PIQUA — Sidney junior guard Julius Spradling was a proficient point guard in his first two seasons. After being more apt to allow a teammate to shoot as an underclassmen, he is now the top scorer in the Miami Valley League.

Spradling scored a career-high 30 points in an MVL game against Piqua on Friday at Garbry Gymnasium to lead the squad to a 60-37 win. His big outing boosted his scoring average to an MVL-best 17.7 points per game.

Spradling, who is 5-foot-9, brought down a career-high 10 rebounds against the Indians. He is averaging 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

He is shooting 47 percent from the floor, 42 percent from 3-point range and 76 percent from the free-throw line. He made 10-of-15 shots (including 5-of-9 three-pointers) against Piqua and 5-of-6 free throws.

“His jumper for sure is a lot better,” Sidney coach John Willoughby said. “… He’s hard-nosed. He does a lot for us. It comes with confidence and experience.”

Spradling scored eight points in a 63-59 loss to Troy to open the season but has scored in double figures each game since, three teams reaching or surpassing 20 points. He scored 25 points in a 56-47 win over West Carrollton on Dec. 15, which was his previous career high.

Spradling is back at full health after missing the last half of football season with a shoulder injury. He led the MVL in all-purpose yards in the first half of the season before suffering the season-ending injury in Week 5.

In his first two years on the hardwood, he had plenty of teammates to pass to; two teammates averaged better than 15 points per game his freshman year, and two averaged double figures last year.

“He did well, knowing as a freshman you’re not going to get many shots up, and last year he had a couple of guys that were going to get their shots,” Willoughby said. “It’s his turn now. That’s the way sports are. You’ve got wait your turn, and when it’s your turn, you have to produce. He’s doing that.”

The Yellow Jackets (5-2, 4-2 MVL Valley) aren’t limited to Spradling this year. Junior guard A’Zon Steele is averaging 16.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and three assists per game. Junior guard Jayce Daniel is averaging 11.1 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds.

“When we get all three of them hitting, we’re really good,” Willoughby said. “Most games we’re getting two out of three hitting. The two games we’ve lost, we’ve only had one out of three really hitting.”

Senior forward Mitchell Davis and junior forward Ethan New have each scored nine or more points in a game.

“We’re playing together, practicing hard,” Spradling said. “We’re staying focused in practice. …We want to keep playing like this, as a team, getting everybody involved.”

Davis had a big two-handed dunk in the fourth quarter on Friday on a pass from Spradling.

“He can get up there,” Spradling said of Davis’ dunking ability.

Sidney is scheduled to host Vandalia-Butler (5-2, 5-1 MVL Miami) in a key league game on Friday. The Aviators and Tippecanoe (6-2, 6-1) each have one loss in league play. Sidney, Stebbins, West Carrollton and Fairborn each have two league losses.

The close standings are a sign of the parity among MVL team in the first month of the season.

Friday’s win was a bounce-back for Sidney after losing 44-42 at Fairborn on Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets had led the whole way but were outscored 17-11 in the fourth quarter. They shot 30 percent from the floor in the loss.

“That was a hard one. I think we just weren’t focused, came in flat,” Spradling said. “…I think it was (a good lesson). If we keep working and playing together, I think we can get a league title. That’s for sure the goal.”

Sidney scored the first 11 points against Piqua on Friday and led 20-5, 32-21 and 47-30 at the quarter breaks. Daniel scored 15 points and had five rebounds and three assists. Steele scored 10 points and had six assists.

“We knew Piqua was going to start in a 1-3-1, and we’ve got shooters,” Willoughby said. “We needed to do a better job attacking the gaps, because against Fairborn we were having a hard time getting the ball reversed around.

“We worked the last couple of days in practice on that, drive that gap and open it up. We just kept on firing tonight.”

Regional rematch in WPTW Holiday Classic

Russia and Troy Christian will meet at 6 p.m. on Thursday in Piqua’s WPTW Holiday Classic at Garbry Gymnasium.

The Raiders and Eagles are off to undefeated starts after each advanced to the Southwest Division IV regional tournament last year. Russia took control early and beat Troy Christian 41-33 in a regional semifinal on its way to a state berth.

Troy Christian beat Miami East (58-51) and Northridge (62-49) last week in key Three Rivers Conference games to stay undefeated. The squad is the last undefeated TRC team.

The Eagles (5-0) are led by senior guard Parker Penrod, who is averaging 18.2 points and 4.6 assists per game. Junior forward Frank Rupnik is averaging 14.8 points and 6.2 rebounds and sophomore forward Riston Taylor is averaging 11.7 points and 4.8 rebounds.

Russia (6-0) pulled away in the second half on Friday to beat Anna 65-46. The 19-point margin was the closest any opponent has had since Jackson Center lost 53-45 to the Raiders in a season opener.

The winner of Thursday’s matchup will face the winner of Piqua vs. Meadowdale in the championship game on Friday at 5:30. The losers will play in the consolation game at 4 p.m.

Russia, which beat Troy Christian 72-46 in a regular-season matchup last year, has a big Shelby County Athletic League game looming on Tuesday at Botkins (6-0).

Lehman Catholic wins fourth straight

The Cavaliers have won four straight games since losing by 10 points to Miami East on Dec. 12.

Lehman beat Covington 53-23 on the road in Three Rivers Conference play on Friday, then beat Yellow Springs 68-44 on Saturday in Sidney.

Senior guard Donovan O’Leary scored 20 points and had nine rebounds against the Buccaneers and scored 11 points and had eight rebounds on Saturday. Junior guard Daniel Carlisle scored 18 points on Saturday; he made 6-of-10 three-point attempts.

Lehman (6-1, 4-1 TRC) is scheduled to host Triad on Friday and to travel to Bellefontaine Calvary Christian on Tuesday in nonconference action before traveling to Troy Christian on Jan. 5.

Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.