@ Ottawa

So far, so good for the Lee Baldwin era at Emporia High School. Coach Lee Baldwin says the Spartans were focused heading into the game. 

The boys basketball team won its season opener, 72-65, in Ottawa on Friday night in what was Baldwin’s first game as head coach. “It was a really fun atmosphere,” Baldwin said. “The game was a track meet. It was a high-scoring game that was fun to be a part of.” Emporia got off to a fast start, ending the first quarter with a 27-14 lead. 

Ottawa closed the gap with a 22-13 second quarter to make it a four-point game at the half, but the Spartans overpowered them in the third quarter with a 27-15 advantage. The Spartans like to play fast-paced on offense, so Baldwin was pleased to see his team get off to a fast start. “We pressed to speed them up and we want to play really fast,” Baldwin said. “We work a lot on transition offense, getting the ball out of the net and pushing it up the court. We shot it really well in the first quarter and that obviously helps.

Hopefully, we have more quarters like that moving forward because we're going to play fast.” River Peters led the Spartans with 23 points, with 17 coming in the first half, and Jalyn King added 17 points in his Emporia basketball debut. Having transferred to Emporia earlier in the school year, he’s a new face to the basketball program and Baldwin is excited to have him for a full season. “Jaylon brings us a level of confidence and toughness that has been invaluable to our team,” Baldwin said. “He had three points at have time and was in foul trouble and ended up with 17. He was the best player on the floor in the second half. What he brings to us we desperately need and we’re very thankful to have him.” 

Drew Hess had 14 points off the bench to round out three Emporia players in double figures. Baldwin was glad to see him play well, especially in the first half. “Nobody's improved more since this summer than Drew,” Baldwin said. “For him to score 14 points, with 11 of those coming in the first half, we’re really happy for him. He's our team captain. He's worked his butt off I'm happy to see him play well.”

Emporia JV 56

Ottawa JV 58

JV Record: 0-1

Emporia C 47

Ottawa C 28

C Record: 1-0