The Lady Spartans and Broncos were featured in the final game of the day at the BDAC on Friday night. Both teams struggled to get going, but Emery eventually found a rhythm and doubled up San Juan, 26-13, at the half. Emery held San Juan to just 22 percent shooting from the field in the first half and kept the Lady Bronco’s leading scorer in Tasiah Little off the board.
Things took a turn for the worse for Emery in the third. The Lady Spartans were up by seven when head coach Lynn Tuttle was called for a technical foul. San Juan capitalized with two points at the line and two more on the possession to pull within three. Syannah Ketchum brought the Lady Broncos all the way back with a three-point shot to tie the game at 30. San Juan erupted with 29 points in the third quarter after only scoring 13 in the first half. The Lady Broncos also outscored Emery 29-9 in that span to lead 42-35 with one quarter left to play.
San Juan extended its lead to 10, 47-37, before Emery started to make a run of its own. Baylee Jacobson hit a three-pointer to cut it to five and Kiri Cook scored two more points with one minute left to make it 54-52. Later on, Emery need to foul to extend the game. The Lady Spartans were trying to put the Broncos on the line when Emery was called for a flagrant foul to give San Juan two shots and the ball. San Juan made one but missed the other and had the ball with 7.2 seconds left, on top 57-55. The Lady Bronco pass was off target and went out of bounds. With one last chance to tie, Emery took over the ball. Hailey Allred drove straight to the basket and had a good look, but the shot was too far as San Juan completed the improbable comeback, 57-55.
San Juan caught fire in the second half and went 6-7 (85.7%) from beyond the arc and 62.5 percent from the field. Emery also shot the ball well in the second half, converting on 50 percent of its chances but only went 1-4 from beyond the arc. Little finished with 14 points but Ketchum was the star with a game-high 17 points. Allred led the Spartans with 14 followed by Tambrie Tuttle and Jacobson with 12 apiece. Kiri Cook added 11 points and nine rebounds.
-
- Photos by Dusty Butler
