Tribune/John Byrne - Sparks' Bryan Orellana tries to save a loose ball from going out of bounds Friday night during the second-quarter of his team's loss to Casa Roble.
"I feel we had to play really, really well to beat that team," Sparks coach Dick Lee said. "We played really pretty well the first half."
Sparks was given a nearly automatic two points to start the game as Casa Roble was given a technical foul during warmups. Angel Guillen made good on both technical free throws. Guillen scored the first eight points of the game for Sparks posting an 8-3 lead over Casa Roble.
The visitors scored six straight to go ahead 9-8. The squads battled back and forth fighting for the lead. Sparks led 18-14 but CRHS closed out the opening quarter with a 7-2 run for a 21-20 lead.
Sparks scored the first four points of the second quarter to regain the lead, 24-21. But the Rams came right back, going ahead 27-24. The battled ended in a tie, both teams posting 30 points headed into halftime. With Casa Roble leading 30-26 Guillen made back to back points, the final a jumper shot tying the game with 34 seconds left in the half.
The Rams came out with the upper hand in the third quarter, outscoring Sparks 23-10 and never looking back.
Sparks' Andrew Garcia started off the second half by sinking a three-point basket for Sparks. A jumper in the lane by Guillen gave Sparks a 35-32 lead with 6:44 to play in the third. After that the Rams got on a roll on a 9-0 run that all but finished the Railroaders with a 41-35 lead. Sparks never recovered.
Bryan Orellana made the second of two shots to trim the deficit to 41-36 for Sparks. The Rams went on an 8-0 run for a 49-39 lead.
Turnovers and an unsteady offense led to the Railroaders' second half collapse.
"We haven't put a second half together in probably four games," Lee said. "They finally got to the offensive boards, we turned the ball over. They did a good job covering the people who were scoring."
Both teams scored just 10 points each in the fourth quarter, composed of mostly substitutes en route to Casa Robles' 63-50 victory.
Guillen had a game-high 19 points. Sparks' Andrew Garcia added 17 of his own, making good on five three-point baskets.
Casa Roble's Jacob Wilkey had 15 for the Rams.
Sparks plays today at 1 p.m. against North Valleys in the third-place game.
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