Basketball Recap: Sparks Takes a Loss

Sparks was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their 13th straight loss. They were dealt a 63-28 defeat at the hands of the North Valleys Panthers. The Railroaders were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 35-13.

Several Railroaders players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Eli Flores, who posted 13 points. That was a full 46.4% of Sparks' points, marking the third time in a row he's scored more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Joshua Castillo-Rodriguez, who put up five points.

Joshua Collins continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for North Valleys, going 9 of 15 en route to 20 points and five assists. Another player making a difference was Kadyn Shackelford, who went 5 for 8 on his way to 13 points.

Sparks' loss dropped their record down to 2-18. As for North Valleys, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 12-4.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Sparks will venture away from home to challenge Truckee at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Sparks is facing Truckee at the right time seeing as Truckee is stuck on a five-game losing streak. As for North Valleys, they are taking a road trip to face off against Fernley at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. North Valleys is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 60.4 points per game this season.