By Chris Parker
Sparta will make the transition from one strong basketball conference in the SWCL to another in the Summit Conference this season.
Both conferences present their own challenges according to Sparta girls basketball head coach Joshua Loveland.
“The SWCL has been a really tough conference over the past 10-15 years with multiple schools going to their respective final fours and winning a few state championships including Sparta in 2009, Crane’s run of four in a row, and then the last four of five years Blue Eye made multiple final four trips,” Loveland said. “Leaving that you would think that you would be in good shape, however last year Fordland and Norwood both played each other for a trip to the final four. So, the Summit conference right now is probably tougher than the SWCL, since Fordland came out of Blue Eye and Crane’s district last year as the champions.”
The Sparta girls basketball program has won at least 19 games in four straight seasons. The Lady Trojans will have to replace some talented graduated players to keep that streak alive this season.
“I think even though we graduated a good senior group we have the talent and the experience in both our returning lettermen and our up and comers to win 19 or more again and hopefully compete for a district championship,” Loveland said. “We are focusing this year on our offense and the fact that we have to turn the ball over less than we have in the past, and we have to be more efficient offensively and we have to be better from the free throw line. If we can do those things I think we are going to have a great season.”
The Lady Trojans return five players who saw action in at least 17 varsity games last season.
Senior Amree Youngmon is the team’s leading returning scorer at 7 points per game.
“(Youngmon) was a huge part of our success the last two years off the bench,” Loveland said. “Amree also led us in scoring multiple games off the bench last season and for a better part of the first half of the season was our leading scorer.”
Fellow senior Mya Fulton saw action in all 28 games and scored 4.1 points per game.
“Mya is going to be a true scoring point guard for us,” Loveland said. “She has three years of varsity experience and had a really good second half of the season last year, leading us in scoring multiple games off the bench. With more minutes and more scoring opportunities I look for her to have a really good senior campaign.”
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Alivia Loveland also played in all 28 games last season as a junior.
“Alivia also has multiple years of varsity experience and is a very versatile player that can shoot the three, play inside, and handle the basketball,” Coach Loveland said. “She is a good defender and rebounds really well. We are going to expect Alivia to score more this year for us and be more of a presence offensively.”
Layne Forgey returned from an ACL tear around Christmas break and provided production in the back half of the season.
“Layne tore her ACL last year and didn’t play any varsity minutes until Christmas break,” Loveland said. “With half a season under her belt, she is going to be a player that will fly under the radar for a while but it won’t last long. She can do a lot of good things for us on both ends of the floor.”
Senior forward Madeline Brown rounds out the returning players
“Madeline is a good defender and has improved every day offensively,” Loveland said. “Madeline is a hard worker and is going to compete every day.”
Averi Leyland (senior guard), Sami Jo Walker (junior center), Sydney Willis (sophomore guard) and Reese Loveland (sophomore guard) will all be newcomers to the varisty lineup.
Coach Loveland on Leyland: “Averi Leyland played up until her sophomore season and she is coming back this year as a senior. She is super athletic, quick, and a good shooter. She is immediately going to make an impact for us offensively and defensively.”
Coach Loveland on Walker: “Sami Jo is as strong as a high school girl can get; however, she is also pretty fast. She is improving offensively and is pretty good around the basket. Defensively, she won’t be pushed around by anybody, and she is going to battle for every rebound. We look for her to compete for varsity minutes this year.”
Coach Loveland on Willis: “We look for Sydney to compete for varsity minutes as well, she has really developed her outside shot and is pretty good off the dribble. She is an extremely hard worker every single day.”
Coach Loveland on Reese Loveland: “Reese is a good shooter, and she is a good ball handler that handles pressure really well. We think Reese is going to compete for time on the varsity team as well.”
Defense will be the focus for Sparta again this season. Last year, eight different players averaged at least one steal per game.
“We are going to be very good defensively,” Loveland said. “We are going to be able to pressure teams and speed them up and turn them over, but also be solid in a half court against good teams and make it hard for them to score.”
The team’s top three leading scorers graduated meaning Sparta will be looking for new players to step up in that department.
“We lost our top three leading scorers from last year. This year’s team has to focus on the process, control the pace of the game and limit turnovers,” Loveland said. “We have the players that are capable of scoring, but everybody has to buy in and trust each other to show up every day and just do their job.”
Sparta opens the regular season Nov. 27 through Dec. 2 at the Blue Eye Invitational.
“We want to compete for a conference championship and a district championship,” Loveland said. “We were SWCL Conference champs two out of the last three years. The last three years we have been in a district with Fair Grove and Strafford, and we have come close to winning but haven’t been able to get it done. This group of players were there for those close calls and know that what they gave last time wasn’t enough. I am challenging them to give more this year and see what happens.”
