The two squads duked it out during the first quarter, trading nearly shot for shot. Sparks had a turnover on its first possession, potentially a bad sign for the rest of the night. Spring Creek was able to use that turnover to get on the scoreboard first with a layup from David Morrell.
Andrew Garcia got hot early for Sparks and hit a 3-pointer to give the Railroaders a 7-4 lead. Brett Pickett came back on the ensuing possession and hit a trey for the Spartans to tie the game. Garcia answered with another triple for a 12-10 lead. Spring Creek posted the next seven points, capped by another three, this one from Jaron Jacobs with 1:35 left in the quarter. Neither team was able to score in the final minute and a half. Sparks came up with an opportunity to get the final shot but turned the ball over with less than four seconds left in the opening quarter. The Railroaders trailed 17-12 after the initial quarter.
Sparks (9-11, 6-2 3A North) stepped it up in the opening minutes of the second quarter with an 8-2 run to get within two, 22-20. Spring Creek's Kasey Basso hit a three to regain a five-point lead, 28-22, but it didn't last long. The Railroaders scored six unanswered points to close out the half, tying the game at 28 on a layup from Jeremy Smith.
“Our starters got in foul trouble and we went with the people we had,” Spring Creek coach Jim Haskins said. “They got a little tired.”
A frenzy of 3-pointers gave Sparks the lead in the third quarter. Just nine seconds in, Spring Creek (7-14, 2-6 3A North) committed an offensive foul. Garcia took the opportunity to knock down a three. He hit another 30 seconds later after a Spring Creek turnover. Guillen joined the action and hit a trey, giving Sparks a 37-30 advantage with 5:56 left in the quarter.
Martin Jordan didn't want to be left out. He hit a triple of his own, giving Sparks a 10-point edge, 42-32.
“We have as many great shooters on our team as anybody else,” Sparks coach Dick Lee said.
However the Spartans fought back to score the next six points to cut the lead to four. The Spring Creek mini spurt was capped by back-to-back layups from Morrell.
“We had tough defense,” Haskins said. “We hit some shots and we did some things right. We don't do that consistently, that's why we're where we're at.”
The Railroaders led 46-40 heading into the fourth quarter and just outscored Spring Creek in the final eight minutes, 22-21. Guillen juked his opponent onto the ground with a stutter move, which allowed him to drive to the basket for a layup and a foul shot. The three-point play gave Sparks a 49-40 lead. Later, Garcia hit another three, his fifth of the night, to put Sparks up by 10 again, 52-42.
An ugly collision with 3:24 left in the game gave Guillen two points from the stripe and gave Sparks its biggest lead of the game, 59-45. Spring Creek's Pickett hit a three, followed by consecutive layups from Morrell to put some pressure on Sparks. Spring Creek had to resort to fouling late and didn't get closer than five points.
“I'm relieved we closed out the fourth quarter,” Lee said. “It could have gotten closer, so I'm relieved. That's what we need to work on.”
Guillen headed up Sparks' scoring attack with 23 points and Garcia added 20 in the winning effort.
Sparks continues league play today in the final affair of a three-game home stint. Lowry comes to town for a game set to start at 3:30 p.m.
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