Lions drop tough contest to Sparta

The Mansfield Lions’ basketball team saw their seven game winning streak come to an end on Friday night after falling to state-ranked Sparta, 86-74. This loss came just one week after the Lions defeated their Summit Conference foe by 11 in the Sparta Trojan Invitational.
It was all Mansfield in the first quarter as Kellen Campbell and Malachi Ussery both scored seven points during an 18-9 run. The game went completely in the opposite direction in the second quarter as the Trojans made a 25-9 run to help Sparta go up seven at halftime.
Both teams combined to score 99 points in the second half.
Campbell paced Mansfield with 10 in the third and seven more in the fourth while Jace Headrick had 17 points.
Unfortunately, Sparta’s Abel Hume scored 29 of his game-high 48 points in the final two quarters.
Campbell led the Lions with 26 points; Headrick had 19; Ussery 11; Fisher Croney eight; Haven Proetz five; Kaden Young three; and Cole Whorton two.
Mansfield opened their week by dominating Dora, 88-40.
The Lions scored 27 points in the opening quarter as six different players scored.
Mansfield added another 27-point frame in the third as Croney had six points and Young scored five..
Proetz scored a team-high 23 points; Headrick had 19; Campbell had 12; Young nine; Whorton and Croney had eight; Ussery five; and both Brayden Stuart and Zach Perkins had two points.
Mansfield’s record is now 16-6 on the season.