The fourth- and fifth-grade Hoopsters Blue Devils and Spartans were working out a bit of holiday idleness Jan. 10 as they took to the court at Langston Hughes Elementary School. After putting up a strong fight, the Blue Devils, who were ranked third in the preseason, succumbed to the Spartans’ steady team efforts and lost 26-20.

The Blue Devils began the first quarter with very good passing skills, doing their best to keep the ball out of the hands of the Spartans. Josh Hess scored the first basket for the team and then another later in the quarter after some strong attempts. Hess continued to be strong and mobile throughout the entire game, running quickly to the ball and attempting many baskets.

To match with the Blue Devils scoring, Logan Bannister scored one of the two baskets for the Spartans in the first quarter, while teammate Carter Francisco hustled hard.

Sam Boatwright scored the last basket for the Devils, giving them a five-point edge over the Spartans at the close of the first quarter.

“I think we played better than usual in the first quarter,” post James Bush Jr. said. “We pressured them a lot.”

In the beginning of the second quarter, the Spartans tied with the Blue Devils at nine points. Despite several missed basket attempts and rebounds, the Spartans kept battling with the Blue Devils and ended the first half tied at 11 points.

Spartans head coach Dan Hearnen recognized that the team still needed to concentrate on getting focused back on the game after a long holiday break. Both teams haven’t played since Dec. 13.

“We had a bit of the Christmas rust to work out since it’s been about a month since our last game,” Hearnen said. “We will be working on a little bit of conditioning in our next practice.”

The Spartans were closer to working out their rust in the second half of the game. Spartan Sam Hearnen worked hard weaving in between players and scored a bucket for the team.

The Spartans huddle at halftime to talk about how they are going to pull away from the 11-all tie with the Blue Devils on Jan. 10 at Langston Hughes Elementary.

The Blue Devils were assisted in the third quarter with baskets from Blake Meyers and Thomas Boatwright, as well as a Meyers free throw. The team found themselves trailing by one point in the fourth quarter after a basket by Hess.

The Blue Devils could not beat the Spartans, who scored four buckets with the help of Lee McMahon and Chris Heller. The team ended the last quarter victorious with a six-point lead over the Blue Devils.

Spartans coach Hearnen recognized the team’s exceptional efforts that gave them the edge over the Blue Devils down the stretch.

“It was a real team effort across the board, we rotated people in every couple of minutes so every one got a chance to play,” Hearnen said.

The Blue Devils acknowledged their weaknesses that led to their loss against the Spartans.

“I think we did good on the offensive side, but we need more on the defensive side,” team member Adam Rea said. “We need more turnovers.”

The fourth- and fifth-graders have one more chance to make adjustments before the start of the Hoopster post-season tournament.