Basketball Game Preview: Sparta Bulldogs vs. Marissa/Coulterville Meteors

The Sparta Bulldogs will challenge the Marissa/Coulterville Meteors at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Sparta is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They came out on top against Ste. Genevieve by a score of 80-67 back in December of 2024. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Bulldogs.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Sparta to victory, but perhaps none more so than Dariontez Monroe, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 12 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 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Sparta was working as a unit and finished the game with 25 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Marissa/Coulterville, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Saturday. They were the clear victor by a 76-51 margin over East Alton-Wood River on Saturday. The Meteors have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three matchups by 25 points or more this season.

Marissa/Coulterville has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 5-3 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.8 points per game. As for Sparta, their victory bumped their record up to 8-3.

Sparta beat Marissa/Coulterville 56-47 in their previous meeting back in January of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sparta since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.