Playing on the same court as the Utah Jazz, the Emery Spartans overcame a double-digit half time deficit to top the Enterprise Wolves 69-65 Tuesday afternoon at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.

Luke Justice scored a game-high 21 points to pace the Spartans, who improved to 8-2 on the season, in the first game of 2023. Wade Stilson scored 11 of his 13 points in the final 16 minutes, most of which in transition off steals.

Trailing 38-28 at the end of the first half, the Spartans failed to match the outside shooting of Enterprise in the first two quarters. The Wolves converted six makes from deep compared to just one from Emery. The outside shooting, mixed with turnovers, would turn the tide in the second half.

Emery outscored Enterprise by six in the third quarter and eight in the fourth. Justice would hit two shots from the beyond arc, while Talon Tuttle and Justin Curtis both knocked down one to help overcome the deficit.

Zack Tuttle gave the Emery bench a push as he finished with 11 points. Brett Rasmussen flirted with a double-double scoring eight points. Both Talon Tuttle and Curtis ended with five points.

Ranked No. 1 in the 2A classification, the Wolves received a stellar effort from Dax Hunt, who finished with a team-high 20 points. Austin Thomas was a quiet force for Enterprise downlow as he poured in 13 points. Tyce Staheli finished with 12.

Tuesday’s contest was a special matinee meeting, giving both teams an opportunity to play on an NBA court ahead of the Utah Jazz’s home game with the Sacramento Kings. In order to play the game both teams had to raise money in the form of ticket sales for the Jazz game later this evening.

The afternoon win is the first of three games this week for the Spartans and the first of a four-game road trip. Wednesday the team will travel to Blanding to meet San Juan before heading north on Friday to meet American Leadership Academy.