The Emporia High School boys basketball team got off to a fast start but fell to Washburn Rural in Topeka on Friday night. “We’re really close to competing with the best teams,” head coach Lee Baldwin said. “But for a two-and-a-half-minute stretch late in the third quarter, they got every rebound. They just out-toughed us and that was the defining stretch of the game. I told them that’s something that we can control and if we’re going to lose games moving forward, it needs to be things that aren’t in our power.”
The Spartans came out hot, with 3-pointers from Sheldon Stewart, Fred Jackson and Jalyn King giving them an 11-6 lead. Emporia closed the first quarter with a 7-0 run with a pair of baskets from Parker Leeds and another three-ball from Stewart to give Emporia an 18-8 lead after the first frame. Stewart began the second quarter with his third triple of the game and Drew Hess joined the party with one of his own to extend the Spartans lead to 24-10. But The Junior Blues would take over from there as they closed the half on a 10-0 run to make it a 24-20 game at the half.
“We got six threes in the first half and got really good looks,” Baldwin said. “I was pleased with that but we’ve got to be able to get box outs and limit teams to one shot and that’s what cost us tonight. We don’t have a lot of size but that’s not an excuse, so we got to get it figured out.” Washburn Rural would outscore Emporia 12-7 in the third quarter to take a 32-31 lead into the fourth where it would start to pull away, leading by as many as 10 points.
Stewart led Emporia with 12 points and he was joined in double figures by King, who had 10. Baldwin was glad to see Stewart tie a career-high. “He’s one of our best players,” Baldwin said. “His IQ is really good. He’s a very coachable kid. I know he has the potential to shoot it well. He was open, he stepped up and hit them and that’s really good to see because he cares a lot and he deserves it.”
Emporia (10-5) will play at Hayden in Topeka on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m. Emporia has beaten Hayden twice already this season, so Baldwin knows they will be ready to go. “They’re going to be really motivated coming off a big win,” Baldwin said. “It’ll be their homecoming and they’re definitely not going to want to lose to us three times. So, we’re going to have to be ready to go. There’s no question about that.”
Emporia JV 40
Washburn Rural JV 36
JV Record: 7-4
Emporia C 32
Washburn Rural C 59
C Record: 6-5
