No. 1 Emery takes out No. 2 Hurricane

ST. GEORGE — It's tough to win a playoff game, against the No. 2 team in the state no less, when you commit 21 turnovers and shoot just 38 percent from the field and 55 percent from the line.

Tough, but not impossible — especially when you're the No. 1 team.

Despite playing below their own lofty standards, top-ranked Emery did just enough Thursday evening at Dixie State College to eke out a thrilling 54-49 victory over Hurricane.

"I think we were fortunate to pull it away, because like our coach said a couple times we shot ourselves in the foot, basically beating ourself," said Emery all-state point guard Camille Fehlberg.

It's hard to imagine a game with 46 total turnovers could be exciting, but with two of the best offenses and defenses in 3A on display, the turnovers simply added to the drama. And according to Emery coach Steve Gordon, "as long as they commit a few more than us," that's OK. The final turnover count was Hurricane 25, Emery 21.

Emery moves onto the 3A semifinals with the win, and will face Wasatch today at 12:50 p.m. at the Burns Arena.

Without the experience of Fehlberg or the poise of super sophomores, it's hard to imagine Emery escaping a quarterfinal featuring seven lead changes and countless momentum shifts.

Down four at the end of the third quarter, Fehlberg and sophomore Jodi Robertson drilled back-to-back 3-pointers, and fellow sophomore ShiAnne Allred made consecutive lay-ups to put Emery in front 44-40. A few minutes later, Hurricane surged ahead 49-46 with Tigers' leading scorer Megan Clyde accounting for five of those nine points.

Clyde finished with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting.

"I kept telling them to make that one extra pass, I think we were panicking a bit," said Gordon.

Over the final three minutes Emery didn't allow another point, but the Spartans know the game could've easily gone either way.

Even when Emery pulled back in front 50-49 following back-to-back lay-ups from Allred and Robertson, Hurricane could've easily regained the lead with two free throws attempts at the 48 second mark. Unfortunately for the Region 9 co-champion Tigers, both freebies rattled off the rim, and when they got the ball back 11 seconds later, Emery junior Jalee Jensen had converted two foul shots of her own to seize a three-point lead.

At that point Hurricane had no choice but to fire up some desperation 3-pointers, but had no luck.

"They're a dang good team, a real good defensive team, and I think we're a good defensive team too," said Gordon. "It was just going to be who got the luck of the bounce."

Emery's balanced scoring contributed to the luck. Robertson finished with 17 points, while Fehlberg chipped in with 14 and Allred added 12.

"We just never gave up, and we just all dug down deep inside and gave it all we had," said Fehlberg, who knows she can ill afford to commit six turnovers in today's semifinal.

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E-mail: jedward@desnews.com