Red Bud coach Janelle Pfeiffer came into the Sparta Invitational Tournament with a perfect 3-0 record after winning the title last year. You can now push  her record up to 6-0 in the tournament after leading her team to back-to-back championships Saturday.
“For this being the beginning of the season, the girls played pretty well,” said Pfeiffer. “We really wanted to win this tournament for the second year in a row and the girls came out and fought through three games to get it.”
The Lady Musketeers sealed the tournament title Saturday night with a  70-48 victory over Sparta.
Senior Tara Hubert and Tori Albert combined for 45 points to lead Red Bud to the win. But it wasn’t easy, Sparta gave Red Bud all it can handle in the first half before the Lady Musketeers pulled away late.
“We did not rebound well in the first half,” said coach Pfeiffer. “We did a much better job in the second half.”
Sparta behind senior guard Jade Vaughn showed Red Bud early that they were here to play. Vaughn scored the first five points for the Lady Bulldogs and finished the opening quarter with seven. Kendra Kessler came off the bench to score five points for Sparta
Red Bud’s offense wasn’t real smooth early on but six different players scored to give them a 21-15 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
Kessler knocked down back-to-back three points to tie the game 21-21 under a minute into the second quarter.
Hubert scored 10 points in the frame to spark a 14-2 run by Red Bud for a 35-23 run.
Vaughn scored the last two buckets of the quarter to cap off a 6-0 run by the Lady Bulldogs to cut the deficit to 35-29 at the break.
“Our goal was to keep Vaughn out of the lane and force Sparta to take outside shots,” said coach Pfeiffer. Kessler came in and made some big three’s and made us change up our defense.”
After a basket by Katelyn Blount and a free throw from Vaughn, Red Bud’s lead was reduced to three points, 35-32 early in the third. However, the senior leadership of the Lady Musketeers took over. Hubert and Albert each scored six points in the quarter, as Red Bud outscored Sparta 17-5 the rest of the way through the quarter for a 52-38 lead.
Red Bud outscored Sparta 18-10 in the final quarter to pull away for the 70-48 win.
Hubert finished with a game high 25 points, while Albert added 20.
“Those two are definitely our senior leaders,” said coach Pfeiffer. “They have the capability to play that well every game.”
Ali Ringering chipped in with 12 points for Red Bud, while Vaughn had 20 to lead Sparta. Also for Sparta, Blount finished with 12 and Kessler added 11.
Red Bud finished tournament play with a 3-0 record, while Sparta went 0-3.
“We got better each game,” said Sparta coach April York. “The team progressed drastically from the first game. Jade and Kendra played very well. We need people to step up and be leaders and they did that tonight.”
Hubert, Albert, Ringering and Vaughn were all named to the all-tournament team along with Sesser-Valier guard Chelsea Miller.
Sesser-Valier 41, Trico 24
After falling behind 15-9 in the first quarter, Sesser-Valier outscored Trico 32-9 over the final three quarters for a 41-24 victory Saturday to claim second place in the tournament.
“I think we played well in the first half,” said Trico coach Steve Vogt. “But we have to take care of the ball better. Turnovers killed us tonight along with our free throw shooting. We are a young team and I have seen some improvement but we have to get our mistakes stopped.”
Trico was just 4-of-13 from the free throw line and turned the ball over 23 times. It was the Lady Pioneers’ defense that set the tone early. Trico using a 2-3 zone caused Sesser-Valier trouble in the first quarter. Sesser-Valier was just 3-of-13 from the field in the frame as Trico made 7-of-9 attempts for a 15-9 lead despite having nine turnovers.
Trico’s shooting cooled off drastically in the second quarter. The Lady Pioneers made just 1-of-7 shots and went 0-for-5 from the free throw line as Sesser-Valier outscored them 12-2 for a 21-17 lead at the break.
Sesser-Valier used a 7-1 run in the third quarter to push its lead  up to double digits. Trico’s offense was nonexistent going 1-of-6 from the floor with seven turnovers. The Lady Devils outscored Trico 13-4 for a 34-21 lead after three quarters of play.
Sesser-Valier scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Trico was 1-of-8 from the floor in the fourth with five turnovers.
Jordan Lodge was the high scorer for Trico with five points, while Ashley Modglin had four.
Trico 40, Sparta 35
Trailing 35-34, Trico scored the final six points of the game to grab a 40-35 victory over Sparta Friday night. The final quarter saw 10 lead changes as both teams fought for the win down the stretch.
Rebekah Dilday and Katelyn Thies each had 11 points to pace Trico, while Jordan Lodge had 10.
Katelyn Blount and Jade Vaughn each had 14 to lead Sparta.
The two teams combined for 11 turnovers in the first quarter and it was Trico that held a slim 9-8 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
The second quarter saw four lead changes but at the break the Lady Pioneers held a 17-15 advantage.
Neither team shot the ball well in the third quarter. Sparta was 3-of-16 from the field, while Trico wasn’t much better at 3-of-15. The two teams combined for 13 turnovers in the frame but Trico outscored Sparta 7-6 for a 24-21 lead heading into the fourth.
A three-pointer by Vaughn capped a 6-0 run by Sparta early in the quarter as the Lady Bulldogs claimed a 27-24 lead.
The lead would change hands a number of times until a jumper by Dilday with two minutes to play gave Trico the lead for good. Down the stretch, the Lady Pioneers made 4-of-8 free throws to clinch the five-point win.
Trico improved to 1-1 in tournament play, while Sparta dropped to 0-2.
Red Bud 40, Sesser-Valier 32
In what turned out to be the championship of the invitational, Red Bud was clutch from the free throw line late in the game to ice a 40-32 win.
“Not taking away anything from the other teams, but we looked at this game as the championship,” said Red Bud coach Janelle Pfeiffer. “We knew it would be a battle. Sesser played awesome defense. It was a great test for us early. We concentrate on free throw shooting in practice. Free throws win games. When you are not shooting well from the field, you have to get points some other way.”
Red Bud trailed 30-28 in the fourth quarter but went 9-of-12 from the foul line, while Sesser-Valier went 0-of-7 from the field and just 2-of-4 from the line during that same stretch. Sophomore Ali Ringering was especially clutch going 5-of-6 from the line in the fourth.
Tara Hubert had five points in the first quarter to lead Red Bud to a 12-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Red Bud pushed its lead to eight points on two separate occasions in the second quarter but missed its final six shots as Sesser-Valier ended the half with a 5-0 run to trail just 20-17 at the intermission.
The Lady Musketeers finished the third quarter with more turnovers, seven, than points, six. Sesser-Valier outscored Red Bud 9-6 in the third to tie the game 26-26 heading into the fourth.
Sesser-Valier used a 4-2 scoring run to claim a 30-28 lead but a traditional three-point play from Grace Richards gave Red Bud the lead for good.
Hubert finished with 12 points, while Tori Albert had 11 and Ringering added nine.
Red Bud improved to 2-0 in tournament play, while Sesser-Valier dropped to 1-1.
Sesser-Valier 54, Sparta 8
Sparta was held to just four points in each half in a 54-8 defeat against Sesser-Valier Wednesday night.
The Lady Bulldogs trailed 15-0 at the end of the first quarter and 36-4 at halftime. Sesser-Valier outscored Sparta 18-4 in the second half to run away for the 46-point win.
Jade Vaughn and Victoria Ward each had three points to pace Sparta, while Tasha Doerr had a game-high 18 points for the Lady Devils.
Red Bud 53, Trico 14
Red Bud used big runs in the first and third quarters to blow past Trico 53-14 Wednesday night.
The Lady Musketeers led 20-3 at the end of the first quarter and 26-10 at the break. Red Bud used a 20-2 scoring run in the third to put the game out of reach.
Ali Ringering and Tara Hubert each had 11 points in the win, while Tori Albert finished with nine.
Kourtney Bunselmeyer scored six points to lead the Lady Pioneers