Sparks will take the 3A North’s top seed into state tournament play next weekend. It will be the Railroaders first state tournament appearance since the Rail City school was a 4A member in 1999.
The Railroaders blazed through all three of their regional tournament matchups, defeating a trio of league foes. First they beat Lowry, 51-42, Thursday. Next Sparks beat the No. 2 seed, Dayton 53-42, Friday. Sparks capped off its run through the 3A North regional with Saturday’s lopsided shellacking over the regular-season league champion Highlanders.
In its final regional playoff, it looked like Sparks and Incline would give each other a run for their money. Incline won two of three regular season games between the two schools, including a non-league tournament affair in December. However, Sparks had everything under control. Right out of the gate, Sparks held the Highlanders to six points in the first eight minutes of the game. Sparks had a 19-6 edge after the first period.
Still, there was a major battle going on during the game. Who could make more 3-pointers – Sparks’ Zack Quilici or his teammate David Anduja? It was raining threes in the Elko gym as Quilici and Anduja were on fire throughout the game.
“David (Anduja) had an excellent first half and Zack (Quilici) shot well the whole game,” Sparks coach Dick Lee said.
Sparks extended its lead in the second quarter, jumping ahead at one point by 21, 31-10. Incline got some momentum in its offense and started scoring. Unfortunately for the Highlanders, there was no stopping Sparks. The teams went into halftime with a score of 41-23.
By halftime, Quilici had 12 points and Anduja had 15.
“I was just relaxed,” Anduja said. “We came out. We moved the ball around on offense and got good shots.”
The third quarter continued the 3-point streak, Quilici had two threes and Incline’s Micha Corneil chipped in with a basket from beyond the arc and a three-point play. He led the Highlanders with 12 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Highlanders cut the lead to 55-40 only to see Sparks answer with a scoring frenzy. The Railroaders went on a17-2 run to extend their lead to 30 points with about four minutes left, 72-42. Both teams put in substitutes down the stretch and the Railroaders came away with the 81-49 victory.
“I’m sitting on the top of the world,” Quilici said after the game. “This is the best day of my life so far.”
Quilici had a game-high 30 points, Anduja had 20. Sparks made nine three pointers during the night, four from Quilici and three from Anduja.
“This was the best game we’ve played,” a proud coach Lee said. “We shot well. We attacked their zone well and attacked it with patience. We defended well and defended their post players well. They didn’t shoot well.”
In addition to the great night of shooting from Quilici and Anduja, Lee said his whole team pitched in on the victory.
“Angel (Guillen) did a good job of running the offense,” Lee said. “Jay (Nichols) did good job on their best perimeter shooter.”
On Friday at 4 p.m., Sparks will take on Dayton again — this time in a state semifinal. Sparks has already met Dayton three times in the 2007-08 campaign. It lost to Dayton both times the squads met in league play but defeated the Dust Devils in the regional tournament.
“They’re a challenge,” Lee said about Dayton. “They’re difficult for us to play. We’ll have to play very well again. Their inside game is very strong.”
Coach Lee said no matter who Sparks is playing, that at this point in the season, his players have to play well against everyone.
“We just have to come out strong like we always do,” Quilici said. “Our key word is execute. That’s what comes to mind. We’ve played them before. They know us and we know them.”
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