Spartan basketball loses heartbreaker to Manti in championship game: takes 2nd

By By

The Emery High boys basketball finished their season at the 2A state tournament in Richfield with a second place finish.
Luck is a funny thing. Sometimes it is good and sometimes it is bad, but luck is usually always there. You cannot control luck, one can only have it. And luck was definitely the story coming out of Richfield for the Emery High Spartans during the 2-A boy’s state basketball tournament.
The Emery High Spartans finished second in the state after losing to the Manti Templars 60-51 in the championship game last Saturday night.
Emery led in the championship game 44-35 with 4:53 remaining in the game and then led 49-46 with 2 minutes left in the game. If the game would have been only 30 minutes long instead of 32, then everyone would be still celebrating the victory but they are not. That last two minutes all the good luck in the gym was had by Manti. Manti outscored Emery 14-2 in that final two minutes as they scored on seven of eight possessions. Emery, on the other hand, had three turnovers, missed the front end of a one-and-one, missed a couple of lay-ups and had just a single basket.
Just two days earlier, in the quarterfinal game against Summit Academy, things were just the opposite. Emery trailed by nine points with less than two minutes left on the game clock when all of a sudden the Spartans grabbed a win from the jaws of defeat. Ridge Nielson made one of two free throws followed by Tyson Roper doing the same thing on the same possession as the Spartans got the offensive rebound.
Roper then followed that up with a basket with less than a minute on the clock. After a Summit Academy turnover, Dillon Wilstead hit a three-pointer and was fouled and dropped in the free throw for a four-point play to narrow the deficit to one point. The game was tied at 66-66. With 13.3 seconds left on the clock, Emery fouled and Summit made both free throws. With 3 seconds left on the clock, Bowdie Jacobsen threw up a three-point attempt that was high and to the left and the ball hit high on the backboard and fell straight through the net and the game was tied, overtime awaited. Overtime was anti-climactic as the Spartans won the
period 12-7 after jumping to a 7-0 lead. Emery won the game 78-73.
Although Emery was stunned with the loss in the championship game, one really needs to be impressed with the finish of this team. If given the choice before the season started we all would have been happy knowing the team would finish second at the end of the season because that is still a very good thing. Although they didn’t get the fire engines coming into the county, we should all be just as proud with their efforts because it was a good season and a good tournament. If things would have gone just a little differently on Thursday we would have been playing for fifth on Saturday instead of first.
In that championship game, Emery led 17-13 after the first quarter even though they trailed early on 7-4. The half time score was 29-29 after the Templars outscored Emery 9-3 to close out the period. Emery owned the third quarter as they won the period 13-4. Manti scored on two of their first three possessions and then did not score again in the period. And then came the end.
In the game Wilstead led the team in scoring with 20 points but Tyson Roper may have been the man of the hour. Roper finished with 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting, made both his three-point shots and his only free throw, led the team with 10 rebounds and led the team with 5 assists. Both Roper and Wilstead had 2 steals in the game. Also scoring in the game were Bowdie Jacobsen with 7 points, Koby Butler with 4 points, Nielsen with 2 points and Kevin Butler with 1 point. In the Thursday game, five Emery Spartans ended the game scoring in double figures. Jacobsen and Wilstead each scored 15 points with Roper scoring 14 points, Koby Butler scoring 12 points and Nielson scoring 10 points. Kolton Butler added 8 points and Tai Justice scored 4 points. Justice sprained an ankle early in the third quarter and could barely walk as he hobbled off the floor. In overtime, Wilstead, Nielson and Kolton Butler fouled out of the game. Justice, walking but gingerly, went back into the game, handled the ball as necessary and made a free throw with time running out to help maintain Emery’s lead. His senior leadership was needed at this point.
Koby Butler led the team with 9 rebounds against the Bears while Jacobsen and Roper each had 6. Jacobsen led with 5 assists and Kolton Butler led with 2 steals. Against South Summit, Emery trailed 16-14 after the first quarter and led 30-28 at the half. Emery won the third quarter 18-13 and the fourth quarter 18-14 to win the game 66-55. Wilstead led the team with 22 points and Roper was the only other Spartan to finish in double figures as he scored 12 points. Justice scored 9 points along with Jacobsen while Koby scored 6 points and Kolton scored 5 points and Nielson scored 3 points. Wilstead had 8 rebounds and Roper and Koby each had 7 rebounds. Wilstead had 4 steals and Nielson had 3 assists.