The Reading Rangers were the 59-34 winner over the Springport Spartans when they last played one another back in February, but their luck changed this time around. Reading fell just short of Springport by a score of 42-40. While losing is never fun, Reading can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Michigan basketball rankings (they are ranked 335th, while Springport is ranked 109th).
Despite the loss, Reading saw an underclassman step up: Brayden Wright scored 18 points along with 4 steals. Wright scored a full 45% of Reading's points, the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Brady Kling was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with 3 steals.
Reading struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only three offensive rebounds. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Springport pulled down 11.
Springport's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Braydon Hawes, who scored 15 points along with 6 rebounds. The match was Hawes' third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Gabe Rainey, who scored 11 points along with 5 rebounds.
This is the second loss in a row for Reading and nudges their season record down to 1-2. As for Springport, the victory was the fourth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 4-1.
Reading will be playing in front of their home fans against Bronson at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Bronson focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 12 on Friday. As for Springport, they will head out on the road to face off against Union City at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Union City focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up ten on Friday.
