As we approach the start of the end of the basketball season, the Emporia High Spartans are in the middle of their league play slates. On the road against Manhattan, the Spartans secured a nail-biting win while the Lady Spartans faltered as we begin the final stretch.
Starting with the Lady Spartans, the game began closely as the Indians of Manhattan held a small 13-9 lead by the end of the first quarter. The second quarter saw both teams get going offensively, but Manhattan was raining three-pointers to build a substantial lead that the Lady Spartans could not overcome. The half ended with Manhattan up 35-22, and the Lady Spartans needed to regroup to mount a comeback effort.
Coming out of the halftime break, Manhattan did not slow down offensively, while the Lady Spartans couldn’t handle Manhattan’s defensive pressure. The Indians outscored the Lady Spartans 23-8 in the third quarter to seal the deal early. With a substantial 58-30 lead, Manhattan slowed slightly but still tacked on 13 more points, and the Lady Spartans’ offensive woes continued as they scored only one point in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Spartans fell 71-31 to Manhattan and fell to 6-11 on the season, and 0-4 in Centennial League play. Junior Kaylee DeWitt led the Lady Spartans with eight points, and sophomore Bailey Wiltz added seven points in the game. They will look to rebound against Junction City at home court on Feb. 10.
On the boys’ side of the doubleheader, it was another stressful, tightly played affair that saw the Spartans go through ebbs and flows during the game. Similar to many other Spartan games, they started the game hot with a 9-2 run en route to building a substantial 17-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
With that lead, the Spartans then got into a ton of foul trouble in the second quarter, allowing Manhattan to not only get back into the game but also take the lead in the quarter. The Spartans had nine fouls called on them in the quarter, and Manhattan utilized it to take a 34-28 lead heading into halftime.
Coming out of the halftime break, the Spartans came out firing once again, and senior Rylan Crowell began to take over. In the quarter, the Spartans outscored Manhattan 15-11 to cut the lead to 45-43 heading into the final quarter. The fourth played out with both teams trading baskets for the full eight minutes, with the Spartans tying the game at 54 with around three minutes left.
During those three minutes, the teams traded leads and baskets to end regulation tied at 62, forcing the game into overtime. Crowell lifted the Spartan offense in the second half, scoring 24 points to help get the game into overtime. In the overtime period, the Spartans once again started hot scoring the first five points of the period and it was enough to propel them to a 73-70 victory.
With the win, the Spartans move to 14-3 on the season and 3-1 in Centennial League play. Crowell helped lead the Spartan offense with 26 points, juniors Terrick Franklin and Harrison Trelc added 16 and 15 points to round out the balanced approach for the Spartans.
They return to action on Feb. 10 as they host Junction City on home court alongside the Lady Spartans. The Spartans will look to continue a strong season and begin the final stretch with the hopes of building a strong resume for the State tournament.