By WILL CARTER ~ Sports Writer
Three points were all that separated Lucas Clanton from etching his name in Cascade High School’s record book of 1000 career point scorers heading into a home matchup with the Lincoln County Falcons on Friday night.
While the mark was as close as a three-pointer away, points in general weren’t easy to come by for Clanton early on in the game.
After driving baseline and laying the ball in from the opposite side of the goal in the first quarter, he was just one free throw away from the career achievement, but foul trouble forced him to sit idly for the majority of the second quarter.
That one free throw came early in the third quarter after Clanton broke free on a fast break and drew a foul for two chances at the line.
In what was the most dramatic point of the game as the Champions held a comfortable lead throughout, Clanton missed on his first attempt and an audible sigh shot around the gym.
He grinned as he readied for his second attempt, and swished the ball through the nylon which transformed those sighs to loud cheers.
“At the line, I missed the first one, but I knew I was going to hit the second one,” Clanton said. “The first one hit the back of the rim, so I just adjusted and knocked it down.”
Much like the toil it took to score those three points Friday night, the road to 1000 was a laborious one.
“It’s taken a lot of work and dedication to get here,” he said. “Reaching 1,000 points was a big goal for me, so it means a lot.”
Champions head coach Chris Lawson has been at the helm for Clanton’s last three years in the black and orange, and has had a front row seat to that hard work and development.
“Guys like Lucas don’t come around all the time, so it’s been very special to watch him develop,” Lawson said. “He’s the glue that holds us together. I think if you looked at percentages, I bet it’d be a low percentage of high school guys that score that many points. He’s worked really hard to get to this point, so it’s been special to watch from where I stand.”
While Clanton was at the forefront of the recognition on the night, he took time to show his appreciation to the Cascade faithful for their support.
“Everyone supporting me and being here means a lot to me,” he said. “There were a lot of people that came tonight to see me hit that mark, so it was a cool moment.”
