The Times-Journal

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 | DeKalb County's Oldest Newspaper

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Sparks sees hard work pay off

By Lew Gilliland
The Times-Journal

Published February 28, 2009

Assistant, Jeff Boatwright, embracing as the final seconds ran off the clock in their team’s championship game win over Arab.

This wasn’t the first time Sparks had coached his team to within shouting distance of the state tournament.

In 2003, Sparks took Fort Payne to the sub-regional playoffs, only to lose on a half-court shot in the final seconds at Pinson Valley. Some of us in attendance that night felt the shot shouldn’t have counted, that the guy keeping the clock failed to start it on time as the home team inbounded the ball on the final play, but the result stood.

Sparks led the Lady Wildcats to the regional tournament in 2004 and 2005 but ran into a pair of talented J.O. Johnson teams that would eventually send three players to Auburn. Two of those young ladies still play for the Lady Tigers, who at last check were 26-2 and ranked No. 7 in the nation.

Fort Payne was hit hard by graduation in May of 2005, but Sparks led the Lady Cats back to Jacksonville the next February, only to be hit by a knockout punch no one saw coming.

Scottsboro guard Heather Reach had done little scoring in two previous meetings with Fort Payne that season. But in round three, she sank six 3-pointers and closed with 34 points while sending Fort Payne home empty-handed for the third straight year.

It seemed that Sparks and his ballclubs were dealing with the same kind of misfortune they used to sing about on Hee Haw. If it weren’t for bad luck, they’ve have none at all.

Still, I thought Sparks would get Fort Payne to the state tournament someday. Combine his work ethic and attention to detail with the right group of players, and it wasn’t hard to imagine.

I didn’t, however, think it would it happen this year, not with a team this young, a team that starts only one senior and one junior.

That’s why what the Lady Cats accomplished at Jacksonville last week was special. It not only marked this as the most successful season in team history but also certified the work Sparks did this winter as his best since taking the Fort Payne helm in 2000.

It was a case of something good happening to a good person — the type of image you can’t put a price on.

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