Tribune photo by John Byrne - Sparks High’s Martin Jordan (with ball) poured in a game-high 22 points, on the strength of five 3-pointers, propelling the Railroaders to a league win Wednesday.
It was raining points for the
Railroaders in the opening quarter of the league matchup. Andrew Garcia opened up the scoring frenzy for Sparks with a 3-pointer. Sparks led by just two, 10-8, when it busted the game wide open.
Martin Jordan hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 16-8 edge over the visiting Vaqueros. Angel Guillen followed up with a three-point play, after a Fernley timeout. Sparks wound up closing out the initial quarter on a 15-5 run and made 10-of-17 shots in the first eight minutes en route to its 25-13 lead.
Jordan put 11 in the first quarter.
“He wasn't being guarded,” Sparks coach Dick Lee said. “The teammates found him, sometimes shooting the ball is the easiest thing.”
Sparks (8-11, 5-2 3A North) faltered slightly to start the second quarter with two consecutive turnovers on offense but quickly found its rhythm. After Guillen hit the initial bucket in the second quarter to settle down his team, Sparks went on a 13-2 spurt in the middle of the period to lead by 21, 38-17.
SHS reserve Jeremy Smith pulled down an offensive board and threw in a layup at the halftime buzzer to give Sparks a 42-23 lead going into the locker room.
However, Fernley had no intentions of getting blown out. The Vaqueros outscored Sparks 18-11 in the third quarter. Sparks still led 50-34 at the 2:28 mark of the third period but Fernley cut it down to nine, scoring seven straight points, capped by a jump shot by Francisco Huerta.
Jaime Pacheco hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to again give the Railroaders a double-digit lead, 53-41.
“They made a nice adjustment (on defense) that bothered us,” Lee said.
Fernley (8-10, 2-5 3A) found its touch from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter. Cade Knutson hit a trio of treys in the quarter as the Vaqueros whittled away at Sparks' lead. Knutson's first trimmed the gap to seven, 55-48.
“We didn't shoot well in the first half,” Fernley coach Dave Burns said.
Knutson's final three of the game cut the Railroaders' lead to four, 62-56. Bryce Baker hit a layup on a Sparks turnover and another turnover allowed Knutson to make the first of two from the charity stripe, leaving the FHS hoopsters down just three, 62-59.
“We were rushing the ball and making bad passes,” Jordan said.
The Railroaders ensured Fernley wouldn't score again. Jordan hit another triple to give Sparks an inch of breathing room and the Railroaders went to the free-throw line the rest of the way, making 5-of-8 from the stripe for the final 69-59 win.
Sparks had four Railroaders in double figures in the winning effort Wednesday night. Jordan had a game-high and career-high of 22 points with five buckets from 3-point range.
Guillen added 18 points for Sparks. The last time these two teams met up Guillen had his career-high night of 35 points.
“We didn't want him to go off for 35 points again,” Burns said. “He played extremely well in the first half. We were able to contain him a little bit in the second.”
Pacheco and Smith helped the Sparks cause, chipping in 11 and 10 points for the Railroaders.
Sparks is back in action Friday when it hosts Spring Creek at 7:30 p.m.
- Girls -
Sparks fell to Fernley 51-37 at home on Wednesday night.
While Sparks has yet to find the win column in league this season, coach Tony Shaw is proud of his team's effort.
“Our defense and hustle was pretty good,” Shaw said. “Overall, the girls played well and I can't ask for anything more.”
Alex Perez posted a team-high of 12 points for Sparks.
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