Blue and Gold: Sparta wins instant classic over Bolivar to advance to Blue Division championship
Heading into the Blue and Gold Tournament, Sparta knew that no one expected them to advance to a semifinal game — let alone a championship.
There was no way Sparta, making its first appearance at the tournament since 2000, would be able to beat Ozark. The Trojans proved everyone wrong and showed they belonged with a 60-57 win over their Christian County neighbors.
Up next was Bolivar which was on fire on the back of Northern Iowa signee Kyle Pock. The Liberators were the overwhelming favorite while playing some of their best basketball through the first two games of the tournament.
Sparta didn't listen to that either and it will now play for its first Blue and Gold Tournament title since 1953.
ASKEW:Republic star Ahlante Askew's heroics help Tigers top Hartville in OT to advance to Blue title game
The Trojans won a 68-66 double-overtime thriller over Bolivar to advance to the Blue Division championship. It is the school's first championship appearance since 1954.
"This is all about making memories and what's a bigger memory than that?" Sparta head coach Deric Link said. "Win, lose or draw on that one, those kids are never gonna forget how they battled. I love their heart, love their toughness and love my guys."
Sparta is two years removed from a 6-17 season in 2020-21 before bouncing back and going 18-11 a season ago. During the same stretch, Bolivar appeared in a state championship game to go along with a 25-win season. A year ago, Bolivar won a Blue and Gold title while Sparta fell short against Forsyth in the Walnut Grove Holiday Classic.
GOLD DIVISION:2022 Blue and Gold Tournament: Takeaways, scores from Gold Division semifinals
The process was a long one that saw players blame each other when things went wrong and falling short in close games. Growing together as a team led the Trojans to overcome the adverse situations that gave seemingly the entire towns of Bolivar and Sparta a game they won't soon forget.
"Our kids are tough, they battle and they love each other," Link said. "They hold each other accountable and they just do a great job of fighting for each other and just kept finding a way."
From the first quarter on, the Trojans had to battle. They found themselves down by eight at the end of the first and by 10 at halftime. Star junior Jacob Lafferty was held scoreless in the first quarter and had just four when the Liberators knocked down a 3 at the second quarter buzzer to take the double-digit lead into the break.
Out of halftime, Lafferty scored 12 of the Trojans' 19 points in the third which included a game-tying triple with 2:37 left in the quarter. From then on, it was a ping-pong battle with neither team leading by more than five through double overtime.
TOP PERFORMERS:2022 Blue and Gold Tournament: The top performers from Wednesday's semifinal matchups
Sparta had one of those five-point leads with just 33 seconds left in regulation. The Liberators stormed back to tie it up behind a pair of Pock 3-pointers including one at the buzzer to send it to overtime.
"He missed a wide-open one earlier and we got lucky," Link said. "We weren't going to get lucky twice."
Pock scored 18 of his 25 points between the fourth and two overtime periods. Lafferty matched him the entire way with 25 points of his own with 21 coming after the first half.
"I told him at halftime to bring the show," Link said. "'Attack him. He cannot guard you. You probably can't guard him. Let's just give all these people here what we wanna see. Here's your challenge.'"
PHOTOS:Here are the News-Leader's photos from the 2022 Blue and Gold, Pink and White tournaments
Both teams had their opportunities in the first overtime period before Pock missed a game-winner at the buzzer. Sparta was led by 5-foot-5 junior Walker Loveland who scored seven points in the overtime periods including a clutch three-point play with 27 seconds left to force another period.
In the second overtime, Sparta had a one-point lead with five seconds left with Pock at the line who threw it off the rim, a Liberator teammate got the rebound and missed a game-winning 3 as the Trojans stormed the court in victory.
"The energy is through the roof right now," Loveland said. "We're all just unbelievably excited we've made it this far and I"m ready to go compete in the championship game. Nobody thought we would beat Ozark. And then we came out here and beat Bolivar in double overtime. The energy is definitely unbelievable right now."
Somehow, Sparta will have to move past one of the great games at the Blue and Gold Tournament in recent memory. The Trojans will play for a historic title on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Great Southern Bank Arena.
Win or lose on Thursday night, the Trojans will be able to reminisce a win that's been 68 years in the making. Perhaps they'll have a little more history to make.
"It's just absolutely outstanding," Loveland said. "Coach Link has done a fantastic job at bringing us together and letting each of us do our own roles to help us win a game. I think that's a huge part of our success is that we've just come together a whole lot more and we've just been a bunch of better team players."0
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Blue and Gold: Sparta beats Bolivar to advance to Blue championship
