By John Leggett

The Courier-Herald

After being steamrolled 68-33 by the Lakes Lancers Jan. 5, the Sumner High boys basketball team suffered a 57-38 setback to Franklin Pierce Friday at Sumner’s home digs.

The dual losses put Sumner’s South Puget Sound League 3A mark at 1-5, but the good news is the Spartans will not be seeing either the Lancers or the Cardinals for another month and will have time to figure out what went wrong against the two league challengers.

Sumner was able to hang with Franklin Pierce early, even outscoring the Cardinals 12-11 in the initial quarter. The Cardinal braintrust then solved the Spartan offense, as Sumner became bogged down in the second and third quarters managing only a combined total of 13 points, while Franklin Pierce mounted quite a lead.

Sumner senior guard Mike Murphy was his squad’s top scorer against the Cardinals putting up 11 points.

Sumner will look to scratch its way upward in the standings, as it dropped in on White River Tuesday and visits rival Bonney Lake at 7 p.m. Friday.