TOPEKA — There were moments during Emporia High’s long and heady winning streak when it seemed as if it were possible for the streak to continue all the way through to today — and still be going when next season tipped off.
But thanks to a tough Great Bend team that hasn’t played at all like an eight-seed, the Lady Spartans’ admirable run ended at 14 straight wins and one day short of playing for the Class 5A State title.
In a mutual defensive struggle with the Panthers, the fifth-seeded Spartans struggled just a little more. They just couldn’t put the ball in the hole — from the field or from the free throw line — and didn’t have quite enough to pull out a second straight nail-biting victory at the Kansas Expocentre. Great Bend, which also struggled at the line, nonetheless hit 4-of-4 free throws in the final 25 seconds to help seal a 39-35 semifinal win and move on to today’s State title game, putting the Spartans in today’s consolation game against Carroll.
“Fourteen games is a lot of games,” said a tearful Lexi Hileman, one of the seniors whose careers will conclude with today’s game. “Not many teams in the state of Kansas get to win (19) games, or even win 14 games in a row. So that feels good, and to have it end like this — it’s not the greatest way we would’ve hoped for, but it happens.”
The same toughness that had guided Emporia (19-5) through their 38-35 first-round win over Lansing was on display again on Friday. As in the Lansing game, the Spartans trailed Great Bend by six early on before marching back to tie it at 14. They absorbed a solid punch at the end of the third — when the Panthers’ Devan Boeger hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to make it 24-21 in favor of Great Bend — by coming back to take a 25-24 lead on a Lindy Arndt basket early in the fourth. And although missed opportunities plagued the Spartans in the final minutes, following a Hilary Heinrichs shot inside with about 35 seconds to go, Emporia was still within two at 35-33.
“I told ’em (after the game) I was really proud of our team,” Emporia coach Bill Nienstedt said. “We kept battling back. We got off the deck two or three times in this one where we would not get key stops defensively, and they’d get out to a little lead, but we kept bouncing back.”
The 14-8 lead was erased with a slow-developing 6-0 run in which the EHS defense kept Great Bend off the scoreboard until the final minute of the half. After Hileman missed a jumper, Arndt drove the left side of the lane and scored inside, then later cut through the lane to catch a well-thrown pass from the wing by Rachelle VanGundy for a layin to bring Emporia within two. The next basket gave the EHS bench and the crowd a huge lift: Hileman rebounded VanGundy’s miss and kicked it out to Taylor Elbe. The little-used sophomore point guard put the ball on the floor with her left hand, drove into the lane and nailed a 13-foot runner to tie the game at 14-14. But a basket inside by Alex Hartig gave Great Bend a two-point lead less than 40 seconds before the halftime break.
After Arndt’s basket in the fourth to make it 25-24, a 3-pointer by Kalie LeShore and a basket inside by Ashley Boeger gave Great Bend a 29-25 advantage. Arndt drove for an and-one and hit the free throw to cut the lead back to one, but Emporia wouldn’t get within a point again.
With 3:13 to go and the Spartans trailing 31-28 off a missed free throw by Hileman, Great Bend quickly pushed it ahead, with Amanda Dreiling scoring to make it a five-point lead. The Panthers beat EHS back in transition for baskets several times late in the game, which the Spartans looked back on as a key reason why they couldn’t pull out a win.
“We’ve seen ’em play about a game and a half,” Arndt said, “and it didn’t really look like they were looking to push it so much. But they did, and they’re scrappy and quick, and they got it up and down the court. But I think it maybe caught us off guard, with them trying to push the ball.”
Emporia called timeout with 32.7 seconds left, just after Heinrichs dribbled into the lane and scored off the glass to make it 35-33. The Spartans then smartly fouled Hartig, who was 1-of-6 at the foul line to that point, with 23.8 ticks left. But Hartig found her free-throw right at the right time, cleanly swishing both foul shots. After an Ashley Leihsing miss off the glass and a foul call on Arndt with 13.4 to go, LeShore stepped to the line and swished two more to put the game away.
“I think we just could’ve run our offense a little better,” Heinrichs said, “just stayed mentally tough, and we didn’t get back defensively two times, and that just really kind of kicked us.”
Arndt led Emporia with 13 points and nine rebounds, and Hileman had 12 points and seven boards. Emporia shot just 14-of-38 from the floor for 37 percent accuracy, and only 6-of-16 foul shots for 38 percent.
Hartig led Great Bend with nine points and 10 rebounds. The Panthers shot 15-for-33 from the field for 46 percent, but hit just 6-of-13 foul shots for the game — a reason Nienstedt said he wasn’t going to dwell on his own team’s struggles at the line.
“That’s tough for a high school kid to step up and make a ton of free throws in the semifinals of the State tournament, knowing that a State bid’s on the line,” Nienstedt said. “It’s the reason both teams struggled at the line. You’re talking about probably great kids on both teams that desperately want to win, and it’s really hard.”
The Spartans can still end their season with 15 wins out of 16 and take home a third-place trophy if they can beat Carroll in today’s matchup at noon. Carroll lost to Miege 49-44 on Friday in the other semifinal.
“It would’ve been a lot better if we could’ve kept it going,” Heinrichs said of the 14-game streak. “But I’ll miss it, and it’s something that we’re really proud of, and we did a great job these last couple games, especially for pulling together and just working through that stretch.
“After those three losses in a row (in January), it was just hard to imagine that we would pop off 14 wins in a row. So it’s a pretty big accomplishment.”
Friday at Topeka
Emporia 8 6 7 14 — 35
Great Bend 12 4 8 15 — 39
Emporia (19-5) — Elbe 1-1 0-0 2, VanGundy 1-6 0-0 3, Scheve 0-0 0-0 0, Leihsing 0-2 0-0 0, Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Arndt 6-13 1-4 13, Heinrichs 1-3 3-4 5, Kolmer 0-0 0-0 0, Hileman 5-12 2-8 12, Waldner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-38 6-16 35.
Great Bend (17-7) — Brack 2-3 1-2 5, D. Boeger 2-3 0-0 6, Spray 0-0 0-0 0, A. Boeger 2-3 0-0 4, Tutak 0-0 0-0 0, LeShore 2-4 2-3 7, Dreiling 4-10 0-0 8, Haney 0-1 0-0 0, Hartig 3-9 3-8 9. Totals 15-33 6-13 39.
3-point goals — Emporia 1-5 (VanGundy 1-5), Great Bend 3-8 (D. Boeger 2-3, LeShore 1-1, Dreiling 0-2, Hartig 0-2). Rebounds — Emporia 30 (Arndt 9), Great Bend 23 (Hartig 10). Assists — Emporia 7 (Leihsing 5), Great Bend 7 (D. Boeger 4). Fouled out — None.