The Trico Pioneers on the road again on Tuesday and play against the Sparta Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. on January 23rd. Trico will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Illinois Rankings (they are ranked 612th, while Sparta is ranked 263rd).
Trico suffered their biggest loss since December 27, 2023 on Friday. They suffered a rough 64-39 loss at the hands of Waterloo. Trico has not had much luck with Waterloo recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
Meanwhile, Sparta pushed their score all the way to 56 on Saturday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell just short of Red Bud by a score of 59-56. That's two games in a row now that Sparta has lost by exactly three points.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Damian Lanton, who scored 16 points along with eight rebounds. That's the first time this season that he pulled down eight or more rebounds. Dariontez Monroe was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with nine rebounds.
Trico has been struggling recently, as they've lost seven of their last eight contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-17 record this season. As for Sparta, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 12-8.
Trico came up short against Sparta when the teams last played back in January of 2023, falling 90-79. Can Trico avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
