A late fourth quarter rally fell short as the Emery Spartans suffered a 69-63 loss to the Judge Memorial Bulldogs in the quarterfinals of the 3A state championship tournament Thursday afternoon at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield.
Trailing by as many as 17 in the third quarter, the Spartans cut the Judge Memorial lead down to five in the final minutes of the game. Timely free throws by the Bulldogs late prevented Emery from pulling off a miraculous comeback.
“Our kids just kept battling and they just kept getting after it,” said head coach Dave Justice following the loss. “Obviously, it’s a disappointing result, but we are not disappointed in the effort. We played well in a lot of aspects, so I give Judge a lot of credit, they just made some big shots.”
The Bulldogs were electric from the three-point line in the first half, knocking down nine shots from beyond the perimeter. The red-hot shooting from Judge Memorial put the Spartans in a 10-point deficit heading into half time.
Judge Memorial continued to light the scoreboard up in the third quarter. Four more makes from deep gave the Bulldogs an 18-point lead midway through the quarter.
Trailing 58-43 entering the fourth period, the Spartans began to chip away. Defensively Emery held the Bulldogs without a single field goal over the final eight minutes. Even with the powerful surge, the deficit was too much to overcome.
“I think we had a sense of urgency in the fourth quarter,” said Justice. “We got them into foul trouble and that helped get them out of their rhythm. We had a couple of shots to get the lead down to three, but it just was not meant to be.”
Wade Stilson logged a double-double in the setback as he finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Luke Justice paced the Spartans offensively with a game-high of 22 points. Zack Tuttle also reached double-figures as he scored 10 points.
The biggest discrepancy in Thursday’s game came from beyond the three-point line. Emery finished 3-10 from deep, while the Bulldogs finished 13-21.
Aaydan Saucedo led the Bulldogs with 21 points, nine of which came in the first quarter. JJ Apathjang scored 19 and Aymen Ismail finished with 16.
While Thursday’s loss ends Emery’s bid for a state championship, it does not end the season. The Spartans will now have an opportunity to play two more games in the 3A consolation bracket.
Up next will be a win-or-go-home scenario against the Union Cougars on Friday at 2:30 p.m. Friday will mark the second meeting of the season between the two teams, Emery won the first 54-40 back on December 5.