Locked in a tight battle throughout the evening, the Emery Lady Spartans ended on the wrong side of the scoreboard in a 44-41 loss to the No. 1 ranked South Sevier Rams Tuesday in Monroe.

Tied at the end of the first half, Emery continued to test the Rams in the final two quarters. The difference in the game came late as South Sevier outscored the Lady Spartans 9-7 in the final eight minutes of regulation.

Sophomore Tambrie Tuttle posted a team-high 13 points to keep Emery in contention with the top team in 3A. Senior Kiri Cook also reached double-figures with 10 points, while Bethany Justice, Hailey Allred and Makieya Bertuzzi all finished with sixth.

Tuesday’s loss marks the fourth in five games for the Lady Spartans. Playing in the most competitive region in the 3A classification, the four losses have come against three teams; South Sevier (twice), Richfield and Carbon, all of whom are ranked inside the top five.

Leah Torgersen scored a game-best 17 points to lead the Rams to their 20th win of the season. Cassie Johnson ended with 12 points and Presley Chappell finished with seven.

With the road portion of the regular season now complete, the Lady Spartans will return home Thursday for the final home game against the Grand Red Devils. Emery won the first meeting of the season between the two teams in blowout fashion 89-8 on Jan. 14.

Thursday’s tilt will be Senior Night at the Spartan Center, which will give the program an opportunity to honor seniors Cook and Hailey Allred. Tip-off will follow shortly after at 6:00 p.m..