| Mike Blomquist and Park City opponent wait for the ball to drop. |
With 4:05 left in the Grantsville game in the Spartan Center, the Emery players were exhorted by their coach during a timeout “to finish it.” And for the first time this season the players did and Emery won their first ballgame in double overtime 65-64. In what turned out to be their best game of this young season so far, all five Emery starters finished the game in double figure scoring.
Recently, the Spartans hosted Park City, Snow Canyon and Tooele in their Coal Country Classic. Emery defeated Park City on Friday night 53-42 and then played 5/8ths of a good game against Snow Canyon before losing 41-24.
Against Grantsville, Emery led after the first quarter 16-9 as Daniel Espino had 9 points to lead the Spartans. Emery was then outscored in the second quarter 8-15 to go to the locker room tied at 24-24.
In the third quarter, Darrin Winn paced the Spartans with 8 points but Emery was again outscored 13-14. Emery then returned the favor and outscored Grantsville 14-13 in the fourth to send the game to overtime.
In the first OT, Winn scored on an assist from Mike Blomquist at 3:37, Blomquist scored inside at 2:06, Winn again scored on an assist from Blomquist with :44 to go and Davey Justice hit two free throws with :20 to go for the Emery scoring. It was tied at 51-51 at the end of the first overtime.
In the second OT, Justice hit two baskets and a free throw and Winn sunk a free throw with :14 left with what turned out to be the winning point.
Winn led the way with 17 points, Justice added 15 points, Espino added 12 points and 5 steals, Blomquist had 11 points and 18 rebounds and Joey Bernard finished with 10 points.
In the opener of the Coal Country Classic, Emery led 10-0 after the first quarter and then never looked back. They led 22-11 at the half, 32-17 after the third and won 53-42. Justice led Emery with 13 points and Winn added 11 points. Espino and Bernard added 8 each, Josh Eden and Bodee Marshall added 4 each, Blomquist added 3 and Ben Roundy had 2 points.
Against Snow Canyon the next night, Emery played well until midway through the third quarter and then it was over. The Spartans trailed 4-2 after the first quarter, led 10-9 at the half and had an 18-15 with 4:24 left in the third when Emery stopped doing what they had been doing. The Spartans had been playing tough in your face defense and smart, patient offense against the talented Warriors. After leading 18-15, Emery was outscored the rest of the quarter 10-0 to now trail 25-18. Emery was able to only score two free throws in the first 6 minutes of the fourth quarter as Snow Canyon scored 13 more to lead 38-20 and seal the Emery loss.
Emery played amazing defense that first half and scored all their points off moves to the basket. In the third quarter the shot selection was not as good and Winn picked up his fourth foul guarding the 6’10” Coby Leavitt. Emery went over 8 minutes with no points as Emery’s shooters failed to score.
The Emery Spartans then hosted the Union Cougars and the San Juan Broncos in Castle Dale. Union defeated Emery 54-46 and then the Spartans came back and defeated the Broncos 51-36.
Against Union, turnovers plagued the Spartans all night as they had 14 in the first half and nine more in the second as they beat themselves that night. Despite the turnovers, Emery played a good third quarter and actually put themselves back into the game. After being down 23-18 at the half, Emery outscored Union 20-12 in the third to lead at 38-35.
In the fourth quarter, Emery scored the first basket to lead by five before being outscored 10-0 and then losing by eight. Blomquist led the effort with 22 points.
In a low scoring first quarter, Emery led San Juan 4-3. Emery went on a scoring binge as they outscored their opponent 17-3 in the second quarter and Emery then finished the game with a victory.
After the game, Coach Jeffs had this to say about his inexperienced squad, “We only have three guys on this team that have been in the program three years, 15 of our kids are new this year, we are young and we make young mistakes. The loss to Union was disappointing, it was a step backward. We are working on shot selection and on knowing when to shoot. We are working hard in practice and we are getting better but we are what we are and that is young.”
Winn led Emery with 17 points and Justice with 10 points. Espino had 8 of the teams 15 steals and Blomquist had 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 3 steals and 3 points. Emery is now 3-5 for the year and is hosting Dixie on Wednesday this week.