The Emery Spartans managed to overcome one of their worst shooting performances of the season to defeat the Grand Red Devils 61-50 Friday evening at the Spartan Center in Castle Dale.

Koby Butler scored a game-high 29 points and recorded 17 rebounds to lead the Spartans to their fourth consecutive victory. Bowdie Jacobson helped push the offense with 15 points, the majority of which came in the second half. Kolton Butler stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, 15 boards and six assists.

Despite holding a wire-to-wire lead the Spartans struggled to find consistent rhythm offensively in the first two quarters. The struggles spread to beyond the perimeter where Emery finished just 1-15. The lone make from the three-point line came from Koby Butler in the fourth quarter.

“I don’t know what it was because we are good shooting team,” said Koby Butler during the Emery Medical Post Game Show. “I think we played pretty good defense tonight. Other than a few drives I credit our defense tonight.”

A quick start in the opening quarter gave the Spartans an early 13-4 lead. The nine-point advantage was cut to three going into the break as Grand outscored Emery 14-8 in the second period. Playing with a level of urgency in the second half the Spartans scored 40 points between the final two quarters to earn the win.

Masen Ward finished with 13 points, including three makes from beyond the three-point line as the Red Devils dipped to 3-2 in Region 15 play. Kenyon Birdwell scored 10, and Alec Williams finished with nine in the balanced offensive effort.

Friday’s win moves the Spartans to 5-0 in region action, and 15-1 overall for the season. Completing the first go-around of league play unbeaten, the Spartans will look for a season-series sweep of the Manti Templars when they return to the court on Friday.