Seven Lakes last shot was one they had practiced all week.

The Spartans knew they would have to deal with going against an undefeated Clements team in the regional quarterfinals. And that was a team with size everywhere. Seven Lakes practiced all week preparing for it and even brought in Rohan Burns, a 6’11 senior on the track and field team that had been a part of the Spartans basketball program until this year, to help players get practice shooting over taller defenders.

All of that made a difference for Seven Lakes down the stretch of Tuesday’s game and provided them with exactly what they needed. On the last possession of the game, Seven Lakes ended up in a broken play and Tillman Jaramillo had a chance to drive to the hoop, the problem was there was a 7-footer in his way. But Jaramillo calmly got into the lane and released a floater that went over the outstretched arms of Clements and into the basket, securing Seven Lakes a 54-52 win and a spot in the Region III-6A Tournament.

“I was just waiting in the corner waiting for the ball if it came to me,” Jaramillo said. “I knew I had to be patient and when the ball came to me I drove and tried to make a read. Things opened up and I’m just glad I made it. I wasn’t looking to score but the clock was running down and the opportunity came to me.”

It was an intense and back and forth game all night that was only separated by the tiniest of margins and came down to who had the ball last. But it started out with Seven Lakes having to overcome an early hole after they went down 15-5 in the first quarter. The Spartans trimmed it to a 17-10 deficit by the end of the quarter and then came out dominant in the second quarter. The Spartans got to the foul line and locked down on defense taking the lead late on in the half, closing the half on a 20-9 run and leading 32-30 heading into the locker room.

“It’s who we are, even when these guys find themselves down they don’t quit and they don’t give up,” said Seven Lakes head coach Shannon Heston. “We knew we had to make it our pace and we knew Clements is an incredible basketball team. If we allowed them to play at their pace, they might have been unbeatable. We changed it though and we put pressure on them offensively and defensively. It did just enough tonight to give us a chance to win.”

Things tightened up in the second half and the two teams traded leads with neither being able to gain any distance on the other. The Spartans had a two-point lead at the end of the third and increased that to six in the fourth quarter, but Clements came charging back to tie things up with two minutes remaining. From there it was the role players that made the difference for Seven Lakes. Christian Follis gave the Spartans the lead back on a 3-pointer with 39 seconds remaining and then, after Clements tied things 30 seconds remaining it was Jaramillo that had the ball fall to his hands on a broken play and he left no doubt, sinking the floater for the win over two defenders.

“We know that we can look down the bench and everyone there can make a play,” said senior point guard AJ Bates. “Our sixth man, our seventh man, they are going to come in and make an impact and be better than a lot of other teams. When it was needed those guys stepped up. Christian was huge, Tillman made plays, Sean (Williams) did great defensively, we know those guys are going to come in and make plays. Everyone on the team showed what they could do.”

Nasir Price had 16 points for the Spartans to lead the way, while Isaiah Santos had 12 and AJ Bates had 11, both Jaramillo and Follis added six points.

It was also a big effort from the entire team battling for rebounds with a team they were undersized against. Bates and Santos both helped slow down Clements 7-foot center Josh Clark and kept the Spartans even in the rebounding game.

“The number one thing on our list of keys to victory tonight was rebounding,” Heston said. “We neutralized Clements second chance points especially and then we got some key rebounds and extra possession when we needed them most. I can’t say enough about these guys.”

The Spartans aren’t done here either. Seven Lakes goal all year has been to get to San Antonio and they ae determined to make the most out of their regional tournament experience, having got to this stage last year before losing in the regional semifinals.

“Last year we laid an egg and we aren’t going to let that happen this year,” Bates said. “Our goal was to get there and get beyond this year. We are excited, but we aren’t trying to finish on Saturday. We want to get through this weekend.”

Class 6A Regional Quarterfinals

Seven Lakes 54, Clements 52

Points: (SL) Nasir Price 16, Isaiah Santos 12, AJ Bates 11, Tillman Jaramillo 6, Christian Follis 6, Brett Norton 3; (C) Divine Ogochukwu 25, Aziz Olajuwon 10, Bryce Matthews 8, Nedum Chiadika 4, Josh Clark 3, Keshav Vijaykumar 2;

Halftime: Seven Lakes 32-30; 3-Pointers (SL) Price 3, Follis 2; (C) Ogochukwu 4, Olajuwon 2. Matthews 2; Records: (SL) 36-2, (C) 32-1;