The Emery Spartans closed out the basketball season with a convincing 57-39 victory over the South Sevier Rams Saturday afternoon in the 2A State Tournament’s fifth place contest at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield.

The Spartans nearly led wire-to-wire in a consolation contest that featured the No. 1 and No.2 ranked teams in the 2A classification. Emery opened a 47-23 lead, their largest of the contest, midway through the third quarter. The final stanza was a formality as the Spartans earned its second win in as many tries against South Sevier this season.

Koby Butler finished off his career at Emery with a dominating double-double, ending with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Seniors Zac Jorgensen and Kolton Butler also finished their careers off on a high note ending with 11 and 10 points respectively.

Playing without senior guard Bowdie Jacobson, who missed the finale with a knee injury, the Spartans relied on sophomore Kyson Stilson to handle the point guard position. Stilson once again delivered consistency for the Spartans by finishing with six points, four assists and two steals.

Sophomore Kaetz King led the Rams with 11 points, nine of which came from the three-point line. Buddy Gardner chipped in with nine and Brodee Tebbs finished with seven. South Sevier was sent to the consolation bracket after losing to Layton Christian on Thursday.

Entering the tournament with championship hopes, the Spartans suffered a heartbreaking loss to North Summit in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Weakened by injuries, Emery managed to respond with back-to-back wins over South Summit and South Sevier to close out the season.

Led by a group of four seniors, the Spartans claimed their third consecutive Region 15 championship on the final day of the regular season. Ending the league slate with a record of 9-1, Emery was placed as the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the 2A rankings throughout the season.