ETV News stock photo by Dusty Butler
The Steve Hodson Classic hosted a number of teams this past week in Cedar City. The three-day event saw Emery compete against Millard, Parowan and South Sevier.
On Tuesday, the Eagles got off to a hot start and went up 20-14 after the opening quarter. The Spartans battled back in the second to cut it to one at the break (27-26).
The second half was extremely close as the battle ensued. It was all knotted up at 55 down the final stretch, but Emery was unable to pull out the victory. Millard won the neck and neck contest 59-57.
Kysen Curtis and Brett Rasmussen led the Spartan attack with 12 points apiece. Rasmussen also recorded 10 rebounds to complete his double-double effort. Emery was efficient from the floor with a 48 percent shooting percentage and beat the Eagles in the rebound battle, 30-19, but it did not lead to a win.
Wednesday’s game was similar as the Spartans once again played from behind. Emery fought its way back to go up 18-15 at halftime, but the Rams dominated the third quarter to take control. Emery could not recover as it fell to Parowan 55-48.
Luke Justice was the lone Spartan to reach double figures with his 19 points. Although the Spartans had less turnovers than the Rams, Parowan out-shot and out-rebounded Emery.
That took the Spartans into Thursday, where they played a talented South Sevier team. It was a high-scoring first quarter, which saw nearly 50 points between the two teams. Emery took the lead, 25-22, after Talon Tuttle sunk a three-pointer just before the buzzer.
The Spartans then went into a funk offensively, and only mustered 29 points the rest of the way. South Sevier took advantage of the lull and went on to win 64-54.
Rasmussen had his most efficient day of the Classic, going 8-10 with 17 points. Tuttle added another 16 points while Curtis tallied 12. The Spartans shot over 50 percent from the floor in the final contest, but also committed their most turnovers in the three-game stretch with 19.
Emery continues to search for consistency with just one week remaining before region games. This week, the Spartans (2-8) will host San Juan (9-2) on Tuesday and Manti (6-5) on Friday. Tuesday’s game will be streamed live on ETV Channel 10 and online at etvnews.com/livesports.