It is the final week of the regular season for the Emporia High Spartans basketball teams, and both teams are struggling during the final stretch. On Tuesday night, it was a Senior Night game against Manhattan, and both teams would fall in their respective games despite strong starts from both teams.
Starting with the Lady Spartans, they got out to a quick start as senior Kinsley Hines scored two three-pointers to open the game with a 6-2 lead. For the rest of the quarter, however, Manhattan would outscore the Lady Spartans 10-6 to tie the game at 12 by the end of the quarter. Manhattan continued to score in the second quarter and garnered a 29-18 lead heading into halftime. Mistakes from the Lady Spartans plagued them in this game, and Manhattan took advantage of that.
Coming out of the halftime break, Manhattan didn’t slow down offensively as they continued to grow their lead. They outscored the Lady Spartans 14-11 in the third quarter to take a 43-29 lead into the final quarter. The Lady Spartans couldn’t overcome the 14-point lead as Manhattan tacked on 15 more points in the fourth quarter while the Lady Spartans sputtered offensively with nine points to bring the final score to 58-38.
The Lady Spartans were led offensively by Kaylee DeWitt, who scored 16 points on the night, while seniors Hines and Harley Smith added six points each. The Lady Spartans fell to 7-15 with the Senior Night loss and 1-8 in Centennial League play.
In between games, both teams honored their seniors in their final home games. For the Lady Spartans, they honored Hines, Smith, and Bailey Van Sickle for their four years at Emporia High. On the boys’ side, they honored Chase Harrington, Rylan Crowell, Tanner Seidl, and Maddox Shivley. Along with the teams, the managers of both teams were also honored.
Now for the boys’ game, the Spartans started a touch slow as Manhattan took a 13-10 first-quarter lead. The Spartans then came out in the second quarter and outscored Manhattan 14-11 to tie the game at 24 heading into halftime. It was setting up to be another close game for the Spartans, and they needed to stay in it to break their losing streak.
Coming out of the halftime break, Manhattan got a crucial 7-0 run to help build an 11-point lead in the quarter. The Spartans cut the lead to 47-41 at the end of the quarter, but Manhattan outscored them 23-17 in the quarter. Needing to get back on track, the Spartans needed a good final quarter to get back in the win column.
The Spartans would come out firing offensively in the fourth quarter, outscoring Manhattan 16-11 to make it a one-point game, 58-57, with 90 seconds left. In those final 90 seconds, however, Manhattan went on a 13-3 run to secure a road win 71-60 over the Spartans. Turnovers in the second half plagued the Spartans, and like in the girls’ game, Manhattan took advantage of it.
Crowell and Harry Trelc led the Spartan offense with 20 points each, but it was not enough to overcome Manhattan. With the loss, the Spartans fell to 15-7 on the season and 4-5 in league play while extending their losing streak to four games. Both teams will travel out to Junction City on Feb. 27 for the regular season finale, and both teams will look to get a win before heading into Sub-State.