The Emery Spartans remain in search of their elusive first region win following a 61-43 loss to the Richfield Wildcats Friday night on the road.
Meeting Richfield for the second time this season, the Spartans were faced with a near immediate hole and never managed to recover. Blanketed by the suffocating Wildcats’ defense, Emery put up the fewest amount of points scored in a game this season, while only converting 13 field goals.
“Richfield plays the best defense we’ve seen this year and probably will see from here on out,” head coach Jeff Cisneros said. “They held a great Carbon team to 45 points the other night and that is because they play great defense.”
Trailing 30-15 at the end of the first half, the Spartans showed signs of urgency as their point output in the third quarter matched the first two quarters combined. Despite the improvement on both ends of the floor, the deficit was too much to overcome.
Senior Treven Brazier ended with a team best 14 points, including two makes from beyond the three-point line for the Spartans. Brett Rasmussen chipped in with nine, scoring seven in the second half. Beau Cook also finished with five points.
“We picked up our intensity in the second half and we have to start playing with attitude,” Cisneros said following the loss. “We are giving great effort, but we are not playing with an attitude that we have to get stops. We need to do the little things and that will help moving forward.”
Max Robinson paced Richfield with a 19 point performance as he hit two of the team’s three makes from deep. Center Kaden Chidester added 10 points before fouling out of the game in the fourth quarter.
Friday’s loss marks the 11th consecutive defeat for the Spartans, dipping their overall record to 2-12.
“The goal is to play good basketball at the right time when the state tournament rolls around,” Cisneros said when asked about looking ahead. “In this region you can move up in the RPI with a loss because each team is ranked so high. What means the most right now is how the team is doing and if we are getting better.”
The Spartans will now shift their focus to a rematch with the San Juan Broncos on Wednesday at the Spartan Center in Castle Dale. The two teams met less than two weeks ago as the Broncos prevailed at the buzzer on a Cooper Black three-point shot in Blanding.
Wednesday’s game will air live on KOAL 107.3 FM and 750 AM with pre-game coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m..