CARTHAGE — Jacob Lafferty has come a long way since his first dunk, whenever that might have been.
“My eighth-grade year, I jumped up and dunked and the ball hit the top of the rim and bounced up and went in," Laffery said. "I counted that as a dunk. I was a 13-year-old and said, ‘Yes!’
“If that wasn’t a dunk, my first one was freshman year against Billings,” he added.
Lafferty’s dunks are easily distinguished now, even if his position on the floor isn’t.
Lafferty racked up a pair of dunks during his 35-point night in another showcase performance that powered Sparta to a 74-52 Class 3 Sectional win against Southwest on Monday.
Often referred to as a center, Lafferty’s proper designation would seem to be front-line phenom. Whether playing with his back to the basket or facing the hoop, he shot down Southwest with 12-of-19 shooting and was one rebound short of adding to his double-double total.
“He's not a center and we don't want to limit him,” coach Deric Link said. “He can be more than just what a center is and for him to play at the next level, he's going to have to be more than just a back-to-the-basket guy. What his goals are as far as his own basketball career, me putting his back to the basket, wouldn't help him achieve what he wants to achieve. Sometimes, it's about their growth more than it is ours. We have some sets where we will post him up because we like the matchup. But more times than not, he's as good a threat driving to the rim than he is posting up.”
Lafferty is loving life as a part-time center, part-time power forward and part-time small forward.
“Back in my freshman year, I hated getting hacked down low and it was hard to score,” he said. “Whenever you get a little ‘handle,’ you can get out and blow by people, I have a quick first step. I can be so much more of a playmaker now than I was my freshman and sophomore years.
“And, I get so many more dunks now, it's great,” he added.
Ideal is how Sparta looked offensively Monday.
Taking their turns to shine, Lafferty exploded for 19 points in the third quarter, Kavan Walker netted all 17 of his points in the second quarter and Dexter Loveland provided eight points in the first quarter on his way to 16 points.
Per usual, Lafferty and Loveland scored around the basket and Walker fired away from the perimeter.
Sparta (24-5) steadily pulled away from Southwest (21-8).
“We say we complement each other better than any other team we're going to play,” Walker said.
Sparta’s bandwagon is seemingly ever-growing and traveled well Monday. All along, the most ardent members of the fan clubs for Lafferty, Walker, Dexter and Walker Loveland, Steven Brown and sixth-man Mason Letterman have been each other.
“Me and Steven, our speciality is outside shots,” Walker said. “That opens everything up for Jake and Dexter on the inside. Walker is great at getting by his man and getting to the paint and making the right read, whether's its a kick-out or a dump-off. It's awesome when Jake's attacking the rim and throwing it down over guys because then the defense has to collapse and that opens up the outside game for me and Steven.”
“It's a hand-in-hand thing,” Lafferty said. “If Kavan is hitting shots, it's going to help me because they have to go out and guard him. I'm great at getting to the rim. If I can get to the rim, everyone collapses. That opens up so much. It opens up lanes and opens up shots outside.”
Link has stressed to his players not to worry about doing too much.
“We've identified with each kid that they're really good at and how it complements us as a whole,” Link said. “Our guys play to their strengths. Too many times we look at our weaknesses and feel we have to improve those too much, that our strengths don't improve. There’s no need to do something that isn't your strength. We try to play to our strengths as much as possible and all our strengths complement each other.”
Walker’s 17-point second quarter saw him swish 5-of-7 3-point attempts.
“The second quarter, after it was over, everyone was saying, 'Great quarter, you had 17 in that quarter,’” Walker said. ‘I said, 'Man, really?' I knew I got hot, but didn't realize I had gotten that hot. I thought I had hit one or two 3s in the first quarter, but I guess I was wrong.”
Sparta advances to meet Thayer (24-4), which beat Steelville 78-55 Monday.
Sparta and Thayer will meet in a Quarterfinal at 8 p.m. Friday on the campus of Central Missouri State, of all places. A Class 2 Quarterfinal between Hartville and Marionville will tip off at 6:15 p.m., also in Warrensburg.
It will be at least a two-hour drive to and from for all four teams and for Thayer, a four-hour trip.
“I hope I get my own two lanes (of seats) on the bus again. I laid down across and slept all the way (to Carthage),” Lafferty said.
Sparta 74, Southwest 52
SOUTHWEST (52) — L. Paulsen 6 0-2 12, Brooks 4 1-1 12, Corwin 3 3-4 10, Holder 3 3-4 9, B. Paulsen 3 0-0 7, Pippin 1 0-0 2.
SPARTA (52) — D. Loveland 7 2-4 16, Brown 1 0-0 3, Lafferty 12 8-12 35, Walker 6 0-0 17, W. Loveland 1 1-2 3.
Southwest 15 14 11 12 - 52
Sparta 21 20 20 13 - 74
3-point goals - Walker 5, Brooks 3, Brown, Corwin, B. Paulsen.
