Basketball Recap: Red Bud Comes Up Short

Red Bud was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They took a 62-47 bruising from the Sparta Bulldogs. While losing is never fun, the Musketeers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 516th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 158th).

Sparta's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Dariontez Monroe led the charge by going 12 of 13 en route to 27 points in addition to six assists and five boards. The dominant performance gave Monroe a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jake Wesbecher, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 16 rebounds.

Red Bud's loss dropped their record down to 4-11. As for Sparta, their victory was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-4.

Red Bud will challenge Pinckneyville at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. As for Sparta, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 52-46 win against Gibault Catholic on the 16th.