Lakes, Clover Park Battle To The Last Second

The ball left David Crisp's hands and fell into the bucket as the final buzzer sounded.

But instead of celebrating, the Clover Park player walked straight to his bench and slammed his fist into the chair in frustration. His coach, Mel Ninnis, held his hands up, but even he knew.

Although the Warriors jumped out to an early lead against Lakes on Friday night, even though the Lancers didn't seem to have an answer for Crisp, even though the two teams from Lakewood traded blows throughout the night, it wasn't enough.

Lakes fought and clawed to 59-58 victory that means nothing in league standings and everything in local pride. The energy inside the raucous gym at Clover Park was high. It was Lakewood's version of Tobacco Road.

For the Lancers, senior Jordan Johnson played big down the stretch. His night included a pair of breakaway dunks and the winning freethrow with 14.6 seconds remaining that gave the Lancers a 59-55 lead and made Crisp's 3-point buzzer beater moot.

(Click on the media gallery to watch highlights from the game)