The Emporia High School boys basketball team advanced to the sub-state final with a 56-53 win over Bishop Carroll on Wednesday night.
“They play a really tough schedule,” head coach Lee Baldwin said. “They’re bigger than we are and have two really good players. No. 14 [Mikey Brand] is an All-State caliber player and we did not do a good job of taking him away whatsoever. But we made just enough plays to win and at this time of the year, that’s all that matters.”
With the game tied 51-51 late in the fourth quarter, Parker Leeds made a 3-pointer to give Emporia the lead with 1:30 to play. Bishop Carroll would make it a one-point game before Cooper Rech hit a pair of free throws.
The Golden Eagles had a chance to tie the game late after grabbing a rebound after a missed free throw, but the 3-pointer just before the buzzer was off the mark and Emporia was able to hold on for the win.
“I was hoping we would have gotten the box out [after the free throw],” Baldwin said. “We didn’t really rebound well tonight and we’re going to have to do a better job of that on Saturday. Luckily for us, it fell our way tonight.
”The game was close throughout and Emporia held an early lead before Bishop Carroll closed the first quarter and began the second quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 19-12 lead. The Spartans responded with a Rech basket before a pair of Golden Eagle free throws made it 21-14. But Emporia closed the half on a 12-2 run to take a 26-23 lead into the half. Baldwin credited the turnaround to getting the ball inside more.
“We went on a drought in the second quarter because we weren’t getting any paint touches,” Baldwin said. “We were shooting a bunch of sideways threes where they weren’t having to actually guard us and they were getting long rebounds. Then their best player came off the floor and we ramped up our pressure and that changed the game significantly. We started getting some paint touches and made some penetrating passes toward the basket.”
The teams continued back and forth in the third quarter which saw eight lead changes. The Spartans led by one entering the fourth quarter. Bishop Carroll tied the game 45-45 before both teams traded 6-0 runs. Coach Lee Baldwin says the win was a total team effort.
Jalyn King led Emporia with 20 points. Sheldon Stewart added nine points while River Peters and Leeds had eight points each. Emporia will travel to Andover on Saturday to face the Trojans in the sub-state final at 6 p.m.
