Sparta coach Deric Link can attest to how the basketball circles throughout SWMO and even over into SCMO seemingly can be small. He's only in his late 20s, but there are few schools the Trojans play or visit that Link doesn't already have an acquaintance.
"I've grown up in (education and athletics) my entire life and this is what I love," said Link, whose father was a coach and school administrator. "I know a lot of people. People are kind of shocked about who I know."
Case in point, Link already has a history with Thayer coach Matt Pitts entering Friday's Class 3 Quarterfinal matchup between Sparta and Thayer at Central Missouri State.
"Funny story, coach Pitts took over as head coach at Hartville for one year, before going back to Thayer as an assistant. That was in the early 2000s and I was an elementary kid at Hartville back then," Link said. "My Dad was the superintendent (at Hartville) at the time and I was a little runt running around in (Pitts') gym."
Link and Pitts talked on the phone this past Sunday, on the eve of their teams' Sectional wins against Southwest and Steelville. Naturally, the subject turned to a possible Quarterfinal meeting between their teams.
"We talked about how we would have to make the trip (to Warrensbug), if we play each other," Link said. "Both teams are going to have to travel and not use that as an excuse and be ready to play."
Little bit about Thayer, the Bobcats have been about as consistent a winner as one will find state wide. Thayer now has eight straight seasons of 22 wins or more and 11 straight District championship seasons.
"They're a juggernaut. Coach Pitts has done a great job there," Link said. "He's a great coach. To get their kids to believe in what they do, he's phenomenal. He's great at X's and O's and is great defensively and offensively. More than anything, he's a great leader.
"The kids they have come through, they have athletes who are skilled and do a lot of different things well," Link added. "We're going to have to be really good one-on-one as well as five-on-five."
Thayer is a bit of an enigma, given its isolated proximity. Thayer to West Plains is a half-hour drive. Thayer is on the Missouri-Arkansas border and is adjacent to Mammouth Springs, Arkansas.
What makes Thayer's winning ways even more remarkable is the town's population is dwindling. Simce 2010, the population has gone from 2,243 to 1,860. The loss of 383 people has been a 5.8-percent decrease.
Sparta and Thayer have not played each other since 2007.
They've shared nine common opponents this season and their results against each opponent were the same, although Thayer split two games with Mansfield, while Sparta lost to Mansfield in their only meeting and Sparta split two games with Strafford, while Thayer beat Strafford in their only meeting.
Thayer's defense stands out. The Bobcats are holding their opponents to an average of 44.9 points a game this season. That's eight straight seasons Thayer foes have averaged in the 40s and one season they were held to 36 points a game.
The Trojans have taken note of Thayer's offense and defense.
“They have a stud on their team,” Sparta star Jacob Lafferty said of Thayer junior Aidan Burns. “Guarding is going to be the key to winning Friday.”
“They held Mansfield’s big guy, Tom Emerick, to four points,” Trojans guard Kavan Walker said. “I expect them to have the same game plan for Jake that they used on Tom. It’s going to take more than Jake to step up and hit big shots in big moments.”
