The Emery Spartans closed out the boy’s basketball season with an 81-66 win over the Judge Memorial Bulldogs in the third-place game of the 3A State Championship Tournament Saturday afternoon at Salt Lake Community College.

Trailing 13-11 at the end of the opening quarter, the Spartans outscored the Bulldogs in each of the next three quarters to earn the victory. The tide turned for good as Emery posted a 26-15 run in the third quarter, putting the game out of reach.

Senior Jordan Ekker paced the Spartans in his final game with 23 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Ekker added six boards and six assists to round out a complete performance.

Fellow senior Brax Jensen ended with 19 points, five assists and three steals. Seth Justice continued to shoot well from beyond the arc, scoring 18 points for the second time in three games. A total of seven players scored at least four points in the win.

While Emery shot an efficient 51-percent from the field, defensively they limited Judge Memorial to 43-percent. As a team the Spartans logged 11 steals, forcing 17 Judge turnovers throughout the game.

Deng Mayar finished with a game-high 29 points to lead the Bulldogs. Jack Terrill was the only other Judge player to reach double-figures as he finished with 10.

Saturday’s win also marked the final game for head coach Todd Jeffs, who has announced his retirement. Jeffs, a staple of the program for close to 40 years, has been the head coach for 32 seasons.

Capping off a 21-win season, Jeffs was named the Coach of the Year by the Utah High School Activities Association and ends his career with 515 wins.

The third-place finish at the State Tournament ends a successful campaign for the Spartans. Finishing 21-4 overall, Emery claimed a Region 12 championship after finishing 9-1 in league play. Before falling to Richfield on Friday night the team had won 13 consecutive games.

Stay tuned to Castle Country Radio for a complete recap of the 2019-20 season in the coming days.