By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
OK, so Washburn Rural's 42-28 home Centennial League win over Emporia Friday night was far from pretty.
But it was exactly what Alex Hutchins' Junior Blues needed coming off a tough six-point loss to Blue Valley West on Tuesday.
Junior Simon Rowley (facing) scored 13 points to lead Washburn Rural in Friday's 42-28 Centennial League win over Emporia. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"We felt like we lost Tuesday because we let their physicality get the best of us,'' Hutchins said. "And this was quite the back-to-back test playing an Emporia team that kind of prides itself on being physical. So we really thought that this was kind of a judgement game for our guys.
"Were they going to respond to the challenge and step up and match the physicality or was it going to be an issue again? It wasn't pretty, but Emporia doesn't let anybody beat them pretty. We've got some guys who like to make shots and take pride in scoring but we can't have a bad taste in our mouth after an ugly win against a team that forces you to play ugly.''
Washburn Rural, which improved to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the league, never trailed on the night (there was one tie at 5-5) and didn't allow more than 10 points in a quarter and limited Emporia (4-3, 0-1) to eight or fewer points in three of the four periods.
Rural took a 14-10 first-quarter lead on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from senior Amare Jones and outscored the Spartans 12-4 in the second period to go up 26-14 at the half.
Back-to-back hoops from junior Simon Rowley and Jones to open the second half boosted Rural's lead to 30-14 and the Junior Blues went on to lead by 18 points twice in the quarter before taking a 38-22 advantage into the final eight minutes.
Emporia outscored Rural 6-4 in a low-scoring fourth period, but the Spartans could get no closer than the final margin of 14 points.
Washburn Rural senior Amare Jones, putting up a shot, scored 9 points in Friday's 42-28 win over Emporia. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Kaden Ballard (2) scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds in Friday's 42-28 Centennial League win over Emporia. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Rowley led the Junior Blues with 13 points, tying for game-high honors, while Jones and senior Kaden Ballard added nine points apiece. Ballard and junior John Hoytal grabbed six rebounds apiece for Rural.
Junior Rylan Crowell led Emporia with 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, but the Spartans didn't have any other player with more than seven points as only four Emporia players cracked the scoring column.
WASHBURN RURAL BOYS 42, EMPORIA 28
Emporia 10 4 8 6 -- 28
Washburn Rural 14 12 12 4 -- 42
Emporia (4-3, 0-1) -- Treic 2-4 0-0 5, Jacob 0-3 0-0 0, Seidl 0-3 0-0 0, Crowell 5-10 1-2 13, Franklin 3-11 1-3 7, Shivley 0-3 0-0 0, Rios 1-3 1-2 3, Harrington 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 8-11 54.
Washburn Rural (6-2, 2-0) -- Jones 3-9 1-2 9, Leonard 0-2 0-0 0, Ballard 3-13 2-2 9, Rowley 5-10 3-4 13, Hoytal 1-3 4-4 6, Schwinn 1-2 0-0 2, Chooncharoen 1-2 0-0 3, Preston 0-0 0-0 0, Wright 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-42 10-12 42.
3-point goals -- Emporia 3 (Crowell 2, Treic), Washburn Rural 4 (Jones 2, Ballard, Chooncharoen). Total fouls -- Emporia 12, Washburn Rural 12. Fouled out -- none. Technical foul -- none.
