| Bowie Jeffs maneuvering to get to the hoop. |
After winning the first 14 games of the year, the Emery Spartans went down to defeat for the first time 76-67 as the North Sanpete Hawks pulled off the upset in Mount Pleasant. Earlier in the week, the Spartans had defeated the Wasatch Wasps in a non-region game played at the Spartan Center 63-56.
On Wednesday night, Wasatch High went out to a one-point first quarter lead of 15-14 before the Emery Spartans outscored the Wasps by three in the second quarter to lead 31-29 at halftime.
The Spartans then outscored Wasatch in each of the second half quarters to win the game by seven. This game featured 21 three-point baskets, 10 by the Spartans and 11 by the Wasps. Emery was six for 13 at the free throw line while the Wasps were 10 for 16.
Chandler Pearson had a big night for the Spartans as he had 28 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. Bowie Jeffs had 16 points and eight assists for Emery. The Spartan scoring had contributions from Seth Powell with nine, Brandon Hansen with five, Mike Truman with three and Zeke Atwood with two.
And then came Friday night and the Hawks. Even though the Spartans again hit 10 three-pointers and improved their free throw shooting to 15 for 21, it just wasn’t enough. The Emery Spartans could not overcome the free throws of the Hawks, as they hit 30 of 43, and their own cold shooting during stretches of this ball game. The Spartans actually scored one more field goal than the Hawks.
The Spartans again were led in scoring by Pearson with 28 points and Jeffs with 22 points. Powell, Truman, Hansen, Curt Jensen and Matt Stucki combined to contribute 17 points to the Emery offense.
The Emery record is now 14-1 for the season and 2-1 in region. The Spartans will be continuing region play as they host the Lehi Pioneers tomorrow night and travel to Carbon this Friday night. Game time both nights is 7 p.m. for varsity, 5:15 p.m.for JV and sophomores at 3:30 p.m.