Emery boys defeat Beaver, Manti; drop to Carbon

By GARY ARRINGTON Sports Writer

Last week was not a good week for number one ranked Emery High Spartan boys’ basketball team. They played three games, winning two of those games, but did not look dominant in any of the games. Emery barely defeated Beaver at Beaver on Wednesday by the score of 36-32 and then came home and defeated Manti 62-52.
On Saturday, the Spartans traveled to Carbon High and the Dinos were really looking to avenge an earlier loss this season. The Dinos won the game 68-54 and looked in control the entire way.
Emery fell behind by two after the first quarter, by three at the half and by eight after three quarters. At no time were Spartan fans optimistic about the outcome as the Dinos just looked a step faster.
It is true that the Spartans played the night before while the Carbon game got weathered out against Tooele, but Emery was never in sync in the game and it didn’t help that Kolton Butler found himself in foul trouble early on. Emery got beat both inside and out in this game.
Zach Jorgensen, Koby Butler and Kyson Stilson each scored 12 points in the game to lead the Emery team. Stilson played a lot for Kolton. Kolton scored 8 points in the game with Bowdie Jacobsen scoring 7 points and Easton Gordon finishing the scoring with 3 points.
At Beaver Emery led 6-5 at the end of one quarter and 20-16 at the half. The lead slipped to just two after three quarters as Beaver won the period 10-8. Emery closed out the game by winning the fourth quarter 8-6. Kolton Butler scored 15 points and Koby Butler scored 11 points. Jacobsen and Gordon each scored 4 points and Keaton McDermott scored 2 points.
At the Spartan Center on Friday night, Emery led 11-10 after the first quarter with Manti aided by a 7-0 run on three straight possessions midway through the period. Emery won the second quarter 16-11 but another Manti run at the end of the quarter as they scored seven points in their final three possessions of the half to narrow a bigger lead. Manti played a very aggressive form of defense in the game which is probably the only thing that kept Manti even somewhat close.
Emery dominated Manti 19-6 in the third quarter as the Templars did not score their first basket until 2:29 left in the quarter and then hit one just before the buzzer. Emery substituted early in the fourth quarter but Manti did not and Coach Jeffs was forced to re-enter his starters midway through the final period but Manti won the final quarter 25-16 to narrow the gap in a game that should not have been close.
Koby scored 18 points with Kolton and Jorgensen each scoring 12 points and Jacobsen scoring 11 points as four Spartans ended the game in double figures. Gordon scored 6 points and Stilson scored 1 point.
Emery is on the road this week for games at Gunnison and at North Sevier.