Lady Spartans start 2008 red hot with 3 straight wins

Vallyn Bernard

The Lady Spartans have started 2008 red hot with three straight wins. After beating the Red Devils from Springville to open the season, by the way, Springville is a 4A school and was ranked number three in the state at the time, the Lady Spartans then proceeded to destroy Juan Diego 68–27 in the Spartan Center, before delivering the same fate to the Rabbits at Delta, 66–24.

With the Lady Spartans only making 16 baskets during the last two games it’s amazing they won by so much. Oh, my bad, that’s 16 3-pointers in only two games, and they didn’t all come from one player. Five Lady Spartans were scoring from downtown this past week. Many teams don’t make 16 threes in an entire season. This has to be a concern for any team left on this year’s schedule.

I can just hear the other team’s coach saying, “OK, team, we need to double team Jodi, no wait, if we do that Meagan will light it up, better double team her, no, that won’t work, because then Frankie will burn us, but if we double team her they have…hey, I got it, we’ll play both the Varsity and JV at the same time, then we can double team the player that can hurt us.” Sorry coach, that may fly in Europe, but here in the States you can only have five players on the court at one time.

One of the things I am very impressed with the Lady Spartans, beyond their ability to light it up from the parking lot, is their defense. I’m especially impressed with how they do it with their feet. If you have no idea what I’m talking about then go watch them play. If you do understand what I just said, check it out the next time you watch them. You too will be impressed.

Ten different players scored in each of the wins last week with five different players scoring from over the rainbow. (Reference above, only five players on the court at one time here in the States) Here we are back to giving opposing coaches fits.

At home against Juan Diego on Jan. 8 the lady Spartans had three players in double figure with Meagan Pearson topping the scoring column at 13, Michonne Robertson had 11, and Frankie Komar, 10. Rounding out the scoring was ShiAnne Allred, 8, Lacey Montgomery, 7, Jodi Robertson, 7, Sierra Bridgewater, 5, Caitlin Hansen, 5, Abbie Kay, 1, and Taylor Mann, 1. Emery scored six 3-pointers against the Soaring Eagles with Meagan Pearson draining 3, Frankie Komar dropping in 2, and Lacey Montgomery adding the final one to the record books.

On Jan. 10 the Lady Spartans were in Delta and lit up the night skies with 10 3-pointers. Jodi Robertson was on fire from the three-point stripe pounding down four on her way to a team high 20 points. Meagan had what’s turning into a normal night popping in two 3 pointers on her way to 13 points. Frankie Komar had two three’s on her way to 10 points. Again three of the ten players who scored were in double figures. Finishing off the scoring for the Lady Spartans were Michonne Robertson, 5, Caitlin Hansen, 4, Abbie Kay, 4, Jenni Stinson, 3, Lacey Montgomery, 3, ShiAnne Allred, 2, and Tiffany Tuttle 2. Jenni and Lacey’s points came from 3-pointers.

The Lady Spartans’ record now stands at 9-4 overall with a 2-0 regional mark. This week the Ladies have a big region rival game Tuesday night against the Dinos at Carbon followed by another regional match up with the North Sanpete Hawks on Thursday night in the Spartan Center.

Wrestling team battles in two tournaments

Tamra Luke

The Emery High Wrestling team attended the Caveman Tournament at American Fork High School on Jan. 5. The Spartans brought home the bling with four first-place medals and three second-place medals. The first-place medals went to Mckay Allred (125), Hadan Hatch (130), Mike Jones (171), and Kenny Baker (215).

Three second-place medals went to Jace Guymon (140), Cade Whittle (145), and Jake Gardner (152). The team placed fourth overall, and Mckay Allred was named the team MVP. Allred, Jones, and Baker were all undefeated in the tournament.

Coach Buck Taylor said, “The team is going through some bumps trying to reorganize after Christmas break, but they wrestled really well.” The Spartans had to give up three weight classes because they were missing some of their wrestlers, but they competed well despite this disadvantage.
The team first faced the American Fork B team. The Spartans won this match with a team score of 42 to 21. Next the Spartans wrestled Granger and defeated them 42 to 24. The Spartans then lost their next three matches: Timpanogas 36 to 48, American Fork A team 21 to 55, and West 30 to 46.
Coach Taylor was very pleased with the team’s performance. He said, “The big problem we have is that we have two different kinds of wrestlers. It’s like Jekyl and Hyde, one day they wrestle their hearts out, and the next day they wrestle poorly. We are working toward becoming more consistent.”
The next weekend, Jan. 11-12 the team attended the Tournament of Champions in Vernal, which is considered to be one of the biggest tournaments in the region. Thirty-eight teams from Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming attended this tournament. Coach Taylor said, “We went to this tournament to show the kids what these big wrestling tournaments are like to get them ready for state.”

No wrestlers placed, but Mike Jones made it to the quarterfinals. Mike Jones is recently recovering from an injury and has come back as a very strong competitor for the Spartans.

“They decided to wrestle well,” said Coach Taylor, “I was very happy with the way they competed in that environment.” Coach Taylor is optimistic about the future of his wrestling team. He said, “The kids are doing a good job; a little more work and they’ll be there.” The Spartans next face a tough match traveling to Duchesne on Jan. 15.

Spartans struggle in region games

Vallyn Bernard

Sophomore Nevin Jensen shined in his first two regional games last week by scoring 22 points in each of them. Traveling to Juan Diego on Jan 9 the Spartans played the Soaring Eagles tight the first half, leading 7-5 after the first quarter, and down by only one, 19-18 at halftime. Juan Diego added 6 points to their lead in the 3rd quarter and even though the Spartans had a big 4th quarter with 24 points, the Eagles matched Emery plus 2 wining the game 65-56.

The Spartans had three players in double figures, besides Nevin’s 22 points, Karson Jensen had 14, and Dempsey Jeffs recorded 12 points. Jordan Gee made two 3-pointers on his way to 7 points, and Brett Meacham had 1 point. Karson Jensen made two 3-pointers with Nevin and Dempsey each scoring one from downtown.

On Jan. 11 the Delta Rabbits brought their 3A second place ranking to the Spartan Center. Unfortunately, they took it home with them after defeating the Spartans 61-44. As I mentioned, Nevin Jensen had a great game with 22 points, while making three shots from the parking lot. Dempsey Jeffs was again in double figures scoring 10, with the help of two shots from downtown. Basically the Spartan starters match up with the top Rabbits, but Delta’s bench proved to be the silver bullet for them.

Jordan Gee, Tyler Killpack, and Cameron Hansen all had 4 points, but just couldn’t make up the difference from Delta’s bench. This week has a big rival game against Carbon in the Spartan Center at 7 pm on Wednesday followed by another regional game Friday night at North Sanpete.

Green River Pirates storm Monument Valley

Brennan Bigelow

On Jan. 12, the Pirates traveled to Monument Valley to take on region opponent Monument Valley Cougars. The ladies started off the weekend right by beating the Cougars easily. The Lady Cougars could not answer to the height and skill of the Lady Pirates. The Lady Pirates stayed atop their region with the win and are now in the driver’s seat.

Next the Boys took on the Cougars and after a rocky start came out on top and increased their lead. The Cougars could not handle the inside presence of three towers. The Pirates could not be stopped inside the paint. The Pirates dominated the boards. Five players in double digits brought the Pirates to a 74 – 44 win. Leading the Pirates was Kayden Mecham with 19, brothers Tyson and Jason Johnson finished the game with 16 and 14 points respectively. Also scoring in double digits was Luis Mendoza with 12 and Brennan Bigelow with 11. Earl Nelson added 2 points to the Pirates win.