Justice Carlton has been slowly working back to full strength.

The Seven Lakes senior wing had been grinding to get back from a torn ACL and was finally able to play shortly before the Christmas break. And with her returning to form the Spartans have made a leap since returning from the break.

The Spartans got arguably their most important win of the season on Friday, beating Cinco Ranch, which came into the game as the top team in District 19-6A, 81-59 in a dominant performance where the Spartans never trailed.

Both Justice Carlton and Madison Carlton led the way in the win with huge games all over the court. Justice finished the game with 22 points while Madison had 28 points with both of them feasting on rebounds and making a big impact defensively as well.

“We had been killing it inside even before I got back, Maddie has just been such a force against everyone and there really isn’t anyone out there that can guard her down low,” Justice Carlton said. “With the health that we have now, it’s just even more, there’s no one who has the size we do with multiple people and then we have players on the wing who are great players too. It’s just great to be a part of and we all play off each other.”

Seven Lakes jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked, building a 19-9 lead after the first quarter before making it 38-19 at halftime.

Seven Lakes did that behind a suffocating full court trap that sped Cinco Ranch up and never let them get in any kind of rhythm. That defense also led to easy transition points from the Spartans as they kept growing the lead even into the second half, as the depth of Seven Lakes kept everyone fresh despite the fast pace.

“We have some players back and it’s huge for us with the way it’s built our depth,” said Seven Lakes head coach Doug Watson. “You’re able to get more bodies in there and keep everyone fresh. When you don’t have to rely on one unit for a whole game it really helps a team and these girls come at you in waves, so it helps a lot.”

Seven Lakes kept growing the lead to 62-32 after the third quarter and were able to get the bench in for a large majority of the fourth as they went on to clinch the win.

It was an important win for the Spartans as it kept them a game back of the top two in district, Taylor and Tompkins, and puts them tied for third place with Cinco Ranch as the first half of district play comes to a close. It won’t get any easier though, as they will play those top two Taylor and Tompkins in their next two games as Seven Lakes looks to keep climbing the district standings.

“It was really important to get this win and to stay just a game behind those two schools,” Watson said. “There’s never a night off in this district and with those two coming up next we have to be ready. We’re going to keep working, this was a good one to get but we have to move on to the net one now.”