The Emery Lady Spartans shot out to an early lead and kept their collective foot on the pedal in an 87-28 smashing of Gunnison Thursday night in Castle Dale.
The win helped Emery keep pace with North Sevier in the Region 15 standings at 7-1 with two games remaining.
Four seniors were honored before the game. Baylor Griffin, Aniston Curtis, Jessica Olsen and Camrey Johnson played in their final home game of their high school careers.
Sophomore Lainee Jensen led Emery with 15 points on five threes. Johnson added 11 points on 5-12 from the floor. Freshman Kacelyn Toomer hit double figures with 10. Olsen also poured in 10 on 5-9 from the field to go along with six rebounds. Curtis pulled down 10 rebounds and added seven points. In all, 14 Lady Spartans tallied at least two points in the game.
After Gunnison took an early 2-0 lead, the Lady Spartans finally got on the board on an Olsen bucket at 5:45. On the ensuing inbounds pass by Gunnison, Griffin stole the ball and made a bucket while also drawing a foul. She would sink the free throw for the 5-2 lead that would grow to be 20-6 by the end of the period.
A quick 7-0 run by the Lady Spartans in the second extended the lead to 21 that increased to 27 on an Olsen jumper with 18 seconds left to take a 42-15 halftime advantage.
Gunnison had its best quarter of the game in the third, scoring nine points, but Emery countered its output with 17 points of its own for a 57-24 lead after three quarters of play.
Jensen hit two of her five threes in the early part of the fourth. Toomer’s bucket at 6:30 gave the Lady Spartans a 40-point lead at 64-24. From the 1:55 mark of the third until the end of the game Emery outscored Gunnison by an amazing 38-4 margin.
The 87 points scored in the game by Emery was the most since the Deseret News began tracking game results in 2000.
On a special note, the final four points of the game were scored by freshman Shyler Griffin, with both baskets assisted by her sister, senior Baylor Griffin (watch both scores in the highlight reel below).
Emery (12-6, 7-1 Region 15) is tied atop the region standing with North Sevier (15-3, 7-1 Region 15) after the Wolves beat Manti Thursday night. The Lady Spartans will have two road games next week to conclude their season, Tuesday at Manti and Thursday at San Juan.
Watch highlights of the game below:
