Sparta has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will face off against the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks at 7:15 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Sparta's favor is that they have posted big point totals every time they've taken the court this season.
Sparta pushed their score all the way to 68 on Monday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 72-68 hit to the loss column at the hands of Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln. Sparta has struggled against Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln recently, as their contest on Monday was their third consecutive lost matchup.
Despite the loss, Sparta had strong showings from John Rice, who scored 19 points along with 4 steals, and Thomas Laufenberg, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 16 rebounds. The game was Laufenberg's third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Zach Treu, who scored 6 points.
Meanwhile, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau entered their tilt with Tomah with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau was the clear victor by a 65-44 margin over Tomah. Given Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau's advantage in MaxPreps' Wisconsin basketball rankings (they are ranked 80th, while Tomah is ranked 274th), the result on Tuesday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Sparta's victory lifted them to 2-1 while Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln's defeat dropped them down to 2-3.
Sparta was taken down by Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 85-51 when the teams last played back in November of 2022. Can Sparta avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
