Neither Emporia High’s nor Lansing’s girls basketball teams had any way of knowing it, but Jan. 16 was a turning point for both.
That Friday night, Emporia was toasted by its worst single quarter of the year. Eventual Centennial League champion Washburn Rural went on a 28-1 stampede in the second quarter to make the other three periods irrelevant, beating the Lady Spartans 62-52 at EHS. The same evening, Lansing traveled to Mill Valley and lost a close one, 48-45.
That night, Jan. 16, was the last time either team lost a game.
On Wednesday afternoon, when the two teams take the floor of the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka for the first round of the Class 5A State tournament, that will change. One of two impressive winning streaks — 13 in a row for the Spartans, 14 for the Lions — will go down, and aspirations of a State title will go with it. So Wednesday’s 4:45 p.m. matchup shapes up as perhaps as good a 5A heavyweight fight as a first-round game can be, with two teams that are increasingly losing the memory of what it’s like to lose.
EHS coach Bill Nienstedt began briefing his team on the Lions at practice Monday, with more preparation to come today.
“There probably can’t be too many more teams in Kansas that have won more games in a row than we have, but they have,” Nienstedt said. “... So they’ve been on quite a roll.”
Because of seeding — Lansing is seeded fourth with a 19-3 record, Emporia fifth at 18-4 — Nienstedt sees his team as the underdog. He concedes, though, that having a group of seven seniors who know what it’s like at the Expocentre could be an advantage. The Spartans’ one-and-done trip to State last season — they blew an 11-point second-half lead against Miege before an Alli Armitage 3-pointer sent the game to overtime, only to lose 57-55 — is something Nienstedt hasn’t shied away from talking about.
“Knowing that all of our kids that are regulars in the rotation played some minutes in the State tournament game last year, we have some familiarity with the building this time, and all the hoopla that goes into going to the State tournament,” Nienstedt said.
Senior post Lexi Hileman agrees, after she was one of those who was a bit swept up in the new atmosphere of last year’s tournament.
“Playing at the Expocentre is awesome,” Hileman said. “It’s so big, and when you get in there, it’s such a big shock, because it’s so open, so big. We never played anywhere like that before besides that one game at the State tournament last year. And I know everybody was so nervous — it was the first time we’d ever been in there. And this year, I think we’ve had experience, so our nerves will have calmed down a little bit.”
Emporia’s main concerns in facing the Lions are their point guard and small forward. The former is 5-foot-6 junior Amy Briggs, who’s averaging 15.5 points per game. The athletic Brittney Lang, who stands about 5-foot-11 and plays the three, is averaging 11.8.
“They run a lot of stuff to get them opportunities to get shots,” Nienstedt said. “Either off the dribble, they set a lot of ball screens for them and a lot of down screens to try to get them shots. So we talked a lot about that, that we’d have to be really good, not only with the people that are guarding them, but in team defense and help when we needed it on those two.”
In the post, Hileman will likely be matched up on Alexis Ellis, who stands the same 5-foot-11 height as Hileman and averages 6.7 points per game.
“She’s a good, strong young lady,” Nienstedt said.
Last year’s Spartan team, which also was 18-4 when it got to Topeka, largely belonged to two senior first team All-Centennial League performers, post Sadie Webb and guard Nichole Naab. Nienstedt knows it’s pretty remarkable that the ’08-09 edition of the Lady Spartans — led by his big senior class and junior forward Lindy Arndt — not only got back to State without those two, but did so with the same record.
“I think it really tells a lot about the kids we have,” Nienstedt said, “that they’ve worked really, really hard and been very, very coachable.”
The Spartans are deep enough that they have several bench players who are X-factors, role players who could potentially step up and become unlikely heroines at State. Remember, this 13-game winning streak got started the day after the Rural loss, when Rachelle VanGundy came off the bench to drill seven 3-pointers in a win over Leavenworth.
“Ashley Leihsing can bring such athleticism to the floor,” Nienstedt said. “Rachelle brings shooting to the floor. Sarah Kolmer can be that type of a factor, too, with her defense and athleticism. So it’s hard to predict those things, but we know we’ll get good contributions from those kids, that’s for certain.”
The tightness the Spartans appeared to show early in both their substate wins over Salina Central and Newton is something Nienstedt hopes will be out of the way now that their goal of making it to the State tournament is realized.
“Hopefully, we’ll be loose but focused,” he said. “Relaxed but ready.”