Hayden

The Emporia High School boys basketball team completed the season sweep of Hayden with a 50-24 win inside Spartan Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

Defense was strong on both sides in the first half, as Hayden led 9-6 after the first quarter and Emporia led 18-14 at the half.

Hayden made it a three-point game midway through the third quarter at 23-20 when the Spartans embarked on a 19-0 run that lasted into the fourth quarter. Hayden would only score four points the rest of the way as the Spartans scored eight of the game’s final 10 points.

Head coach Lee Baldwin credited his team’s defense in the win. “I thought we were fantastic defensively tonight,” Baldwin said. “The last two games they scored 59 points against two high caliber teams, so to hold them to 24 shows me our defense execution was really good.”

River Peters led Emporia with 17 points. He was joined in double-figures by Nolan Jacob, who had a career-high 15 points.

Baldwin was glad to see Jacob have another career game. “Nolan plays 30 minutes a game and he’s as important of a player that we have,” Baldwin said. “He’s a guy that I’m going to ride with because what he brings to us in value is immeasurable, and I’m really glad he’s on our team.”

Emporia (10-5) will head to Topeka High on Friday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Emporia JV 60

Hayden JV 45

JV Record: 7-4

Emporia C 41

Hayden C 44

C Record: 4-7