It was a tale of two halves and a torrid third quarter.

The Truckee High girls basketball team stumbled out of the gate, then caught fire after the break en route to a 64-37 win over the visiting Sparks Railroaders (1-10, 3-16) on Wednesday.

“The first half wasn’t that great, but we picked it up in the second half,” said Nikki Panziera, a senior guard who contributed six points. … A lot of people came in with a lot of heart.”

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The result was a 24-point third quarter that more than doubled Truckee’s first-half total of 23. And the Wolverines didn’t stop there, scoring another 17 in the fourth to cap the rout and improve to 7-4 in Northern 3A league play (13-6 overall).

“They did a great job,” Truckee head coach Angelo Tenorio said of the Wolverines’ effort. “They really picked up their intensity defensively.”

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It showed, as Truckee overwhelmed Sparks ballhandlers with a smothering full-court press that led to a number of fast-break buckets. In the second half, anyway.

In the first half, particularly the opening quarter, the game was far from a blowout as the Railroaders jumped out in front 7-3 before the Wolverines captured the lead at 8-7 with 2 minutes remaining. At the end of the quarter Truckee led 12-11.

The Wolverines received a lift when starting post player Breanne Busby, who was sick and saw little playing time, entered the game early in the second quarter and scored four quick points in the paint. Busby finished with eight points in limited action, scoring the final bucket of the half to put the Wolverines in front 23-16.

“Her presence out there definitely changed things,” Tenorio said.

Then came the third quarter, when Truckee came out of the locker room scorching offensively and dogged on the defensive end, holding the Railroaders to just six points.

The game was all but over by the end of the third, as the Wolverines had taken a commanding 47-22 lead.

Senior Kelly Stephens led Truckee in scoring 16 points. Alexis Fallow finished with 11 and Logan White and Lindsay Holt had six points apiece.

“After a tough weekend it was nice to get a win like that,” Tenorio said, referring back to last weekend’s losses to league-leading Spring Creek and Lowry. “We have some big games coming up, so we need to keep our focus.”

Truckee hosts Incline on Saturday at 2 p.m.