The Spartans took on an athletic Judge Memorial team with third place in state on the line on Saturday. Though Emery was undersized underneath, the Spartans played a physical game and kept with the Bulldogs. Judge held a two-point lead, 13-11, after the first quarter. The teams traded buckets throughout the second when Seth Justice hit one of this four three-pointers at the end of the first half to put Emery on top, 30-29.
Judge came out with a press in the second half, which proved to be fatal. The Spartans had no problems with the press and blitzed the Bulldogs with 51 points in the second half. Jordan Ekker caught fire in the third quarter and finished with a team-high 23 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists. Brax Jensen had another solid performance with 19 points and nine assists while Justice ended with 18 points. Riggs Griffin played big minutes and recorded seven points and eight rebounds. Kyler Wilstead and Justin Rasmussen were in foul trouble most of the game but they did a good job of keeping the Bulldogs off the boards. Beau Cook also had seven rebounds while filling in for Wilstead and Rasmussen.
Emery went on to take the 81-66 victory, bringing Todd Jeffs’ 32 years at the helm of the Spartans to an end. Jeffs is stepping away after an impressive career and his crew made sure that he left with one more win under his belt. Congratulations to the Emery Spartans on their third-place finish.
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- Photos by Dusty Butler
