Preview: Pleasant Spartans vs. Cardington-Lincoln Pirates
The Pleasant Spartans will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against the Cardington-Lincoln Pirates at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Hopefully Pleasant focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up eight on Saturday.
Last Saturday, Pleasant came up short against Galion and fell 52-43. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points Pleasant has scored all season.
The losing side was boosted by Trey Booker, who scored 25 points along with six rebounds. He scored a full 58.1% of Pleasant's points, the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Wiley Smith, who scored five points along with five rebounds and three steals.
Cardington-Lincoln has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five contests by 20 points or more this season. They were the clear victor by a 63-43 margin over Danville. Given Cardington-Lincoln's advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 297th, while Danville is ranked 786th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Pleasant's loss dropped their record down to 5-4. As for Cardington-Lincoln, they pushed their record up to 5-1 with that victory, which was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Everything came up roses for Pleasant against Cardington-Lincoln in their previous matchup back in January as the squad secured a 59-30 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Pleasant since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
