The Emery Spartans extended their early season winning streak to five with a dominating 84-39 win over American Leadership Academy Wednesday at the Spartan Center in Castle Dale.
Playing for the first time since Friday’s blowout win, the Spartans picked up right where they left off. Scoring the first nine points of the game, the Spartans increased their advantage to 21-4 at the end of the opening quarter. The lead continued to grow, putting the mercy rule in place for the fourth quarter.
Emery’s stellar performance was as well rounded as any so far this season. A steady mix of consistent play on both sides of the floor allowed 10 different players to score at least two points. The balance was noticeable as the Spartans attacked from every angle.
“This group has played together forever, so when you look at a balanced scoresheet, that’s something we’ve been doing forever,” said senior Luke Justice. “It starts on the defensive side of the ball. Defense leads to offense and that is locked into our brains.”
Justice led the team offensively as he used three levels of scoring to produce 15 points. Wade Stilson stuffed the stat sheet in an all-around performance that resulted in 14 points. Jace Frandsen led the second unit with 12 points and Mason Stilson contributed 10.
The Emery defense allowed the offense to get to the basket at will in the second quarter. The Spartans produced one of their highest scoring quarters of the year as they outscored ALA 34-8 heading into the break.
Wednesday’s win moves Emery to 6-1 on the season and extends the team’s winning streak to five. Even more impressive, the group has won the last four games by an average of 37 points.
Emery will now prepare to open Region 12 play Friday with a road trip to Juab. The Wasps will enter with a similar record sitting 5-1. Like Emery, Juab’s lone defeat also came at the hands of South Summit.
“We know that we have to get better day by day. Coach always tells us to just take it one day at a time,” said Justice. “We hope to get better at practice tomorrow and hopefully we get even better when we play Juab on Friday.”