8-20 3-4 20, Golden 1-4 0-0 3, Torres 6-7 0-1 13, Huth 0-0 0-0 0, Jamison 0-3 0-0 0, Canales 3-5 1-1 7, Childs 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-41 4-6 45.
3-point goals — Washburn Rural 7-15 (Ash 6-10, Drake 1-1, Jackson 0-2, Vobach 0-2), Emporia 3-12 (Euler 1-10, Torres 1-1, Golden 1-1). Total fouls — Washburn Rural 12, Emporia 17. Fouled out — Chipman.