Preview: Sparta Trojans vs. Norwood Pirates
The Sparta Trojans will head out on the road to challenge the Norwood Pirates at 7:45 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Sparta scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Friday. They blew past Conway, posting a 88-51 victory at home. Given Sparta's advantage in MaxPreps' Missouri basketball rankings (they are ranked 39th, while Conway is ranked 342nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Norwood at home against Houston on Monday as the team secured a 66-26 victory.
Noah Drake and Cooper Vaughan were among the main playmakers for Norwood as the former scored 13 points along with four steals and the latter scored 17 points along with three steals. Another player making a difference was Peyton McDaris, who scored six points along with six assists and three steals.
Sparta pushed their record up to 19-4 with that victory, which was their 14th straight at home dating back to last season. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.9 points per game. As for Norwood, they are on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 16-7 record this season.
Sparta took their victory against Norwood in their previous meeting back in December of 2022 by a conclusive 86-65. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sparta since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
