It may have taken overtime to finish the job, but the Emporia Spartans ultimately got the result they hoped for on Friday. They walked away with a 61-53 win over Derby. Given Emporia's advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked eighth, while Derby is ranked 40th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Several Panthers players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Macayla Askew, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 15 rebounds. Kallie Rickords was another key contributor, scoring three points along with two steals.
Derby struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
The victory was the seventh in a row for Emporia, bringing their record for this year to 9-1. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.0 points per game. As for Derby, their loss dropped their record down to 7-2.
Emporia won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Blue Valley on January 27th. As for Derby, Derby and Highland Park will face off at 12:30 p.m. on January 27th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday.
