It took overtime to decide a winner but the Carbon Lady Dinos earned a share of the Region 12 championship with a thrilling 79-78 win over the Emery Lady Spartans Thursday night at the Spartan Center in Castle Dale.
Carbon senior Gracee Vasquez scored 10 of her 13 points in the extra quarter, hitting three shots from beyond the perimeter, to help push the Lady Dinos over the top in the regular-season finale. The win places Carbon in a first-place tie with Richfield, finishing region play with a 5-1 record.
“What a great game. Emery came out to play tonight and we knew that this was going to be tough,” said head coach Cami Carlson. “We shot with confidence. Bev Lancaster hit a key three on the baseline. Amiah Timothy was key hitting some big shots from the foul line and also driving to the basket.”
The two teams exchanged leads throughout in a game where both had equal opportunities to secure the win. Emery had the final shot in both regulation and overtime but could not capitalize.
Trailing by one with only seconds remaining, Emery senior Makaila Peacock was fouled on a potential game winning drive to the basket. Peacock missed the first foul shot, but connected on the second to send the game to an extra period. Trailing by one with five seconds left in overtime, the Emery defense forced a turnover, but Peacock’s last second three-point shot was blocked by Timothy to end the game.
Timothy scored a game-high 22 points despite sitting the entire third quarter due to foul trouble. Kennedy Williams matched Vasquez’s total with 13 and Madi Orth chipped in with 10.
Tied 67-67 at the end of regulation, Emery opened a 71—68 lead early in overtime. Carbon managed to overcome the slight deficit as Vasquez scored 10 consecutive points, putting the Lady Dinos in front 78-73.
“We ran an offense where both baseline sides should have been open. They were over playing Amiah because she hit some shots on the foul line, so we knew what would be open,” said Carlson. “We try to encourage our girls to look for good shots and catch them in rhythm and Gracee, you could just tell was feeling it. It was awesome because Gracee hasn’t had a lot of nights like this and I know she is a great three-point shooter.”
The five point Carbon advantage was not enough to put Emery away. The Lady Spartans scored five points in less than 90 seconds and forced a turnover to give themselves one more opportunity. The game saving block by Timothy was the closing highlight to an outstanding game by both teams.
Sophomore Katelyn Nielson scored 19 points off the bench to help pace the Emery offense. Aliya Lester finished with 18, scoring 12 in the second half. Karleigh Stilson scored 17 and Brielle Rowley added another eight.
Thursday’s setback sets Emery’s final regular season record at 9-10, including an 0-6 region mark.
With the regular season now complete both Carbon and Emery await the final RPI release Saturday morning. The final rankings will determine the playoff road for both teams.