The Sparks Railroaders's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their ninth straight loss. They took a 65-57 hit to the loss column at the hands of North Valleys. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Sparks' defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Omar McKenzie, who scored nine points along with 15 rebounds and three blocks. McKenzie has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last four times he's played. Another player making a difference was Jaoquin Tagulao, who scored 19 points along with five assists and two steals.
Among those leading the charge was Kadyn Shackelford, who scored 18 points along with nine rebounds and four steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. Josh Hunter was another key contributor, scoring 17 points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Sparks bumped their record down to 2-13 with that loss, which was their seventh straight on the road. As for North Valleys, they now have a winning record of 6-5.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Sparks will take on Hug at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Hopefully Hug focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 20 on Friday. As for North Valleys, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Portola at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Portola focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up eight on Friday.
