By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Emporia's girls basketball team only made 16 field goals in Monday night's Centennial League road game at Hayden, but the Spartans got the most out of its buckets, hitting 11 3-pointers on the way to a 50-29 win.
Juniors Allie Baker and Gracie Gilpin hit four 3-pointers apiece to tie for team-high scoring honors with 14 points while senior Macey Adams hit two 3s and finished with 8 points.
Baker hit 3 treys in the first half as the Spartans, 13-6 overall and 10-4 in the league, led by as many as 18 points en route to a 25-15 halftime advantage and Gilpin hit 3 3s after halftime as Emporia fought through a third-quarter Hayden rally and pulled away down the stretch to lead by 23 points.
"We'd like to forget this one, but we also need to learn from it,'' Wildcat coach Carvel Reynoldson said.
Hayden (8-10, 6-8) struggled off and on throughout the game after turning the ball over 5 times in the first 2:53.
After falling behind 25-7 with 4:05 left in the first half, the Wildcats ended the half with an 8-0 run to get back in the hunt.
Hayden got within 7 points (28-21) with 3:34 left in the third, but Emporia took a 37-24 advantage into the fourth after a late 3-pointer from Gilpin and outscored the Wildcats 13-5 the rest of the way.
Senior Rhen Calhoon led Hayden with a game-high 16 points (8 of 11 at the free throw line), but no other Wildcats had more than 5 points and only four Hayden players scored as the Wildcats shot 23.7 percent from the floor.
The Wildcats will be at home Thursday to host Manhattan in Hayden's regular-season finale.
EMPORIA GIRLS 50, HAYDEN 29
Emporia 15 10 12 13 -- 50
Hayden 5 10 9 5 -- 29
Emporia (13-6, 10-4) -- Gilpin 5-10 0-0 14, Christensen 0-1 2-2 2, Adams 3-8 0-0 8, Baker 5-6 0-0 14, Snyder 2-6 1-2 5, Kirmer 0-0 0-0 0, Cooper 0-0 0-0 0, Peak 0-1 0-0 0, Stewart 1-2 4-4 7, Wiltz 0-0 0-0 0, Herfkans 0-0 0-0 0, Gutierrez 0-0 0-0 0, Garcia 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-34 7-8 30.
Hayden (8-10, 6-8) -- Cruz 0-1 0-0 0, Calhoon 4-6 8-11 16, Moore 0-1 0-0 0, Stuke 2-11 0-0 5, Schmidtlein 0-4 0-0 0, Grunert 1-4 0-0 3, Sandstrom 2-8 0-0 5, Lenherr 0-2 0-2 0, Huscher 0-0 0-0 0, Anguiano 0-0 0-0 0, Gill 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 9-38 8-13 29.
3-point goals -- Emporia 11 (Gilpin 4, Baker 4, Adams 2, Stewart), Hayden 3 (Grunert, Sandstrom, Stuke). Total fouls -- Emporia 11, Hayden 11. Fouled out -- none.
