Spartans top Dinos 69-58

Vallyn Bernard

Nevin Jensen played his “A” game against the Carbon Dinos in the Spartan Center last Wednesday hitting five 3-pointers on his way to a game high 26 points. Other Spartans in double figures were Jordan Gee with 15 points, and Karson Jensen scoring 10.

As always, Carbon versus Emery means an intense game. The Dinos pressed the Spartans full court from the opening tip off to the final buzzer and had success from it early in the game. However, the 3 ball was the hammer in the coffin for Carbon in this game with the Spartans making 10 baskets from beyond the bonus line. Besides Nevin’s unbelievable five, Jordan Gee and Karson Jensen both had two, with Dempsey Jeffs getting one.

Early in the game Emery ran into some foul trouble with their inside players, and Coach Jeffs went to his sophomore center 6’5” Colton Barnett. Colton, put a hitch in the Dinos giddy-up by throwing his weight around to block shots, pull down rebounds, and score 6 points in the paint. OK, so maybe Colton does need to wolf down a little more pasta, after all he’s only a sophomore. Still, there’s no doubt his long arms, and willingness to run the court made a difference under the glass.

Helping with the scoring for the Spartans were Dempsey Jeffs, 8; Tyler Killpack and Cameron Hansen each adding 2. Gatlan Huntington got to mix it up with the Dinos, but didn’t get into the scoring column this go round.

Both teams sparred their way through the first period with Carbon getting a small lead at 12–11. Second period was all Emery with the Spartans taking a 39–26 lead into halftime. With a comfortable lead the Spartan fans enjoyed a great halftime, but were holding their breaths by the end of the third period as the Dinos came out of their locker room breathing fire. Wait a minute, that’s dragons not dinosaurs, but isn’t a dragon just a T-Rex with wings? Whatever, it doesn’t matter, because the bottom line is the Dinos scored 17 points to Emery’s 7, and closed to 46 –43.

The fourth period was gut check time for the Spartans, and they put together a 23 point quarter to pull away from the hard fighting Dinos to end with a 69–58 win.

Like any rivalry, both players and fans enjoyed a hard played game. The intensity and energy on the court was easily transferred to the stands making for an exciting game for all at the Spartan Center. On the next go round; the home court advantage goes to the Dinos when the rivalry continues on Feb 1.

Lady Spartans take out Dinos 53-39

Vallyn Bernard

The Lady Dinos were glad to see Meagan Pearson leave Price last Tuesday night as she fired in four 3 pointers on her way to a game high 22 points. In front of a standing room only crowd, the Lady Spartans fought hard for a tough 53-39 win against the well-disciplined Lady Dinos.

The final score might lead you to believe it was a blowout for the Lady Spartans, but this game was played tooth and nail. Carbon pressed from the opening tip off, and caused a lot of confusion for Emery in the first period. Turnovers plagued the Lady Spartans, which left them down 17-13 at the end of the period.

The second period was just as intense with neither team wanting to play a half court game. At the break both teams headed for the locker room deadlocked at 27–27. After watching the intensity of the first half, I decided it was going to be conditioning and defense that would be the winner in this game.

Both teams came out after halftime just as determined as they were in the first half and the third period was hammered out right down to the buzzer. With only seconds to go in the period the Lady Spartans were hanging on to a 4-point lead when Meagan Pearson launched a prayer from just inside the half court line. The ball slammed off the backboard and into the basket to give Emery a seven-point lead. More than sending the Spartan fans into a cheering frenzy, this shot appeared to knock the wind out of the Lady Dinos.

Ball control and tough defense in the final period forced the Lady Dinos into having to foul, but the Lady Spartans were picture perfect from the free throw line. As Lady Dinos fouled out in an attempt to close the gap on the Lady Spartans, the score continued to build up in Emery’s favor.

The score looks big for the Lady Spartans, but it was earned in a real battle with the Lady Dinos, who left everything on the court. The next go round between the Lady Spartans and Lady Dinos will be on Jan. 31 in the Spartan Center, and should be just as good of a game.

Jodi Roberson was again in double figures totaling up 15 points, Michonne Robertson had 8 points, Frankie Komar added 5 points, and ShiAnne Allred closed out the scoring with 2 points. The parking lot was again a powerful weapon for the Lady Spartans as Jodi and Frankie each added one to Meagan’s 4.

Also, the scoring column doesn’t always show what happened on the court in a hard fought game. For example, early in the game, ShiAnne Allred got into foul trouble and shortly into the fourth period fouled out. This brought Abbie Kay into the game to help in the middle against some of the Lady Dinos bigger, more physical players. Abbie’s name doesn’t appear in the scorebook, but she put in some tough minutes rebounding, and playing defense. Great job to Abbie and all the Lady Spartans who may not get their names called very often, but help make a solid basketball team.

This win moved the Lady Spartans ahead of Carbon into first place in Region 8 with a 10 - 4 over all record, and 3 - 0 in region play.

Lady Spartans cruise past Hawks 78-41

Vallyn Bernard

In the Lady Spartan’s Junior Varsity game against North Sanpete, Emery tied the game on a 3 pointer at the buzzer. In overtime Emery pulled away for the JV victory. Pretty good setup for the Varsity game, however the Lady Spartans on the Varsity team must not have been watching their junior teammates play. The Varsity Lady Spartans came out of the gate with a full head of stream, and their game wasn’t close to being a nail biter.

At the end of the first period the Lady Spartans had the North Sanpete Hawks down 21-7, and by halftime the game was already over, as Emery went to the locker room leading 40–14. Good ball control, tough defense, and a tenacious press by the Lady Spartans led to early bench time for the Emery starters as the Lady Spartans cruised to a 78-41 victory over the Hawks.

Watching the game you had to be impressed with Emery’s defense, and with 14 Lady Spartans scoring, obviously their offense wasn’t too shabby. Leading the field for Emery was Jodi Robertson with 17, followed by Meagan Pearson’s 13, and Lacey Montgomery closed out the scoring for those in double figures with 11 points. Others scoring for Emery were: Jenni Stinson, 7; Abbie Kay, 7; Michonne Robertson, 7; ShiAnne Allred, 4; Tiffany Tuttle, 4; Frankie Komar, 3; and Chelcee Christensen, Jessica Murray and Sierra Bridgewater each getting 2 points. Wow, talk about bench scoring.

Again the home run ball was played early to build a big lead with Lacey Montgomery draining 2, and Jodi, Meagan amd Frankie each dropping one down.

Many people believe coaches have it easy when their team builds a huge lead early in a game, but I feel it’s just the opposite. With the game over so early a coach faces some real sensitive issues. What do you do with your starters who’ve worked hard to earn the right to play, but need to be sat down in order to not run up the score? Practice is one thing, game time experience is another. The more hardwood time a player has during the year, the better prepared they are for post season. Parents have paid their dues, too. Over the years, they have supported their players through the lean sophomore and junior varsity seasons, so they’re on hand to watch them play in the spotlight, not ride the pine. Many post-season honors are based on regular season performances, and bench time isn’t one of the honors. You think big leads make it easy… now it becomes clearer why so many coaches have grey, thinning, or no hair at all. Plus, if anything goes wrong, everyone nails the coach.

This win moves the Lady Spartans into a solid first place in Region 8 with a record of 4-0 region, 11-4 overall. This week the Lady Spartans only have one game, a region match up in Salt Lake on Thursday night against Juan Diego.
By the way Coach, I realize you may have problems in blowout games, but I personally love big leads before halftime. I’ve got a feeling I’m not alone on this one.

Lady Pirates stay atop region

Brennan Bigelow

The Lady Pirates traveled to Montezuma Creek to face the Whitehorse Raiders on Jan. 18. To start the game the lady Raiders went on an 8–0 run but after a time out was called by Coach Parsons the Pirates went on a devastating run of their own.

That run threw the Pirates way over top their region foe. The lady Pirates were able to hit their post players leading Brandi Webster to a monstrous game with 46 points. Leah Swalberg added 13 points. Also scoring was Bailie Packer with 4 and each adding 2 points was Crosby Hatt, Sarah Swalberg, and Jill Vetere. This win kept the Pirates on top of their region, clinching a berth into the state tournament.

On Jan. 19 the Ladies turned around and played a big Duchesne Eagles team. After three physical quarters the ladies lead the Eagles by 1. The Eagles turned up their game and gained a four point lead. The lady Pirates came down with under 30 seconds left and Brandi Webster hit a 3 point basket. That last desperation shot was not enough to push them past the Duchesne Eagles. The score ended with Green River 40 and Duchesne 41. High scorer was Webster with 19 points. Also contributing to the score was Crosby Hatt with 7, Sarah Swalberg with 6, Leah Swalberg with 4, and both chipping in 2 points were Jill Vetere and Bailie Packer.