At halftime of Monday's battle for first-place in the Central Valley Conference boys' basketball standings, Sprague's Ben Foote was a non-factor.
The senior wing was scoreless with two fouls against the visiting North Salem as the teams went to the locker room tied.
But did he ever come to life in the final two quarters.
Foote netted 31 points after the break — including four 3-pointers — to help Sprague (4-0) grab the top spot in the league and hold off North Salem (3-1) 88-77.
"I've never done that before. That felt good," said Foote of his second-half burst.
He added that a talking-to from his coaches gave him the confidence he needed to stay aggressive and keep shooting.
"The coaches talked to me and got me pumped. I wanted to win this game and my teammates just got me the ball and my shot started to fall," he said.
Foote's was one of several impressive individual efforts as teammate A.J. Lapray scored 26 with 19 coming in the first half.
For the Vikings, Avry Holmes returned to the lineup after missing nine games with a knee injury and played all 32 minutes scoring a team-high 26 points.
L.J. Westbrook added 19 for North Salem, which also got double-figure scoring nights from Malik Leaks (11) and Anthony Davis (12).
"It was a crazy game, we played hard, we did the best we could but we just couldn't get the job done," Westbrook said. "Sprague did a great job."
The Olys led by four after one quarter, but the lead changed nine times before the teams went to halftime tied 32-32.
To start the third quarter, both teams came out shooting hot.
The Vikings hit their first five field goal attempts, but Sprague did even better, knocking down seven consecutive attempts to take a 47-44 lead midway through the quarter.
Foote connected on two 3-pointers and Taylor Brotton made another in the rally for Sprague, but North Salem seemingly had an answer for every shot.
"We had to do that," Olys coach B.J. Dobrkovsky said of his team's quick start to the second half. "They (North Salem) can go on major runs, they can put up points in a hurry."
Sprague held a 65-58 lead early in the fourth quarter when the game swung on controversial foul call against the Vikings.
Playing the full-court press, North Salem's DaShawn Keebler was called for a foul on what looked to be a clean steal of Sprague's Brotton.
Keebler objected to the whistle by slamming the ball on the court earning a technical foul.
The Olys made the resulting four foul shots — two for the foul, two for the technical — then added a 3-pointer from Foote for a seven-point swing in less than 10 seconds.
A seven-point Sprague lead ballooned to 14, and the Vikings were never able to get closer than within nine the rest of the game.
"Our guys are battling and when you think you don't the calls that you deserve you lose your cool," said Vikings coach Willie Freeman. "That's one thing that we've got to continue to work on and stay in the game. If we play the right way, we shouldn't have to worry about the officials."
The moment only ratcheted-up an already intense atmosphere in the gym where a large contingent of fans from both schools were in attendance.
Westbrook said he's looking forward to the rematch Feb. 7.
"We'll see them again. It's going to be an even better game, hopefully with a different result."
It was Foote who closed out Sprague's win as he scored 17 of the Olys' final 21 points, and he earned high praise from his teammates and coaches.
"This is our biggest win so far and Ben Foote really stepped up tonight. He played great," said Lapray.
"I don't think I've ever seen that," added Dobrkovsky of the 31 points after halftime. "What a remarkable thing for him to get in foul trouble and come back."