The Emporia High School boys basketball team never trailed in a 67-51 victory over Topeka High at Emporia High School on Friday night. The Spartans will keep the Dean Smith trophy in Emporia for the next year with the win. 

Emporia led 14-10 after the first quarter and outscored the Trojans in the second quarter, 23-11, including an 11-0 run to begin the quarter. It began with a River Peters 3-pointer, a basket from Fred Jackson and six straight points from Cooper Rech. Peters had seven and Rech had six points in the frame as Emporia led 37-21 at the half. 

It was more of the same in the second half as Emporia put 19 points on the board in the fourth quarter. Baldwin credited the depth of his offense in winning a game like this. “I thought we did a really good job of sharing the ball,” Baldwin said. “Landing on two feet and making the extra pass and when we’re able to do that, it’s fun to watch. We’re very unselfish and guys were excited for each other.” 

Baldwin felt his defense was able to keep Topeka’s perimeter offense in check in spurts, but his offense scored enough where it didn’t matter. “We had spurts where it was really good and there were times where it wasn’t so good,” Baldwin said. “When you shoot as many threes as they do, you’re going to have to live with some of the shots they make. We did a really good job in the first half; the second half wasn’t quite as good but we were able to get live ball turnovers and get some layups.” 

Peters led Emporia with 21 points off the bench and Fred Jackson tied a career-high with 11 points. Baldwin hopes to see more of this kind of performance from Peters. “Hopefully, that will unleash him and help his confidence the rest of the way because he has that capability,” Baldwin said. “If he plays like that moving forward, I like our chances against anybody.” 

Coach Lee Baldwin says it was a great team win with contributions across the board. Emporia (12-5) will host Manhattan on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m.

Emporia JV 48

Topeka High JV 43

JV Record: 9-4

Emporia C 40

Topeka High C 42

C Record: 6-7