The streak keeps getting bigger for Seven Lakes.

The Spartans have gotten better and better since returning from the Christmas break and it’s resulted in a climb up the district standings, reeling off 12 wins in a row, the latest of which might have been the most impressive, as Seven Lakes went into the Taylor gym on Friday and beat the Mustangs 75-51.

“We knew how important this one would be coming in and we have a lot of respect for Taylor, but it was time for us to prove to ourselves that we can beat these good teams,” said senior point guard Shreya Jategaonkar. “We’ve been playing really well but this was one where we can say ‘hey we’re here too and we aren’t going to let anyone beat us.’ This win puts us in really good position the rest of the way and just builds some great momentum.”

The win was a hugely important one for Seven Lakes. The Spartans came into the game just one game back of the co-leaders in district, Taylor and Tompkins and the win made Seven Lakes tied for second in district, while staying just a game back of the district lead.

It was a game that was never in doubt for the Spartans. They jumped out to an early lead and built that to 23-11 at the end of the first quarter, pushing that lead all the way to 45-22 at halftime behind a very strong defensive effort.

“The girls did a really good job of not letting (Timya Grice) get into the game,” said Seven Lakes head coach Doug Watson. “We denied the passes in to the post and contested every shot and that’s what we talked about doing. Everything with our defense worked pretty well tonight. We sped them up, made it hard for them to get up the floor and created turnovers.”

Seven Lakes was never pressured the rest of the way, leading 55-34 at the end of the third quarter and pulling away down the stretch, with backups getting some playing time in the process.

Justice Carlton led the way with 25 points, While Madison Carlton had 17 points and Jategaonkar had 16 in the win.

“We have a lot of options who can score and it’s one of the strengths of our team is it’s not just one player who can beat you,” Watson said. “We play inside out and so it gives different players opportunities, Shreya was big tonight and hit some threes. It’s big when we get that kind of shooting because we don’t have to lean on our inside payers and it opens everything up.”

The important matchups aren’t over for Seven Lakes and will continue into their next matchup with Tompkins. And the Spartans are confident they can continue their streak and continue to climb the standings.

“That’s one we’ve been waiting for ,” Jategaonkar said. “But we just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing. Keep pressing, keep applying pressure and doing what we do best.”

District 19-6A

Seven Lakes 75, Taylor 51

Points: (SL) Justice Carlton 25, Madison Carlton 17, Shreya Jategaonkar 16, Kimora Lopez 7, Lenore Hudspeth 5, Caitlyn Quintero 3, Dulce Franco 2; (T) Fiapaipaitufanuaitamalii Filoialii 22, Timya Grice 16, Casey Scherpereel 8, Tyarie Jack 4, Kara Hart 2;

Halftime: Seven Lakes 45-22; 3-Pointers: (SL) Jategaonkar 4, Quintero, Hudspeth, Justice Carlton; (T) Filoialii 2, Lopez 2; Records: (SL) 20-8, 7-2; (T) 24-4, 8-2;