| Meagan Pearson hustles down the floor with her eye on the basket. Pearson had 20 points in the junior varsity game. |
After a week off to celebrate Christmas, the Lady Spartans went back to work and hosted the Lady Warriors of Snow Canyon High School last Friday night in the Spartan Center. In what best could be described as an off night for both teams, Emery prevailed 35-21.
It was an offensive nightmare for Emery but a defensive gem as the Lady Spartans won this game because of their quickness and their ability to function as a team. My notes during each quarter had the following comments; rusty shooting inside in the first quarter, blas� in the second quarter, no touch on shots in the third quarter and finally, looking for timing in the fourth quarter. Looking at the preceding, you would have suspected a loss. A player’s father after the game said, “That sure was a long second half.”
Head Coach Steve Gordon, talking to his team after the game in the locker room, said, “If we make our lay-ups and our easy baskets, we win this game easily. Our perimeter players must shoot the ball with confidence; I never thought that this would be a problem with this team. We must play through this; it is all mental as we are a good team. And free throws, we have got to work on this.”
In the first quarter, Emery missed six shots that could be considered point blank and nine in the first half. Emery was only 2 for 8 at the free throw line.
Emery had 12 steals, caused Snow Canyon to throw the ball away another half dozen times and held the Warriors without a field goal in the final period as they continued playing solid defense in the win.
Emery outscored Snow Canyon 15-4 in the opening quarter to take a double-digit lead that they never relinquished during the game. Ashley Hansen and Camille Fehlberg each had 4 points, Meagan Pearson hit a 3-pointer and Alexis Swasey and Tahna Merrell each had a single basket.
Emery won the second period 9-7 as Camille had five more points and Callie Seeley had a pair of baskets. The third quarter was a long one offensively for Emery, as they did not score a basket until Alexis made a lay-up with 1:03 left in the period. Camille had made a free throw earlier in the quarter. Although Emery only scored three points in the quarter, they held the Warriors to five points so that they still had an 11-point lead.
Emery finished out the game by winning the final quarter 8-5 to get the preseason victory. Having a basket in that final period were Alexis, Meagan, Ashley and Frankie Komar, a freshmen point guard.
Lest you get me wrong, I must clarify my thinking about this team. This team had not played for nine days and had only a single practice the day before the game. This offensive production was almost to be expected because of the time off and the holidays and all. This team is so talented that even in an off night they are still able to come home with a good win. One last quote from Coach Gordon said it all; “You have got to be disappointed with yourself when you miss easy baskets.” Looking at the faces each time, they clearly were.
The Emery JV team snuck out a 1-point victory earlier in the night as they won 39-38. Meagan had 20 points in the win and Rachel Rasmussen added 10 points. Jodi Lundell had 7 points, and Shalae Cox and Jodi Robertson each made a free throw.
Emery is at home Tuesday night, Jan. 3 as they conclude the preseason hosting Wasatch. They then host North Sanpete on Thursday night as region action begins. Varsity action starts at 7 p.m.