Norwood beats Sparta in state-ranked battle

In a battle of state-ranked teams last Friday night, Norwood (No 5., Class 2) overcame some adversity to defeat Summit Conference foe Sparta (No. 9, Class 3) on Homecoming night, 49-41.
Playing without leading scorer Carder Kelly for most of the night due to sickness, many other Pirates would need to step up and they did just that in the big win over the Trojans.
Six different Norwood players scored in the opening frame as Carson Vaughan came off the bench to lead his team with four points.
The Pirates opened the second quarter on a 9-1 run as Laken Coatney scored two straight baskets with assists from Pierce Lawson for a 23-15 lead.
Brady Vaughan then hit a 3-pointer off the bench to push the lead to 10 later in the quarter.
Norwood  was up seven entering the third, where they made just 1-of-7 shots early in that frame.
Sparta made a 6-2 run to cut the lead to three when Remington Hill made a 3-pointer to stop their momentum.
Hill then opened the fourth quarter with another 3-pointer for his own 6-0 run.
Andrew Bradshaw then assisted Carson Vaughan for a score to push the run to 8-0 and the lead to 11.
Lawson would hit 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch to help seal the eight-point win.
Norwood’s defense forced Sparta to turn the ball over 14 times in the first half.
They also held Sparta’s leading scorer Abel Hume to just nine points through three quarters. He would finish with 16.
Carson Vaughan scored a team-high 13 points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal; Hill had nine points and one assist; Lawson scored nine points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists; Coatney tallied eight points, four rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block; Brady Vaughan added six points, five rebounds and one assist; and Bradshaw had four points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal.
In extremely limited time, Kelly had just one steal. He was later crowned Homecoming King.
In another Summit Conference win, the Pirates jumped out to a 33-13 first quarter lead on Conway and never looked back in the easy 85-45 win.
Norwood scored 24 points or more in the first three quarters of action.
They made nine, 3-pointers in the win.
Kelly scored 23 points; Coatney had 17; Lawson 15; Bradshaw nine; Hill eight; Hunner Finch scored seven points; Brady Vaughan five; and Carson Vaughan had one point.
Norwood is the No. 2 seed in the Class 2, District 10 Tournament and will take on Dora at 6 p.m. on Feb. 24 in Mansfield.
A win gives them a semifinals match-up against either Mansfield or Summersville at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 26.
The championship game is at 3 p.m. on Feb. 28.