Sparta rolls past Arcadia on opening night of season

The Arcadia boys basketball team will have plenty to learn from after suffering a lopsided loss on the opening night of the 2024-25 season.

The Raiders (0-1) went on the road and were handed a 93-54 defeat by the host Sparta Spartans (1-0) in their non-conference tilt last Tuesday in Sparta.

The Spartans hit Arcadia with a barrage of points in the first half on their way to a decisive 54-33 halftime advantage — a hole that proved too deep for Arcadia to dig out of.

Arcadia senior guard Kaden Rotering was a bright spot for his team, tallying 17 points, including a trio of three-pointers. Other leaders for the Raiders were junior forward Max Blaschko with nine points, sophomore guard Jonah Slaby with seven points and sophomore guard Trevor Pronschinske with six points and five rebounds.

Sparta had a trio of double-digit scorers on the evening: Everett Laufenberg with 27 points, Gavin Rhead with 17 points and Grant Geier with 12 points.

Arcadia is on the road against Elk Mound on Tuesday night and then welcome in Black River Falls for its home opener on Thursday.

Arcadia (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points)—Grzadzielewski 2/9-0/1-2-1-5; Rotering 6/11-2/2-2-3-17; Hernandez 0/1-0/0-0-0-0; Teske 2/5-1/2-3-2-5; Conner 0/1-0/0-0-0-0; Pronschinske 2/5-0/0-5-0-6; Slaby 3/5-0/0-4-1-7; Olmos 0/2-0/0-1-0-0; Wegman 0/5-1/2-3-1-1; Smith 2/2-0/2-2-1-4; Blaschko 3/7-2/3-2-2-9.