The Emery Spartans extended their winning streak to four games with a 69-44 win over the Carbon Dinos Wednesday evening in Price.
Playing on the road for the third consecutive game, the Spartans weathered an early Carbon run and dominated the second half to grab the double-digit victory. The win also secured a season-series sweep for Emery.
“Credit to Carbon because their student section was rocking and they hit some big shots early in the game,” said Emery head coach Dave Justice. “We felt pretty good about taking the lead going into half time, especially with how well Carbon was playing. I think that gave us some confidence going into the second half.”
Carbon exploded out of the gate, capturing a 13-4 lead early in the first quarter. The Spartans began to chip away at the deficit and trailed by one entering the second quarter. From that point on Emery controlled the tempo and managed to methodically pull away in front of a standing room only crowd.
Zack Tuttle and Luke Justice both scored 15 points to lead a balanced Emery offensive attack. Held scoreless in the first quarter, Wade Stilson helped push the Spartans with 11 points, including one three-point make. Mason Stilson also reached the double-digit plateau as he finished with 10, seven of which came in the third quarter.
“We are feeling it right now,” said Mason Stilson following the win. “After three losses we had to ask ourselves what we really wanted out of the season. We knew we needed to win out the rest of the way and we have been playing well.”
Emery has responded to an upset road loss to Delta with four straight wins. Three of those wins have come against teams ranked in the top five of the RPI.
Wednesday’s win moves Emery to 17-5 overall on the season and 9-4 in division play. The Spartans will wrap up the season with a road trip to Mount Pleasant to face the North Sanpete Hawks Friday evening.
Carbon’s Zeke Wilson knocked down three triples and scored 11 points to lead the team in the setback. Kahner Raby scored nine points, while Maddux Wilson chipped in with seven.
Trailing 31-26 at the end of the first half, the Dinos started the second half ice cold from the field. Going nearly five minutes without any points to start the third quarter, Carbon found themselves faced with an insurmountable deficit heading into the final quarter.
Carbon has had a daunting schedule to wrap up the regular season and have now dropped three straight games. Sitting 8-13 overall and 4-9 in region play, the Dinos will take a lengthy trip to Cedar City to face Canyon View on Friday in the regular season finale.