By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
SPARTA — Playing with five first-year starters, Sparta captured the championship of its own Lady Trojans Classic on Saturday for the first time in 12 years and also beat Strafford for the first time in 12 years.
The Lady Trojans edged the Lady Indians 40-36 in the tourney’s title tilt.
The win stopped Sparta’s losing streak against Strafford at seven games.
Sparta features four senior starters who have waited for this season for their time to shine, after serving as backups the past three seasons.
“I found a quote I wrote down on the blackboard in my office that I told the girls, ‘This represents you,’” Lady Trojans coach Josh Loveland said. “The quote says, ’What’s been delayed won’t be denied.’ The successful group we had in front of these girls kind of delayed them being in the spotlight. Before the game tonight that was my talk to them. I told them, ‘This is your chance right here and right now to put your stamp on how good you want to be and at what level you want to compete at.'”
The championship serves as the sweetest confirmation, yet, for Sparta’s new starters that they can keep the Lady Trojans among the area’s small-school elite.
Sparta (10-4) also owns a win this season against another long-time nemesis by beating Blue Eye last month.
“At the beginning of the season, we had a new starting five, (so) we’re down,” Sparta guard Livi Loveland said while summing up what the Lady Trojans felt people thought of them in the pre-season. “But after playing at the level we’ve been competing at against good teams, we know now, ‘No, we’re not down, we’re as good as we’ve ever been.’”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Livi Loveland was named the Tournament MVP, after she scored eight points and helped handle the ball against Strafford’s full-court pressure.
Averi Leyland led Sparta’s offense with 11 points and Laine Forgey added nine.
The Lady Trojans led by as many as 11 points, 27-16. They held off a late Strafford rally, maintaining at least a three-point lead down the stretch.
Sparta won thanks to a defensive effort that held Strafford to just 20 points through the first three quarters.
“Our goal tonight was to contest every shot,” Josh Loveland said. “We competed at a high level the entire game.”
“They did a good job of getting us uncomfortable,” Strafford coach Dustin Larsen said. “We struggled in the first half. A lot of it had to do with what they did.”
Lauren Jones scored nine of her 12 points in the fourth quarter to lead Strafford.
“Our kids have to continue to grow, that’s what a season is about,” Larsen said. “We have to let this one be with us until midnight, understand what we did wrong and keep moving on and keep moving up.”
The championship game was played less than 24 hours after the passing of coach Loveland’s grandfather, Gerald Loveland. ‘Papa Gerald,’ as he was known throughout Sparta, was a fixture at Sparta boys and girls basketball games.
“Grandpa was in the building for them,” Larsen said. “For (Josh) to be here coaching this game after losing such an important part of their community and his family, my heart goes out to him.”
Josh Loveland couldn’t fight back tears after the game.
“I wasn’t crying or celebrating just because we beat them, even though it does feel really good to finally beat them,” Loveland said. “I was overcome with emotions about how proud (‘Papa Gerald’) would be about how our kids played.”
Sparta 40, Strafford 36
STRAFFORD (36) — Ally Rust 0 0-2 0, Brooklyn Adney 2 1-2 6, Lauren Jones 5 0-0 12, Reese Darnell 1 0-0 3, Zoe Allison 1 3-4 5, Elsie Larsen 2 1-2 7.
SPARTA (40) — Mya Fulton 1 3-6 5, Laine Forgey 4 0-2 9, Averi Leyland 4 1-2 11, Amree Youngmon 3 1-3 7, Livi Loveland 1 5-8 8.
Strafford 7 6 7 16 – 36
Sparta 6 7 16 11 – 40
3-point goals – Leyland 2, Jones 2, Larsen 2, Darnell, Adney, Loveland.
