Five High School Basketball games featured on MOARK Sports Friday include some close games, an unexpected blowout, and a huge rally.
Sparta Edges Hollister
A back and forth game that saw the visiting Trojans lead most of the first half while the Tigers had the advantage most of the second half came down to the final seconds that saw Sparta's Walker Loveland catch a lop pass and bank in a shot off the backboard with just over two seconds remaining. Hollister's last effort fell short and the Trojans escape with a 48-47 win. Garrett Snyder for Hollister and Jacob Lafferty for Sparta tie for game high score with 22 points each.
Sparta Girls Tournament
While the Hollister Boys were wrapping up their game at home, in Sparta, the Hollister Girls were in the middle of trying to erase a huge early deficit against Bakersfield in a Tournament Consolation Game. The Lady Tigers were hit with a Technical Four for incorrect jersey followed by an 8-0 run to start the game for the Lady Lions that grew to 13 points at the end of the quarter. The Lady Tigers spent the rest of the game coming back and finally overtook the Lady Lions with 1:40 left in the game and held on for a 45-42 win. Brisa Gere scores 13 to led the Lady Tigers.
Meanwhile the other Lakes Area team in the tournament had a surprising easy win as Forsyth rolled by Hartville 45-16 just four days after holding off the Lady Eagles in a home win by only seven points. In the rematch in the tournament semi-finals, both teams started slow but the Lady Panthers quickly got the offense going while the Lady Eagles never scored more than six points in a quarter. Forsyth built such big lead that most of the fourth quarter was a continuous running clock. Emmy Blevins knocked down 14 points to lead the offense that saw all of the Lady Panther top seven players score. Top seeded Sparta pulled away from Norwood in the other semi-final 48-28 while Springfield Greenwood topped Gainesville in the other consolation game 50-21.
MOARK Sports will have coverage of Hollister's and Forsyth's final games of the tournament. The Lady Tigers will take on Springfield Greenwood for 5th Place at 4:30 while the Lady Panthers play host Sparta for the Championship at 7:30. Both games can be heard on the Forsyth Channel at MOARK Sports Dot Com.
Harrison Splits
A split for the Harrison teams in their 5A Conference Openers at Alma on Friday. Lady Goblins fall to the home team 39-34 while the Goblins grab a road win to open conference play 54-46. The teams will have their home openers in conference play on Tuesday against Mountain Home.
