The Emery Spartans suffered a 65-30 season ending loss to the No. 1 ranked Grantsville Cowboys in the second round of the 3A State Championship Tournament Friday night in Grantsville.
Just two days after defeating the Delta Rabbits in the opening round of the tournament, the No. 16 ranked Spartans entered the game winners of two of their last three. The next task at hand was the 15-2 Grantsville Cowboys.
“I thought our defensive effort in the first half was good,” said head coach Jeff Cisneros. “Offensively we just could not put the ball in the hole. It’s unfortunate we didn’t shoot well because we had some good looks. That’s a good Grantsville team and they played solid defense.”
Trailing 14-5 at the end of the first quarter, the Spartans allowed a 13-4 Grantsville run to start the second. From that point on the Cowboys had control and never let up.
While points came at a premium for the Spartans, senior Riggs Griffin ended his Emery basketball career with seven points. Brett Rasmussen also chipped with seven points, while Treven Brazier ended with six, all of which came from beyond the arc.
Defensively the Spartans were faced with the difficult challenge of stopping senior center Davin Ekins. While the dominate big was held to just three points in the first half, he picked up the pace as he scored 12 in the final two quarters to hit his season average of 15.
Grantsville guard Carter Killian helped pace the steady offensive production with 13 points. Both Tuhker Mulford and J.J. Backus finished with 10.
Friday’s loss drops Emery’s final season record to 4-16 overall. The highlight of the season came just over a week ago when the team defeated South Sevier on the road at the buzzer.
“I thought our guys did the best they could all season long and I’m extremely proud of them,” said Cisneros. “This senior group taught the younger guys what they need to do and how to play when they come back next year. With this group, everything they did for me and taught me, it’s hard to end the season.”
Stay tuned to Castle Country Radio for a complete season recap in the coming days.