The Emporia High School boys basketball team completed the three-game season sweep of Hayden with three-tenths of a second left in Topeka on Tuesday night. “I was pretty emotional in the locker room,” head coach Lee Baldwin said. “I think our guys showed a lot of toughness in the second half. We didn't shoot it well at all and in the past when we haven’t shot it well, we lost. We found a way to win a game tonight against a physical team at their place and I’m really happy for our guys.”
Cooper Rech was fouled with the game tied at 38 and made one of two from the free threw line, but there was not enough time on the clock for Hayden to respond. “That was the best rebound Cooper's ever had,” Baldwin said. “That was a man rebound. He played really well tonight and was fantastic at the top of our zone. When he plays like that, it takes our defense to another level. I'm really proud of him and happy for him.”
The fourth quarter began with a Parker Leeds 3-pointer and a free throw to tie the game at 30. A pair of free throws gave Hayden the lead back but Emporia responded with a 3-pointer from Leeds and a bucket from Sheldon Stewart to give the Spartans a 35-32 lead. Hayden responded with a 3-pointer to tie the game. A pair of free throws from River Peters but Emporia back in front before Hayden took the lead with a 3-pointer with 1:13 to play. A free throw from Leeds tied the game at 38.
Emporia started out fast with two baskets from Fred Jackson and 3-pointers from Jalyn King and Parker Leeds as Emporia jumped out to a 10-3 lead. Hayden closed the gap with a 5-0 run to end the quarter. Emporia extended the lead to 13-8 before Hayden closed the half on a 13-3 run to take a 21-16 lead into the half.
Hayden led 26-21 in the third before a 3-pointer from Calvin Seeley and two free throws from King tied the game at 26 before Hayden scored the last four points of the frame to take a 30-26 lead into the fourth quarter. “To hold them to 38 points when they knew exactly what we were going to do defensively and to be able to hold our own on the glass against [Joe] Otting was huge,”
Baldwin said. “I’m just really proud of our guys and I hope everybody that was there is proud of what our guys represented tonight because that was special.” Leeds led Emporia with 11 points, with eight coming in the fourth quarter. Stewart added seven points for the Spartans.
Emporia (11-5) will return home to host Topeka High on Friday, Feb. 10 beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Emporia JV 58
Hayden JV 25
JV Record: 8-4
Emporia C 38
Hayden C 42
C Record: 6-6
