Emery teams head for Cedar, Spartans/Lady Spartans get past first round

By GARY ARRINGTON Sports Writer

When the Emery High Lady Spartans set out to play North Sevier for the second time this season after having defeated them by 30 points the first time they had met, fans were quite confident that this Emery team would be alright in this game. But, it would take until the final quarter of the game to finally put the game away. After trailing most of the game, Emery finally came back to win the game going away by the score of 56-44.
Senior Jeridi Price stood up and stood out, as the leader of this team and was not going to let the season end early for the team. After scoring just five points in the first half, Jeridi scored 13 points in the second half as she went four for six from the field and six of six at the line and she willed her team to the win. Jeridi added eight rebounds, two assists and a steal in the win. The team will need Jeridi to continue playing well to excel through the rest of the playoffs.
North Sevier started the game off by shooting well from the field while the Spartans were shooting poorly. In the first half, the Wolves shot almost 44 percent to the Spartans 26 percent. North Sevier led 17-10 after the first quarter and 30-24 at the half.
In the second half behind the efforts of Price, Emery increased their shooting percentage by 10 percent while holding North Sevier to an anemic 22 percent.
Just after the start of the final period, Jeridi was fouled as she scored a basket, made the ensuing free throw and Emery had its first lead of the game at 38-36. Emery and North Sevier battled evenly the next couple of minutes with the Wolves leading 43-42 but from that spot Emery closed out the game on a 14-1 run and easily won by 12 points.
Ashlynn Allred and Hannah Dyer joined Price in scoring in double figures for the game as both players finished with 10 points. Allred had three assists and four steals in the game to lead the team before she left the game with 40 seconds left after a cheap shot from a North Sevier player.
Ashlynn, who had missed the final two games of the season due to a concussion, received a forearm to the face on a defensive rebound attempt and left the game. She should be ready to play next week.
Dyer had a couple of 3-point baskets in the game to keep the team in the game when they needed points.
Also scoring in the game were Bailey Rasmussen and Kelsie Cox with six points each, Ashton Bell with four points and Emily Olsen with two points. Rasmussen also had eight rebounds in the game along with Price while Shelby Allred had three assists in the game before being sidelined with a sprained ankle. She also should be ready to play next week.
Emery will now face Beaver in another rematch from earlier in the season. Beaver, the defending 2-A champion who lost only a single starter from last season’s team, defeated Emery in overtime on Dec. 11, 2012 by the score of 52-49. Emery will be looking to avenge that loss. This game is scheduled to start at 4:15 p.m. at Southern Utah University in Cedar City on Thursday.