By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For nearly three and a half quarters of Tuesday's Centennial League game at Hayden, Emporia boys basketball didn't always look like an undefeated team.
Hayden senior Connor Hanika scored a game-high 22 points in the Wildcats' 59-56 loss to Emporia Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But the Spartans were in top form when it counted the most, storming back from a 15-point deficit to shock the Wildcats 59-56 and improve to a perfect 9-0 overall and 1-0 in the league.
"I just told them, 'Just stay steady. You're going to get through this storm and you can't get down when it's not going your way,'' Emporia first-year coach Evan Burns said. "We were just trying to get a spark going.''
After a 10-10 tie at the end of the opening quarter, Hayden (3-6, 0-1) opened up 29-22 lead at halftime and stretched its advantage to 43-30 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Hayden looked like the rout was on when junior Carter Compton scored to put the Wildcats in front 53-38 with 4:47 remaining, but the rest of the game was all Spartans, who outscored the hosts 21-3 the rest of the way, including the final 13 points.
"We couldn't get anything going, we were missing easy layups and couldn't make anything and Hayden was making everything they threw up and their crowd was into it,'' Burns said. "But that's why we play this game, to just have opportunities like this to have memories forever.''
Emporia, who did not lead in the second or third quarters, tied the game at 56 with 1:30 remaining on a 3-pointer from junior Harrison Trelc and took the lead with 48.4 seconds remaining on a free throw from senior Rylan Crowell, who hit another charity with 28.7 seconds left to give the Spartans a 58-56 advantage before senior Maddox Shivley canned a free throw with 10.1 seconds remaining to account for the final margin.
"Honestly, I'm so happy for this type of game because it gives us that much more momentum to carry over and carry on,'' Burns said.
The Spartans outscored the Wildcats 29-13 in the fourth quarter.
Junior Terrick Franklin paced Emporia with 21 points while Crowell finished with 17 points and Trelc added 12.
Senior Connor Hanika scored a game-high 22 points for Hayden while Compton added 12 points.
Hayden will be on the road Friday at Washburn Rural for a Centennial League contest.
EMPORIA BOYS 59, HAYDEN 56
Emporia 10 12 8 29 -- 59
Hayden 10 19 14 13 -- 56
Emporia (9-0, 1-0) – Trelc 5-12 0-1 12, Seidl 0-5 0-0 0, C. Bloomquist 3-4 0-0 6, Crowell 4-13 8-11 17, Franklin 9-16 3-6 21, Shivley 0-2 1-2 1, Harrington 1-1 0-0 2, K. Bloomquist 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 12-20 59.
Hayden (3-6, 0-1) – Mitchell 2-3 0-4 4, Hanika 9-14 4-5 22, Becker 2-7 1-2 6, Kidd 2-3 2-2 6, Compton 4-8 3-4 12, Tourtillott 2-6 0-0 4, Wolff 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 22-46 10-17 56.
3-point goals – Emporia 3 (Trelc 2, Crowell), Hayden 2 (Becker, Compton). Total fouls – Emporia 17, Hayden 20. Fouled out – Mitchell. Technical foul -- Emporia bench.
