Bulldogs take second in regionals

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[In the semifinals of last weeks Class 2A Chester Regional Tournament, Sparta defeated Red Bud by a score of 65-60. Red Bud jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, but Sparta battled back and held a four point advantage by the end of the first quarter. The Bulldogs took several big leads the rest of the way, but the Musketeers were able to make several comebacks to keep the game close.

Things got especially interesting late in the third quarter. One play resulted in a technical on a Sparta player, while the subsequent play featured a little trash-talking by both squads and forced the referees to separate the players and call a timeout to let everyone settle down. The outcome was not decided until the final seconds as Red Bud only trailed by two very late in the game before a few key free throws by Sparta sealed the victory.

Offensive leaders for Sparta were David Sams with 19, Dartanus White with 13, Maurice Austin with 12, London Oliver with 10, Blake Shelton with seven and Austin Peck with four. Sams also led in steals while Austin was the top rebounder.

Red Bud's leading scorer was Adam Kunkel with 17 while Jake Hoffman put in 14, Kory Liefer had 13, Stefan Gregson scored 11, Tyler Magruder put in three and Rhett Ringering added two. Hoffman and Kunkle both had several steals while Gregson was the top rebounder.

In the championship game Sparta lost to the top-ranked Pinckneyville Panthers by a score of 55-42 in front of a packed house at Chester High School. Sparta stayed with the Panthers in the first quarter and only trailed by one in the opening seconds of the second, but then the Pinckneyville defense shut down the Bulldogs completely as they closed the half on a 10-0 run. The Panthers held a double digit lead for almost the entire second half as they pulled away for the win.

Over the course of the game the Bulldogs did manage to hit some impressive three-pointers, but they never were able to connect on many closer shots and were also held to only one free throw.

Austin was the leading scorer for Sparta with 15 points while Sams had 10, White and Shelton both put in six, Jordan Thompson had three and Peck added two. Shelton was the leading rebounder for Sparta, which finished the season with an overall record of 18-12.