| Jodi Robertson brings the ball down the floor for Emery. |
Last week was a special week for the Lady Spartans. Not only did they pick up two key region victories in wins over Delta and Carbon, they played defense at a whole new level. Defensively last week the Lady Spartans were spectacular. The final score against Delta was 58-29 and against Carbon was 45-28.
In the Delta game, Emery played solid defense in the first quarter and led 8-6 going into the second quarter. Then they struck, just like that. Offensively they scored 10 of the first 11 points and 16 of the first 20 but their defense stepped it up and completely shut down any offense the Rabbits thought about running.
A good point guard and a good center prior to this game led Delta. Emery took it as a challenge to shut them down as there was rumor prior to the game that the Rabbits were confident about their chances against the Spartans. It wasn’t just one or two girls that stepped it up, it was all the starters, in fact it was everybody that played. Midway through the second quarter, frustration was clearly visible on the faces of the Rabbits and confusion sat in. Emery won the second quarter 23-8.
The third quarter brought more of the same as Emery won the period 21-9. Emery has a really strong 8-man rotation and in this game everything clicked.
Against Carbon, who prior to the game was ranked by the Salt Lake Tribune right below Emery, Emery completely dominated the first half of basketball. Although Emery only scored six points in the first quarter, the Spartans held Carbon scoreless. It was a case that Emery could not buy a basket but is was also a case that Carbon couldn’t get a shot off. It was great defense played by Emery. Emery then proceeded to score 18 points in the second quarter while they held the Dinos to only 4 points. Carbon scored their only basket of the half at 4:50 mark of the second quarter and then added two free throws with ten seconds left until half. Impossible as it may sound, Emery’s defense may have got even better in that second period.
Leading the scoring for the Spartans in the Carbon game were Rachel Rasmussen with 12 points and ShiAnne Allred with 10 points. Camille Fehlberg also scored 8 points, Meagan Pearson and Jodie Lundell scored 4 points each, Jodi Robertson scored 3 points and Shalae Cox and Frankie Komar scored 2 points. Allred had 7 rebounds and 2 steals, Fehlberg had 4 rebounds and 3 steals and Rasmussen and Lundell had 4 rebounds each.
After the game Coach Steven Gordon complimented his team, “Good win. The defensive pressure was great tonight and our press was effective. Our offense needs work. We need to shoot the ball better in a big game, we have got to shoot with confidence. But it was a good win.”
Against Delta, Fehlberg led a balanced Emery attack with 14 points, 5 steals and a blocked shot. Rasmussen contributed 9 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals while Allred also had 9 points along with 6 steals and 4 rebounds. Pearson also had 9 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals while Robertson scored 10 points. Lundell had 5 points and Cox had 2 points.
Emery is at North Sanpete on Tuesday night and comes home to face Juan Diego on Thursday night at home.