The postseason jitters got pushed aside, the winning streak is at 12, and a second straight trip to State for Emporia High’s girls is just one win away.
Overcoming a cold-shooting start in their substate opener Wednesday night against Salina Central, the Lady Spartans launched a big second-quarter run to jar them out of their funk, got their lead into double digits and closed the game in their patented style, finishing off a 52-33 win at EHS to advance to Friday night’s substate final against Newton at 7:45 p.m. at Salina Central’s gym.
The final score makes the Mustangs, who entered the game with a record of 9-11, look like just another victim of the Lady Spartan steamroller that’s now flattened a dozen straight opponents. But Central had won six of its last eight games, the Mustangs competed, and EHS was ice-cold early on, missing shots from every spot on the floor from long-range to point-blank. The Spartans limped to a 9-7 first-quarter deficit behind 2-of-11 shooting from the field.
“I think we were just kind of caught up in the moment, and just tried to look past ’em,” said point guard Alli Armitage, who led the Spartans with 13 points. “And then we realized that we can’t do that, and then we started playing better, and I think we got a little more focused.”
The Spartans finally gained control of the game with a 12-2 second-quarter spurt, kick-started by a couple of huge baskets by Amber Miller less than two minutes in. She buried a 3-pointer to tie the score at 10, then stepped into the passing lane for a steal on Central’s next possession and drove for a basket to put EHS up 12-10, the Spartans’ first lead.
“I thought, really, that sequence there was the turning point of the basketball game,” Emporia coach Bill Nienstedt said. “... Her quick five points energized us, and it allowed us to breathe. Because we were kind of playing without breathing.”
Miller later hit Lindy Arndt inside for a basket and foul, with the free throw making the score 17-12 with 3:23 left. On the next possession, Rachelle VanGundy ripped away a steal and got the ball to Armitage, who found Arndt running out ahead of the defense for a layup and a 19-12 lead. Salina Central called timeout with 2:52 left in the half to slow down the run, but EHS pushed its lead to nine on an Armitage three before settling for a 24-19 halftime edge.
Though the Spartans had swung the game in their favor and improved their shooting in the second quarter, Nienstedt wanted to get away from what he thought had contributed to their early cold shooting: quick shots out of set plays.
“So in the second half, we decided to kind of go away from running set plays and try to run the offense for a longer period of time, and that seemed to help,” he said. “We didn’t shoot it quite as quickly.”
Emporia got its lead back to eight in the third quarter when Armitage ran the floor off a missed 3-pointer and found Miller down low for a basket, foul and free throw to make it 33-25. Another and-one by Arndt made it 38-29, and EHS had a seven-point lead at the end of the period.
A pair of free throws by Lexi Hileman and another 2-for-2 trip by Hilary Heinrichs gave EHS a 45-33 lead with 4:54 left in the game, and EHS went into its late-game strategy of taking deliberate care of the ball and making the opposition foul. Emporia’s last 11 points came at the line, and the Spartans allowed Central just two fourth-quarter points.
“I think we’ve not so much worked on (finishing games), but we know as a team, collectively, that we have to finish — especially that game, we had to finish strong,” Hileman said. “We didn’t play a very good game, and we still won by 20, because we got our heads together, and we made the smart plays, and then we knocked down free throws.”
Armitage hit all six of her free throws to finish with 13. Arndt had 10 on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor, Hileman had eight points to go with 11 rebounds and Miller also added eight.
Emily Kinder, Courtney Wiggins and Jarah Cooper each had six points to lead Salina Central, and Wiggins finished with 10 rebounds.
The second-seeded Spartans (17-4) will now travel to Salina on Friday night to face sixth-seeded Newton (11-10), which upset third-seeded Hutchinson 44-39 on Wednesday on the other side of the Substate B bracket. A win over Newton would make 13 in a row — and, of course, be the biggest victory yet for the Spartans.
What do they have to do Friday to make sure they punch their ticket to State?
“Play hard — I think that’s the main thing, is just be us again,” Hileman said. “Tonight, we weren’t that very often. I think that’s something that we’re really gonna have to focus on Friday, is be Emporia, and play with some fire.”
Emporia girls 52, Salina Central 33
Salina Central 9 10 12 2 — 33
Emporia 7 17 14 14 — 52
Salina Central (9-12) — Kinder 2-6 0-0 6, McMillan 0-2 0-0 0, Wiggins 1-5 4-6 6, Cooper 3-5 0-0 6, Bujanda 1-2 3-4 5, Morris 2-3 0-0 5, Bennett 0-1 0-1 0, Counts 2-4 0-2 5. Totals 11-28 7-13 33.
Emporia (17-4) — Armitage 3-11 6-6 13, Miller 3-6 1-3 8, Arndt 4-8 2-2 10, Heinrichs 2-4 2-4 6, Hileman 2-8 4-6 8, VanGundy 0-2 0-1 0, Kolmer 0-1 1-2 1, Leihsing 2-2 2-2 6, Scheve 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-43 18-26 52.
3-point goals — Salina Central 4-12 (Kinder 2-6, Morris 1-2, Counts 1-3, Cooper 0-1), Emporia 2-9 (Armitage 1-6, Miller 1-2, VanGundy 0-1). Rebounds — Salina Central 29 (Wiggins 10), Emporia 25 (Hileman 11). Fouled out — Kolmer.