"For the first 30 minutes I thought we played pretty good defense and I thought the intensity was pretty good," he said after the Warriors took a 111-78 victory from New Creations Prep of Richmond, Ind.
It was the home opener for the Warriors, now 2-0 on the season. They will face a different team Monday when Kennedy-Kings comes to the Spencer Sports Center for a 7:30 p.m. game.
"The last 10 minutes I was a little disappointed in our defensive effort - we gave up too many points in that last 10 minutes. I thought we let them shoot some uncontested three-pointers. At one time they hit three in a row. We just didn't do a good job getting out on them and pressuring them lie we did in the first half," Sparks added.
Twenty seconds into the game, Wabash Valley's Brandon Dunson hit a three-pointer. The Warriors never trailed. Dunson added a steal and a jam, then New Creations' Michael Dorris scored on a putback. Josh Lockett hit for WVC, with Dorris countering for New Creations. Junior McLeod scored on a putback, and New Creations was within one point, at 7-6.
But the Warriors got two scoring runs, almost back-to-back, and the game was all but over. The first was a 9-2 run that made the score 16-8. The second was a 13-0 run that put Wabash Valley on top, 29-11.
Those runs were the result of a full-court press that either kept the Flyers from scoring or forced a turnover. Those turnovers were converted into easy points.
By halftime, with the Warriors in front, 54-26, the Flyers had been forced into 15 turnovers. That went with seven Wabash Valley steals.
Sparks called off the press with about five minutes to play in the opening session.
"I think the defense carries us the first half. I was pleased tat the first half we went eight on nine deep off the bench. I thought those kids carried the momentum for us in the first half," he said.
The coach also said he felt the Warriors moved the ball well and shot it "really good the first half."
"It was a good overall team effort. I was pleased the kids really played hard," he said.
But, he noted, "Kennedy-King will have a better inside attack and we'll have to play for 40 minutes."
Brandon McGee led four Warriors in double figures with 24 points. Desmond Holloway added 22 while Dunson had 14 and Jason Landry added 11.
The Warriors hit 49 of 81 shots overall for 60.5 percent. They were 10 of 20 from three-point range for 50 percent. Wabash Valley was three of eight at the line for 37.5 percent.
New Creations was led by McLeod with 17, Andros Desir with 15 and Dorris and Hayden Annett with 11 each.
The Flyers hit 28 of 66 overall for 42.4 percent and went nine or 21 from three-point range for 42.9 percent. New Creations hit 13 of 24 free throws, 54.2 percent.
Wabash Valley had the rebounding edge, 35-31, with Dunson puling down nine and McGee eight. Kresimir Mustapic grabbed five and Lockett six.
The Warriors forced 22 turnovers and had 11 steals. Wabash Valley turned the ball over 11 times with New Creations getting four steals.
BOX SCORE
New Creations: Pitchford, 2-0-0--4; McLeod, 7-0-3--17; Moons, 0-0-3--3; Dorris, 5-0-1--11; Cole-Rodney, 1-0-2--4; Desir, 0-5-0--15; Buchanan, 1-1-1--6; Hassan, 0-0-0--0; Annett, 0-3-2--11; Bond, 3-0-1--7; Totals, 19-9-13--78
Wabash Valley: Dunson, 4-2-0--14; Chatt, 3-0-0--6; Holloway, 8-2-0--22; Sanders, 4-0-1--9; Lockett, 2-0-1--5; Landry, 4-1-0--11; Oxley, 1-2-0--8; Horton, 0-0-0--0; George, 1-0-0--2; McGee, 7-3-1--24; Mustapic, 3-0-0-6; Britt, 2-0-0--4; Totals, 39-10-3--11
