Clarksville bests tough Lakeside

— Clarksville’s boys proved to be the class of the Spa City Shootout, but the Panthers did not find a pushover in Hot Springs Lakeside.

Devin Simms scored 20 points and the Panthers pulled away from the pesky Rams late for a championship game victory.

Lakeside, which led 8-2 early, trailed 30-24 at the half and was as close as 56-52 with 35 seconds to play.

But free throw by guard Dederick Lee and a steal by Kenderick Lee led to a dunk by Jerren Thompson put the game out of reach.

Clarksville Coach Tony Davis praised the performance of Tommy White’s Lakeside team.

“They’ve won back-to-back titles in their junior high conference,” Davis said. “They expect to win and they’re well-coached. When you’re playing for a championship, you’re going to get everyone’s best effort.”

Clarksville scored a combined 172 points in its two previous Spa City Tournament games, making 28 three-pointers along the way. The Panthers made four three-pointers Monday night.

Thompson finished with 12 points and Freddy Lee added 11 for Clarksville, which led by as many as 10 points in the second half.

Junior Nick Jones led Lakeside with 13 points while junior Keljin Blevins and sophomore Ray Beresford added 12 each.

Sports, Pages 15 on 01/01/2013

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