The Emery Lady Spartans were in the middle of a brutal three games that started back on January 16 in Blanding and would end Thursday night in Richfield. In that stretch they would face three of the top 10 teams in the state, two of them on the road. The Spartans and the Wildcats faced off in a very competitive contest, needing overtime but at the end of it all Emery would fall by three, 61-58.

Emery would dominate the first half scoring 12 points in each quarter and taking a 10 point lead into the locker room at the half. The third quarter would be another story as Richfield would take over outscoring Emery 22-8. The Spartans would battle back in the final period to push it in to overtime but would come up short.

The Richfield Wildcats are 14-4 and ranked No. 4 in the Utah High School Activities Association RPI. The Wildcats were led by Jarica Steck with a game high 23 points. Sipola Vakautakakala scored 10 and Nicole Willardson had 9 as Richfield has now won nine of their last 10.

For the Spartans, Tambrie Tuttle led the team with 20 points. Hailey Allred added 10 and Makieya Bertuzzi dropped in nine. Emery is 2-2 in their last four games which puts them at 9-8   and ranks them at No. 6.

Emery now will head into the final four games of the season, playing three of the top 10 teams in the state. They will be split two at home and two on the road. And it all starts with No.10 San Juan at the Spartan Center on Tuesday night. These two teams faced each other back on January 16 in Blanding and the Spartans came away with the 72-64 win.

Then on Thursday January 30 they will travel to Price and take on the Carbon Dinos. Emery took on Carbon earlier in the month in Castle Dale and the Dinos came out on top 39-38. Carbon is 13-6 and ranked No. 5 in the RPI. This should be a very entertaining game and one would expect an evening of exciting basketball. Join us on Castle Country Radio stations for the play-by-play beginning with the pre-game show starting at 6:30 and tip-off set for 7.