Lady Spartans slay Tigers 53-29 to advance in playoffs

Vallyn Bernard

The Ogden Tigers came to town for the first round of the girl’s 3A basketball playoffs on Feb. 15. The game was actually considered quite a mismatch, but watching the first half one wouldn’t have known.

The Tigers jumped out to a 14–8 lead in the first period and the Lady Spartans only took a 4 point lead into the locker room at halftime, with score of 24-20.

I guess filling in some of the missing elements might not be a bad idea about now. As I mentioned, the Ogden team had a lot of heart, but not a great deal of talent. The Tigers played with great hustle and fought for every basket and rebound. However, against Emery’s starting five it wasn’t much of a contest. Therefore, in much of the first half, many of the players who don’t get much floor time in varsity games got to play before the home crowd.
The second half saw the Lady Spartan’s tenacious defense become too much for the Tigers, plus Emery’s offensive guns started hitting from all parts of the floor. The Lady Spartans out scored the tigers by 20 points in the second half to finish the game with a 53 –29 win.

Jodi Robertson made two 3 pointers on her way to a game high 14 points. ShiAnne Allred was in double figures with 10 points, followed by scoring from: Meagan Pearson, 8 points; Michonne Robertson, 6 points; Frankie Komar, 5 points; Jenni Stinson and Abbie Kay with 3 points each; and Lacey Montgomery and Sierra Bridgewater both had 2 points. Jenni and Frankie each had a basket from beyond the 3 point line.

The Lady Spartans advance to the quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at the E Center in West Valley City against Judge Memorial with Game time at 4:10 p.m.

Lady Spartans fall to Wasps 61-53

Vallyn Bernard

A good crowd was at the Spartan Center to honor departing seniors Meagan Pearson and Michonne Robertson. Then they watched the Lady Spartans take on the n umber one ranked Wastach Wasps.

Starting the game strong, the Lady Spartans built a 16–12 in the first period and went into halftime still leading by 4 with a score of 28–24. The Lady Spartans juggernaut got a cramp in its leg in the second half as the Wasps were able to build a 3 point lead by the end of the third period.

In the fourth period the Spartans lost a wheel as Meagan Pearson, who had already spent most of the half on the bench with foul trouble, got her fifth foul. For some reason the Lady Spartans had almost twice as many fouls as the Wasps, even though the Wasps were just as aggressive. Go figure.

With Emery having to foul to stop the clock near the end of the game, the Wasps worked the free throw line well enough to not allow the Lady Spartans to close the gap. The final score was Wasps 61, and the Lady Spartans 53.
Frankie Komar scored 17 points with three baskets from beyond the 3-point line. Jodi Robertson was also in double figures with 14 points, with one from downtown. ShiAnne Allred scored 7 points, Meagan Pearson, who was only on the court for maybe half the game, had 5 points, and Abbie Kay added 4 points. Meagan and ShiAnne both dropped in one 3 pointer.

I believe the Lady Spartans starting five versus the Wasps starting five would be a much closer game if they all played against each other the entire game.

I have a feeling if these two teams meet again this year, the outcome will be a very different.
By the way, it was nice to see so many battle flags flying in the Spartans Center.

Spartan season ends with loss to Redmen

Vallyn Bernard

The Spartans basketball team ran up against the Cedar Redmen in the first round of the 3A basketball playoffs in Cedar City on Feb. 16.

The long bus ride probably tightened up the Spartans, as they couldn’t get their offense going in the first quarter and were only able to score 2 points to the Redmen’s 12. Matching Cedar point for point in the second quarter, Emery still ended up going into halftime down 20–10.

The Spartans just couldn’t seem to get the wheels rolling on their offense and losing Karson Jensen early in the third quarter to fouls didn’t help. The Redmen outscored Emery in both the third and fourth periods by 7 points, to finish the game with a 59–35 victory.

In Emery’s final game of the season, nine Spartans were able to get into the scorebook. Nevin Jensen had 7 points; Tyler Killpack had 6 points; Karson Jensen scored 5 points; Dempsey Jeffs and Cameron Hanson scored 4 points; Jordan Gee and Gatlan Huntington both made 3 points; while Colton Barnett, Brett Mecham and Tanner Procarione each scored 1 point. Jordan, Gatlan and Karson, also had one 3 pointer.

The Spartans end their 2007-2008 season tied for third in Region 8 with a 3–5 record, and 5–16 overall. It was a rough year for the Spartans with the ball bouncing the wrong way more than once. The Spartans have nothing to hang their heads about, because they showed up to every game. When the final horn sounded, they had left it all on the court.

If this was a battle of life and death, then winning would be everything, but it’s not. As players, and especially fans, we have to remember this is a game being played by young men who are developing skills and leadership traits that will someday lead their lives, and possibly ours.

No $1 million contracts are involved here, but the hearts of young athletes giving their all to learn some of the lessons of life and give many of us a few minutes of excitement.

As I grow older, I remember running faster, jumping higher, and scoring more points than I actually did when I played ball.

My hope is as these young men move through life, they’ll look back on their days of glory on the floor of the Spartan Center with pride in their hearts for what they did.

Shining armor is pretty and goes in museums. Battle armor is soiled, often battered and hung in a closet where few see it. May the Spartans from the 2007-2008 Emery basketball team always wear their armor with pride, and hang it with dignity in their closets of life.