The Emery Spartans championship hopes came to an end as they suffered a 48-42 loss to the Summit Academy Bears Thursday morning in the quarterfinals of the 3A State Championship Tournament at Southern Utah University in Cedar City.

Trailing 21-12 in the second quarter, the Spartans rallied with a 12-2 run to capture a 26-25 lead at the end of the first half. Emery managed to extend the lead to eight, but the Bears answered with a 12-1 run of their own to regain the lead for good in the fourth quarter.

Junior Wade Stilson registered a double-double in Thursday’s setback, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Helping the Spartans erase the first half deficit, Stilson scored 10 of his 12 points in the first 16 minutes of the game.

Zack Tuttle and Talon Tuttle both finished with eight points, while Brett Rasmussen chipped in with six. Luke Justice scored four points, while Matt Olsen and Easton Nielson finished with two.

Emery held a 36-28 lead midway through the third quarter. Luke Justice had a basket waived off due to a charge that would have sent the lead to double-digits. From that point on Summit Academy gathered momentum and closed the game on a 20-6 run.

Summit Academy center Sherlock Padmore delivered an outstanding performance as he finished with game-high 18 points and 11 rebounds. Bryson Ottley scored eight of his nine points in the second half, while Eric Pesci scored all of his eight points between the final two quarters.

The Bears managed to hit two more three-point shots than the Spartans and gathered a 15-7 advantage on the offensive boards. The other major stat categories were nearly identical in a fairly even tilt.

Thursday’s loss sends Emery into the consolation bracket where they will face either Juab or Richfield Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. A win would extend the season into Saturday’s finale for 5th place, while a loss would bring the season to an end.