Sparta gets by Red Bud

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ It may have been cold outside Saturday, but the basketball action was definitely heating up Red Bud's high school gymnasium when the Musketeers took on the Sparta Bulldogs in boys basketball action. After a hard-fought battle that went back and forth, the visiting Bulldogs came away with a 68-67 victory.

Sparta led almost all of the first half, sometimes by as much as eight points, but Red Bud rallied to within two by halftime. The third quarter has to rank as one of the more unusual of the season. Red Bud dominated the first part and scored nine straight points to take a 38-31 lead, then Sparta came back with seven straight points to tie the game at 38-38. The teams traded points for the first few minutes of the fourth, then Sparta put together a seven point run to seemingly gain control. They did lead the rest of the way, but Red Bud kept things exciting as they got to within one point twice in the final seconds before time ran out on them.

Leading scorers for the Bulldogs were Dartanus White with 19 points, Weslin Kiner with 16, Blake Shelton with 13, David Sams with 12, Maurice Austin with five, London Oliver with two and Jordan Thompson with one. Kiner was also the leading rebounder for the Bulldogs and Sams led in steals.

Red Bud's scoring totals were Adam Kunkel with 25, Kory Liefer with 19, Stefan Gregson with eight, Rhett Ringering with six, Jacob Kueker with five and Jake Hoffman with four. Liefer made some key steals for the Musketeers.