Wednesday night’s contest in the Spartan Center was sloppy for both Grand and Emery coming out of the gates with a handful of turnovers on each side. Both teams would eventually settle down in the back and forth first half. Emery multiplied its one-point lead coming out of the first quarter into a nine-point advantage going into the half. Grand would not go away in the second half and cut the lead to five in the third quarter. Mason Faimalo came off the bench and hit a three in the final quarter to put the Spartans up by 14. Emery would go on to win 81-70.
Kyson Stilson followed up his impressive game against N. Sanpete with another 32 points to lead the Spartans in scoring. Brax Jenson had another excellent passing night with nine assists to go along with his 15 points. Faimalo was seemingly all over the court and had 13 points off the bench for Emery.
When asked how Faimalo has such an impact off the bench, he replied, “When I’m on the bench I try to see the other team’s game plan. I see what their tendencies are so I can try to stop them with the best of my ability.” He added, “It is really fun to play with this team. Brax and Kyson are great drivers and passers, you know you are going to get the ball in your hands when you need it.” Stilson also commented on Jensen’s court vision, “Brax sees the floor really well and sets you up.”
This Friday, Emery (11-3, 3-2 Region 15) has a critical match against San Juan (10-4, 2-2 Region 15) in Blanding . “It’s going to be a tough one, playing down there is always hard. It’s really loud.” Faimalo said, “We just have to keep are game plan, minimized turnovers and play fast.” Speaking of playing fast, San Juan can really run the ball so it will be important for the Spartans to take care of the ball and get back quickly on defense to limit the Broncos’ fast break opportunities.
Friday’s contest can be streamed online.
Photos by Dusty Butler
