The Sun Valley Spartans's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their third straight loss. They took a 56-48 hit to the loss column at the hands of Ardrey Kell. While losing is never fun, Sun Valley can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 227th, while Ardrey Kell is ranked 16th).
Sun Valley's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Tyra Robinson, who scored 17 points along with 6 rebounds. Robinson scored a full 35.4% of Sun Valley's points, the fifth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Chloe Grant, who scored 7 points along with 10 rebounds.
Even though they lost, Sun Valley were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 22 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Ardrey Kell only pulled down 12.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Ardrey Kell to victory, but perhaps none more so than Bryson McCoy, who scored 8 points along with 14 rebounds. Skyler Fleck was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with 3 steals.
Sun Valley has not been sharp recently, as they've lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-4 record this season. As for Ardrey Kell, the win was the fourth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 7-1.
Sun Valley will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against Queen's Grant at 6:00 p.m. Queen's Grant comes in on a streak of failing to score more than 12 points in their last five games, a trend the team is of course eager to reverse. As for Ardrey Kell, they will head out on the road to face off against Cuthbertson at 6:00 p.m. on Monday.