Lady Spartans continue preseason play 7-0

By GARY ARRINGTON Sports writer

It is only the preseason, but the 2009-10 edition of the Emery High Lady Spartans are now 7-0 in this young season but the Spartans appear to be legitimate title contenders again this season. Emery has two of the top seven scorers in 3-A basketball in Abbie Kay and Taylor Mann. Last week Emery defeated Carbon High 55-40, Dixie High 51-36 and Cedar City 50-36. All three games were played on the road. Emery is ranked in the top five in 3-A basketball also ranked by the Salt Lake Tribune in the top 20 for any classification. Abbie is the only senior starter and one of only two on the team.
Last week, Abbie averaged 17 points per game in the three games while Taylor averaged just over 15 points per game. Besides shooting the ball well, Abbie and Taylor also rebound well and play good defense. Last week, Abbie had 12 rebounds against Carbon, 11 against Dixie and eight against Cedar. Taylor had five against Carbon, 11 against Dixie and 14 against Cedar. They also, as a pair, had 13 blocked shots, eight assists and eight steals.
At Carbon, the Dinos grabbed the early lead at 5-0 as Tia Pappas had a great first few minutes of the game for Carbon as she scored baskets and came up with several steals against the Spartans. Abbie scored Emery’s first points the Spartans tied the score at 5-5 and then grabbed their first lead of the game at 7-6. Emery led after the first quarter at 12-8.
Carbon tied the score at 12-12 before Abbie scored seven points and Taylor Mann scored six and Emery led 28-18 at the half. Emery scored the first six points of the second half but the Dinos refused to quit and came right back and scored six of their own. Emery fouled and Carbon shot free throws in the third period as the Dinos stayed 10 back after three quarters.
Jessica Murray, who up to this point had been quiet on the offensive end of court, scored 10 straight points to finally put the Dinos away. Her offensive output came in a two-minute period.
Mann finished the game with 15 points, Kay with 12 points, Tayler Jewkes also had 12 points on four 3-pointers and Murray was the fourth Spartan in double figures with 10 points. Brooke Jensen scored six points coming off the bench.
At Dixie, Emery led 13-8 after the first quarter and 23-17 at the half despite the fact that Abbie did not score in that half. Mann scored 12 points, with Murray adding seven points.
Abbie scored six points in the third quarter and another eight points in the final period while Taylor was scoring another 10 points in the second half. Also scoring in the game were Markette Tanner with two points, Jenni Stinson with two points, Murray with nine points and Jensen with two points.
At Cedar City, Emery played great second quarter defense to give themselves breathing room early on. After leading 16-8 after the first period, Emery limited Cedar to four second quarter points while scoring 13 of their won to lead 28-12 at the half.
Abbie led the way with 25 points. Abbie made 50 percent of her shots in the game from the field and was six for seven at the free throw line. Abbie pulled down eight rebounds including five offensive rebounds, had three blocked shots and four steals in the game.
Mann scored nine points but pulled down 14 rebounds. Jewkes scored 10 points to also finish in double figures. Murray only scored a single point but dished out seven assists, had two steals and a blocked shot. Makia Sherman scored a single point in the fourth quarter and Jensen scored two points.
Emery picked up another easy pre-season basketball victory with a 60-40 win over Stansbury High. This was a rescheduled game that was canceled due to snow. Stansbury is a new high school in Tooele County made up of former students of Tooele and Grantsville High Schools.
After Stansbury scored the first basket of the game, Emery went on a 9-0 run to set the tone for the rest of the game. Jenni Stinson scored Emery’s first two points on a 15-foot shot and Abbie Kay then scored five straight points as Emery eased into the lead for good.
With Coach Steven Gordon encouraging his team to “finish the shot, defend a little better and to not make bad passes,” Emery held Stansbury to five first quarter points while scoring 15 points of their own. Abbie led the way with seven points and Taylor Mann added six points as the Stallions had no answer for Emery’s inside play.
The second quarter saw Emery increase their lead to 18 points as the Spartans outscored their opponent 16-8 in the quarter. All of Stansbury’s points came off baskets after Emery turnovers. Both Abbie and Taylor scored six more points in the second quarter to lead Emery.
At the half, Coach Gordon to his players, “You have got to make good passes. We’ve got to stop these turnovers.”
Emery continued padding their lead in the third quarter as it got to as much as 24 points before ending the period at 21 points with a score of 50-29. Abbie added another seven points, Tayler Jewkes scored five points and Stinson added another five points.
Abbie Kay led the way in the game with 20 points, four steals, two rebounds and a blocked shot. Taylor Mann finished with 14 points, five rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal. Jenni Stinson added nine points and a steal. Tayler Jewkes scored seven points, had five assists and three steals. Jessica Murray had two points, six steals, five assists and four rebounds. Brooke Jensen scored four points and had five rebounds.
Jessica Murray, while not scoring a lot of points in the game, seemed to be all over the place helping her team win with her hustle. Jessica had a good game making her teammates better and doing the dirty work that somebody has to do. She also defended Stansbury’s best player throughout the game.
The Lady Spartans now will host South Sevier, a perennial powerhouse in the 2-A ranks, Wednesday night at the Spartan Center at 7 p.m.