The Emery Spartans used a huge third quarter to march past the South Summit Wildcats 70-62 Friday evening at the Spartan Center in Castle Dale.

Trailing 32-26 at the end of the first half, the Spartans set a blistering pace offensively in the second half. After outscoring South Summit 21-8 in the third, the Spartans added another 23 points in the fourth to secure the win.

“The biggest thing for me in the preseason is us just getting better, and I think that’s one thing I’m seeing,” said Emery head coach Todd Jeffs. “We are starting to get a little more crisp on some of our sets, and that’s something that we relied on against South Summit.”

Tyler Butler continued his brilliant shooting scoring 18 of his 20 points from beyond the arc. The six three-point makes for Butler runs his season total to 27 on the season, which currently leads all players in every classification throughout the state.

Kyson Stilson helped push the offense with a 19-point performance, while Brax Jensen reached double-figures with 10. After missing last week’s contest against Maeser Prep, Easton Gordon returned to play a key role with nine points.

South Summit’s Ryan Griffin posted a game-high 23 points and Justin Worthen contributed 19. As a team the Wildcats converted seven three-point makes, five of which came from Worthen.

Friday’s win marks the third consecutive for Emery, and moves the team to 5-2 overall on the season. Entering the final week of action before the Christmas Break Emery is 4-1 against 3A competition.

The Spartans will return to the court on Wednesday with a challenging road contest against 3A Grantsville, who is currently 6-2. The next home contest will take place on Jan. 3 against Richfield, which also represent the Region 15 opener.

**Photo Courtesy of ETV10 News