Clear Springs prove third time is a charm

CLEAR SPRINGS COURTNEY LATHAM

Clear Springs got it done on their third try and for those who had a chance to witness the game, they saw exactly what I’ve said numerous times and that is they find a way to win. Against Bellaire, they were on fire, clicking on all cylinders and scoring 80 points and that following a grueling match-up against Manvel that saw them win on a last second three by Kaylin Roher. In their 55-44 victory against Seven Lakes, this game was a lot closer than I anticipated. You have to realize that Seven Lakes had lost their starting point guard, Haley Conley, to a knee injury earlier in the season and back-up point Katy Byrne to another commitment, was up 35-33 going into the home stretch in their most important game of the season. That was quite an accomplishment in itself .

Seven Lakes’ Christen Inman opened up the final period with a bucket and that was followed by back to back threes from Clear Springs Courtney Latham. Then a Latham rebound and assist to Brooke McCarty gave them some breathing room and the next time Latham scored, I tweeted she was on fire only to have Inman close the gap yet again which had me tweet she was too, in fact she was throughout the game finishing with 25 points. In the first quarter, her three pointer gave Lakes a 7-6 lead only to have Springs Roher knock down back to back threes herself, along with another basket to help tie the game at 16 after one.

Sydney Buchel scored 12 points for the Spartans and again what she does for Seven Lakes doesn’t always show up in the box scores, because she just does the little things you may not notice. I don’t know if she followed Friday night’s double double but she was close as she battled like she always did. I also had a chance to watch Inman’s last three games of her career and observe her dropping 25 in both the finals and semifinals, not to mention 36 in the quarters, and it reminded me of seeing her before she was a Spartan back as I was amazed by the way she elevated on her jumper.

Speaking of battling, Brooke McCarty scored 35 on Friday however the shots weren’t falling on Saturday but when you have the ability to do what she does, like her buzzer beater after three which set the tone for them outscoring Lakes 22-9 down the stretch, her 10 points were more valuable than you could ever imagine which is one of the reasons I knew she was going to be “The Chosen One”

Keep in mind she doesn’t have to score, the Chargers have three other players capable of scoring over 20 on any given night against any team, that’s an added plus to have and one of the main reasons they are heading to Austin. Roher scored 13, which followed her 15 point outburst in the semis, while Latham led all the Chargers with 21, following her 18 point performance against Bellaire and 15 against Manvel, shows you why I played nickname catch-up and tagged her “The Underrated One”