| Keaton Cowley takes the charge, but the referee didn’t make the call. |
After defeating Ben Lomond 74-72 in double overtime on Wednesday, the Spartans hosted Grantsville in the opening round of the 3-A playoffs and won 68-56. The victory sends the Spartans to Cedar City this Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the continuation of the state play-offs.
Saturday night against the Cowboys, the Spartans took the first quarter lead 19-14 and maintained their advantage the entire game. Emery was never outscored in any quarter.
Bowie Jeffs led the Spartans with four 3-pointers and 30 points, Chandler Pearson added 14 points and Matt Stucki had his best scoring game of the season with 12 points. Zeke Atwood had seven points and Keaton Cowley had five points as the Spartan starters each contributed to the effort.
The Spartans had 22 baskets with seven of those being 3’s, and were 17 for 20 from the free throw line.
Earlier in the week, the Spartans defeated Ben Lomond in Castle Dale to conclude the regular season with a 15-6 record.
After taking an 11 point first quarter lead at 23-12, the Spartans were outscored in each of the next three quarters to end regulation tied at 55. Pearson hit a 3-pointer to send the game to overtime.
Ben Lomond returned the favor at the end of overtime as they hit a 3-pointer to send it to double overtime. Emery won the fame as they outscored the Scots 9-7 in the last period. Hitting free throws at the end aided the Spartans.
Jeffs led the Spartans again with 30 points and Pearson had 25 points, Atwood put in 17 points and Cowley added two points to round out the scoring.
With all eight home teams winning last weekend, all games should be exciting. The Spartans open with Wasatch on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. The Spartans lost in Heber City in January 65-47. Good luck Emery.