SOLON — It was a packed house in Solon on Friday night as the Spartans took on the Clear Creek Amana (CCA) Clippers in a scrappy class 3A boys’ basketball rivalry thriller. The Spartans emerged victorious 57-47 thanks to a huge third quarter, where they outscored the Clippers 19-6.

From the opening tip, it was a classic game of runs. The momentum was traded off between the two teams like a couple of kids on a teeter totter. It came down to whoever wanted to keep that momentum long enough to create a double digit lead, and that’s exactly what Solon was able to do in the third quarter.

With a narrow 25-24 deficit at half, the Spartans soared out of the break with a 19-6 run. They closed the strong quarter with a 43-31 lead. The run was plenty enough for the Spartans to hold off the Clippers and keep themselves on the winning side of the rivalry for the third year in a row. Spartans’ head coach Jared Galpin was glowing after the performance his boys had on the night.

“We knew we were up against a good team. This was a tremendous confidence booster for the guys.” Coach Galpin discussed and reflected on the game plan he laid out for his team before the game. “I said we have to be the toughest, scrappiest team, and we were.”

Coach Galpin gave an example of his team’s toughness from late in the game when senior Nolan Seagren was at the free throw line to try and ice the game. He missed, but grabbed his own rebound, helping the Spartans to burn some more clock, and add more points to their lead.

The Spartans continue to lead the all-time series in dominating fashion against the Clippers with a 14-2 head to head record.

The boys looked to ride the momentum into their next matchup at Grinnell on Tuesday (after this edition’s deadline).