When the boys basketball teams from Sparks and Dayton hook up on Friday, their respective fans are in for a good game. The previous three meetings between the two 3A North rivals are evidence of that.

Dayton captured wins by four and seven points during the league season, but Sparks handed its Lyon County foe an 11-point defeat in the third meeting in last weekend’s 3A North Region Tournament.

As if the three earlier Dayton-Sparks contests had not settled enough, the two programs will meet again Friday afternoon in a 3A State Tournament semifinal. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. at Lawlor Events Center in Reno.

The Dayton-Sparks winner will play Saturday at 5 p.m. in the 3A championship final against the Incline-Faith Lutheran winner.

So, is playing a familiar foe a good thing for Sparks?

“It’s not just the fourth time this season, it’s the third time in two weeks,” Sparks coach Dick Lee said. “It’s not ideal, but Dayton’s got to do it too. It’s something both teams have to get done.”

Dayton, the defending 3A state runner-up, had a tough road to get back to state and earn another shot at Sparks. After falling to the Railroaders last Friday in a regional semifinal, the DustDevils had to win a play-in affair against Truckee Saturday to take home the 3A North’s third playoff seed.

“Obviously we’re happy just to get in,” Dayton coach T.W. Cunningham said in an interview with the Dayton Courier last weekend. “We’re happy just to be in there and get a shot at it.”

“They’re (Sparks) the hot team right now, so that will be tough for us,” he said. “All three games were close, and could have gone either way.”

Sparks (18-11) is indeed riding a hot streak. The Railroaders have won 10 of their last 11 outings en route to hoisting the 3A North Region title banner last weekend. The lone loss in that stretch for the Rail City’s namesake school was a 58-51 defeat at Dayton (18-9) on the final day of the regular season.

Dayton may also be playing its best basketball of the winter campaign. The DustDevils closed out January with three straight losses but have rebounded, winning five of seven since. The DHS cagers are led by 6-foot 4-inch junior Tannar Wood and 6-foot 5-inch senior Hans Meyer. Sparks coaches know that limiting the DustDevils’ big men will go a long way toward getting the Railroaders a postseason victory.

“They are effective when they can get the ball inside of 10 feet, go after it and get multiple shots. When we get on the boards and run on them, we’re more effective,” Lee said.

“In the second half last weekend, we did an excellent job of holding them to one (shot) and done. ... We’d be very happy with the same result as last Friday. We know Dayton’s probably going to make some adjustments. I like our chances. We have the personnel that I think we can make more adjustments. We’ll go with a very similar gameplan.”

You can bet Dayton will look to slow down the Railroaders’ balanced offensive attack. All five SHS starters can score in double figures although senior shooting guard Zack Quilici leads the team. He posted 20 points in last Friday’s win while Angel Guillen and David Anduja chipped in 14 and 11 points.

In last weekend’s interview with the Dayton Courier, Cunningham admitted his DustDevils will make a few changes for round four against Sparks.

“We’re going to work on some stuff and make adjustments,” he said. “We’re probably just going to have to help and rotate better.”

Lee, who coached the Railroaders from 1992-93 to 1996-97, took then-4A member Sparks to the state tournament in his final four seasons. The Railroaders also went to state in 1998 and 1999. However, the oldest local school has not been to a state tournament since. Playing at Lawlor will likely take some getting used to for the Railroaders.

“We’ll try and get to the gym early, sit in the arena seats and take it all in, get comfortable,” Lee said. “Most of our kids have been there before for a Wolf Pack game or something, but none have played there. There won’t be any time to practice, but hopefully we’ll settle in.”