Seven Lakes Gives Its All In 39-37 Defeat To Pearland

By Terry Carter

When regional basketball powers collide, tears are often along for the ride as the buzzer sounds.

The Seven Lakes Lady Spartans (33-7) reached the end of their season on Friday at the Region III-6A semifinal as Pearland (28-9) surrounded Seven Lakes’ 6-2 sophomore forward/post Justice Carlton and contested every possession in the paint. The result eventually yielded a 39-37 Pearland victory in a hard-fought, defensive clash of titans at the Merrell Center in game one.

Game two became a blowout as Summer Creek (37-2) dominated Dulles (27-7), 81-43. The Region III final is set for 1pm today with Summer Creek favored.

To claim victory over a talented Seven Lakes, Pearland cut-off traditional passing lanes, which yielded repeated turnovers by the Lady Spartans. The Oilers also contested every dribble and shot in the half court in an aggressive way.

Pearland’s Aryelle Stevens led her team with 11 points. Carlton was held to nine for much of the second half, but still finished with a game-high 15 after hitting a 3-pointer to pull Seven Lakes to 39-37. It was as close the Lady Spartans could manage against an opponent, coached by Jere’ Adams, that had scouted all Seven Lakes tendencies.

Seven Lakes also got eight points from senior guard Cailyn Tucker, and six each from senior Summer Halphen and Sydney Hill. Pearland had more depth and pressured Seven Lakes into mistakes, hurries most of the game as Pearland jumped out to an early lead in each half. The Lady Spartans clawed back each time, trailing 22-20 at intermission.

After the game, Seven Lakes basketball coach Angela Spurlock spent 20 minutes in a private conversation with her team that included seven seniors on Friday’s roster. Two other starters had bee lost to injury earlier this season. The coach said she was so proud of the Seven Lakes team because of the quality of the people who play basketball.

“A lot of these kids have played together since fourth grade, and I’ve been honored to be the basketball coach at Seven Lakes since our opening in 2005… it’s hard to see them graduate. The senior class is tremendous. They represent what we want them to represent at Seven Lakes. They are leaders on and off the floor; they are great teammates,” Spurlock said.