The Emery Spartan boys’ basketball squad traveled to Mount Pleasant for a very important region contest on Wednesday evening. This was really a tale of two halves: the Hawks dominated in the first, but the Spartans came back in the second to take over and get the win, 67-60.

Emery sits alone at the top of the region standings at 5-2 with Union and Manti close behind at 4-3. With the rankings removed, we will wait until Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. for MaxPreps and the Utah High School Activities Association to release the final rankings and the bracket for the State Championships, which begin February 13th.

In the opening period, the Hawks swarmed on defense, holding the Spartans to 13 points and taking a five-point lead into the second. Emery kept the Hawks somewhat in check, and both teams headed to halftime with North Sanpete leading 43-27.

In the third quarter, the Spartans saw their opportunities and took them when they could. Maddox Taney made the most of his opportunities when, at the 6:30 mark, he dropped in a three-pointer to get the Spartans on the board for the first time in the third quarter, starting the momentum shift for Emery. At 2:53, Brek Griffin hit a three-pointer to give the Spartans the lead 44-43. The game went back and forth in the third quarter, when Taney came through with his heroics. Once again, he hit a three with 22 seconds left to tie it at 49, then missed a free throw that would have given the Spartans the lead. The final 8 minutes were hectic until the 6:43 mark, when Garrett Conover gave the Spartans the lead at 52-51, and they never looked back, going on to win 67-60.

Porter Sitterud led the way for Emery with 18, Taney added 14, and Conover added 10 in the big win for the Spartans.

Emery closes out the regular season on Friday night, which will be a “Senior Night” as the Carbon Dinos come to Castle Dale to visit. Carbon sits at 8-13 overall and 3-4 in region play, coming off a big win on Wednesday night over Manti 69-62. In the first contest between the two on January 21st, the Dinos came away with the 64-57 win.

You can catch the game live on KOAL 1073 FM and 750 AM. As well as the YouTube stream at Castle Country Radio- Emery.

The Landon’s Diesel Pregame show will begin at 6:30, with tip-off at 7:00.

You can watch the North Sanpete/Emery contest by accessing the player below.