| Emery’s Davey Justice (13) brings the ball down court against the Dinos Bryan Gazell (12) with Miles Hunsaker following behind. |
The wet and snowy weather began to clear up on Wednesday and the cold air moved in. It looked like a good day for some high school basketball.
Then some dark clouds came in from the south and the Carbon Dinos fell under their spell losing their Region 8 home opener 59-45 in a game that seemed to just sneak up on everyone in the blue and white.
It was the usual rivalry game complete with a large and loud crowd, a super loud band and more animosity than is usually felt in the Dinogym for visiting teams like Lehi or Delta or even North Sanpete.
It was the renewal of an annual basketball rivalry, one which the Emery boys team has dominated the last few years.
But despite their record this Carbon team is better than it appears, and it proved it against some large school competition from Colorado the weekend before league play began.
But some way, somehow, it seems Emery has Carbon’s number.
The game began with Carbon staying up with Emery very well. It seemed the teams were evenly matched as they tied each other a few times. Then Emery pulled away by just a little. By the end of the quarter the score was 11-7, certainly not insurmountable for the Dinos.
In the second quarter the game started to waver as Carbon got new life and began to move up and challenge the Spartans. But just before the half a couple of miscues led easy baskets by the Spartans and they took over again, with a lead of 29-20 at the half.
But while Carbon was behind, it certainly wasn’t an overwhelming lead and the intensity of the game led most Dino fans to believe the team could come back and play over the heads of the Spartans.
And in the third quarter they did.
Carbon came back with a blistering attack and pressure defense which caused a lot of problems for Emery. While neither team scored well in the half, Carbon did outscore the Emery kids 13-12 in the quarter and that showed renewed hope for the fourth period.
Problem was, Emery didn’t seem to know they should fold.
Carbon missed a number of shots in the fourth period and Emery took advantage of it. They came down time and time again and scored, and by the three minute mark the game was out of reach.
If Carbon had a problem in this game it was not that they didn’t play with intensity; it may have been just the opposite. At times the players seemed more concerned about what the officials were doing than what their opposition had in mind. Two technical fouls and a couple more near technical fouls may have taken away from the concentration of the team.
But what may have really done Carbon in was Emery’s defense on Miles Hunsaker, the usually high scoring player who only had 7 points in the game.
The high scorer in this game for Carbon were Parker Parsons and Jeremy Barker with 8 each, and Brian Gazzell with 7, matching Hunsaker’s total.
Emery was led by Darin Winn with 18 and Joey Bernard with 17.
Carbon now continues it’s quest in Region 8 with a game at Delta on Wednesday night. The next home game for the Dinos is on Friday night when they meet North Sanpete.