Templars fall to Emery 65-74

By Matt Harris

01-17-2019

CASTLE DALE—After a hot start to the season, the Templars are staring down the barrel.

            The Manti boys’ basketball team lost their second straight game and dropped to 1-3 in Region 15 contests with a 74-65 loss to Emery. The Templars are now in sixth place in Region 15 and have lost three of their last four games after a 9-1 start.

             “In order to get back into the race, we need to…keep guys on the floor to keep regular rotations, and focus on taking care of the ball,” Head Coach Devin Shakespear said.” In the preseason, we did a good job limiting our turnovers, and we have had some uncharacteristically high turnover games to start region. We are working to reaffirm our identity and clean up the little things that we can control.”

            After the Templars spent most of their time playing from behind in the first half, they managed to even the score going into the second half, 31-31.

            Coming out in the second half, Emery rode the backs of seniors Brodie Tuttle and Kyson Stilson, who combined for 45 points in the game, to pull away from Manti, outscoring them in the third 21-13. By midway through the fourth, the Spartans pushed their lead to double digits and never looked back until the very end.

            Senior Mason Thompson finished as the Templars’ leading scorer with 17 points while senior Dallin Cox and sophomore Grady Thompson each netted 12.

            “We had too many unforced turnovers and gave up too many offensive rebounds,” Shakespear said. “We have got to control the things that we can control, and those are two things that we can control.”

            Manti has a championship rematch with South Sevier before hosting the first contest of the cross-county rivalry with North Sanpete this Friday at 7 p.m.