With their fate in their own hands, the formula for the Sparta Trojans to conquer the SWCL was simple: a win tonight equaled a conference championship. The task, however, was not as simple as the Clever Bluejays (20-5, 6-0 SWCL) denied the Trojans the title with a 52-48 win. Clever now has the opportunity to win the conference outright for the first time in eight years with a win at Billings on Thursday night.
It was an intense battle the entire evening as Sparta (17-9, 6-1 SWCL) battled back in the second half after being down 36-28 at halftime. Trojans junior guard Landon Davis hit a field goal early in the fourth quarter that cut Clever’s lead to 42-41. Clever then turned up the defense and never looked back as they held on down the stretch.
It was a tale of two halves for the Bluejays as the majority of their offense came in the first half, which was highlighted by four three-pointers from junior guard Jakob Partee. The second half was a different story.
“I thought we had a great first half,” said Bluejays head coach Luke Brosius. “We were aggressive. We did a great job getting out in transition. We got some good looks. Partee kind of got rolling a little bit, and then they changed some things up on how they guarded. In the third quarter, we just came out and I think the first seven possessions we didn’t score, and we didn’t do a very good job of containing them.”
Although the first (and only) field goal for Clever in the second half came with under a minute to go in the third quarter, it was clutch free-throw shooting that allowed the Bluejays to hang on for the win. They shot an impressive 13-for-15 from the charity stripe in the second half.
Brosius was quick to point out how important it is to have a team that can shoot the ball from the free-throw line.
“We’ve been shooting the ball really well at the free-throw line,” said Brosius. “I think we were 12-for-13 [from the line] in the fourth quarter, and that kind of ices games when you can shoot like that.”
It was a hard fought win for the Bluejays, but that is exactly what Partee expected.
“It was a physical game,” said Partee. “Sparta came to play, and we knew they would.”
With so much on the line, Partee praised the way his team was able to withstand the push by Sparta in the second half.
“It was a big game,” said Partee. “I think we handled ourselves real well considering the pressure they put on us. We made our free throws at the end and pulled it out.”
Partee led the Bluejays with 18 points on the night, while Davis (23 points) and senior forward Collin Gimlin (20 points) combined to score 43 of Sparta’s 48 points.
Sparta will begin district play at Mansfield on February 23 against the Fordland Eagles. Clever will be at Billings on Thursday night.
Box Score
Sparta 15 13 11 9—48
Clever 20 16 4 12—52
Sparta – Landon Davis 23, Collin Gimlin 20, Tristan Eaton 3, Logan Rutherford 2
Clever – Jakob Partee 18, Devan Hampton 9, Dawson Little 8, Jakob Albright 6, Jared Sopok 4, Derek Sopok 3, Mark Christoffer 2, Skylan Akins 2
