The Spartans played a rare Saturday game at Cy Creek gym against arguably the best team in the District.   The game proved to be extremely competitive with a very low scoring 1st quarter.  A slow start and apparent lack of confidence for the Spartans led to a 5 point deficit, but SHS drew close to only be down by 2 with a 6-8 deficit at the end of the quarter.  Cy Creek dominated the offensive boards and running a very aggressive defense.   The 2nd quarter progressed with the deficit growing with the Cougars out-scoring the Spartans 17 to 12.   The low scoring half ended with an 18-25 deficit.  Too many second chances, very poor (1 for 8) 3-point shooting,  and continued aggressive Cougar defense led to the low Spartan scoring.  The 3rd quarter had Cy Creek beginning a full court press and frustrating Stratford.  Keanu Dawes had a deep 3 to get close at 28-34, but the Cougars had 2 buckets to regain a 10 point lead late in the quarter.   Q3 ended with a 39-45 Spartan deficit with a last second 2 pointer by the Spartans.   The Cougars continued their offensive rebounding onslaught at the onset of the 4th quarter.  The lead was narrowed to 51-58 with 3:44 to go.   That’s when the Spartans woke up and closed the deficit to 61-62 with :35 seconds to go.   That’s as close as they got.   The Cougars added 6 additional points and concluded with a 67-61 victory.  The story of the game was 16 SHS turnovers and extremely poor 3-point shooting while Cy Creek was very aggressive defensively and dominated the offensive rebounds.  Outstanding play:  Hawkins Polley dropped 17 points; Donovan Banks contributed 10 points, 4 steals, and 5 rebounds while Luke Hatcher poured in 8 points and ripped down 8 rebounds; Keanu Dawes poured in 15 points.  Full team statistics attached separately.