After a string of three wins, the Ash Grove Pirates's good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. They took a hard 84-70 fall against Sparta. While losing is never fun, Ash Grove can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Missouri basketball rankings (they are ranked 180th, while Sparta is ranked 29th).
Sparta had a senior duo take command as Jacob Lafferty dropped a double-double on 37 points and 20 rebounds and Walker Loveland scored 20 points along with five assists and five rebounds. That makes it six consecutive games in which Lafferty has scored at least 25% of Sparta's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Leeanthoney Mayes, who scored nine points.
Ash Grove's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 4-2. As for Sparta, they pushed their record up to 6-0 with that win, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Ash Grove will face off against Fair Grove at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Sparta's road trip will continue as they head out to face Carthage at 6:00 p.m. on December 15th. One thing working in Carthage's favor is that they have posted big point totals every time they've taken the court this season.
