It was a split for the Emporia High basketball teams in their first road tests of the season on Tuesday at Shawnee Mission North.
The Emporia High girls led wire-to-wire in a 50-23 victory over the Lady Bison. Emporia High led 16-4 at the end of the first quarter and 33-7 at halftime. The Lady Spartans led by as many as 33 in the second half while improving to 4-1 on the season. Balanced scoring was big for the Lady Spartans as senior Ryan Peak led the Lady Spartans with 10 points, a new career-high. Emporia High also got a career-high nine points from senior Kyla Herfkens, and also nine from senior Lexsey Dewitt.
Emporia High coach Carolyn Dorsey said there’s still things that need improvement.
Meanwhile, it was a frustrating outing for the Emporia High boys as they fell to the Bison, 44-37. Shawnee Mission North led throughout the game and led 13-5 after the first quarter and 20-14 at halftime after the Spartans pulled with two midway through the second quarter. The Bison turned its six-point halftime advantage into 13 just three minutes into the second half. Emporia High trailed 30-22 heading into the fourth quarter, but the closest the Spartans got down the stretch was three with under a minute to play.
Junior River Peters led the way for Emporia High with 21 points while senior Sheldon Stewart added 14.
Emporia High coach Lee Baldwin said he was proud of the effort the Spartans had to crawl back into the game, however, the Spartans let Alex Casares, the Bisons’ leading scorer go for 15 points in the second half after being held scoreless in the first half.
Emporia High plays its final pre-Christmas doubleheader on Friday as the Lady Spartans and Spartans host Great Bend. Girls tip at 6 p.m. with the boys to follow at 7:30 p.m. The RV-Doc Pregame Show begins at 5:40 p.m. on KVOE, KVOE.com/listen and on the Audacy App.
