The Emporia High School boys basketball team were able to make it a four-point game in the fourth quarter, but came up on the short end of a 46-41 game at Junction City on Thursday night.
Emporia led at the end of the first quarter. With the game tied at five early on, Junction City went 1-of-2 at the free throw line before River Peters converted the and-one to give the Spartans an 8-6 lead. Three straight from the Blue Jays gave them a one-point lead before Nolan Jacob scored five straight to end the quarter with the Spartans up, 13-9.
The game remained close through the remainder of the first half, with Junction City up by three at the break, 24-21. But they started to pull away in the third quarter and saw their lead grow to as much as 10 points. The Spartans had some opportunities in the fourth quarter, but were never able to get closer than four points as the Blue Jays were proficient with their free throw shooting down the stretch.
Head coach Lee Baldwin felt his team was right there in the first half, but started to get impatient offensively in the third quarter. “They’re a really good offensive team that gets downhill really well,” Baldwin said. “We struggled the in the second quarter keeping them off the glass and we got in some foul trouble. I thought we were right in the game the whole first half. But then we took some bad shots in the third quarter and got impatient on offense. They added to their lead and we were never able to put any pressure on them to get it back under two possessions.”
Peters led the Spartans with 15 points. Jacob added nine while Sheldon Stewart had eight.
Baldwin was pleased with how Jacob performed, setting a new career-high point total. “Nolan played fantastic,” Baldwin said. “He’s as tough as any player in our program. I’ll ride with him anytime. He’s a great kid, a great leader and he’s everything you want in a player.”
Emporia (7-4) will host Manhattan in a makeup of Tuesday’s postponement on Saturday, Jan. 27 at the conclusion of the Glacier’s Edge Tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Emporia JV 39
Junction City JV 34
JV Record: 4-3
Emporia C 27
Junction City C 57
C Record: 1-3