CLAYTON COUNTY – The NBA might have Kobe vs Lebron but Clayton County has something similar with Cameron Davis vs Eric Sweeney. Two of Clayton County best player matched up in the championship game and both did not disappoint at all. Davis an all-around guard who can shoot, defend and assist. Then there is Sweeney who is a pure athlete at the forward position who can rebound, score and play lights out defense.

Usually in games the best players don’t guard each other on defense until the fourth quarter or sporadically throughout the game. Not for these two, these young players both met the challenge of guarding each other for the entire game and neither one of them wanted to go home without the championship

The game started with what had to be considered as one of the best coaching moves of the tournament. The Clayton County Thunder are known for their relentless defense, their best offense is a good defense. They score points off the turnovers that they force. Coach Walston immediately started the game of by switching Davis to the point to bring the ball up and beat the press. With that small adjustment the game was changed and the Thunder had to on their half court offense in order to score points. In the first half Davis ran the offense to perfection by setting up his players and hitting the open shot when it was available. Most importantly he was able to limit Sweeney by playing solid defense on him and keeping him off the boards.

The second half was a reminder to the fans in the stands why Sweeney is considered one of the best players in the County. As the Thunder faced a deficit Coach Nash made the adjustment to double Davis on the inbound pass and force the Clippers to pass it off to another player. The Thunder responded by forcing three straight turnovers and Sweeney scored all the points. During a three minutes span of the second half of the game Sweeney took over. He scored 9 straight points, had three rebounds and two steals all this while chasing Davis around.

With the Clippers up by four points with under a minute left in the game Sweeney stole the ball took a shot missed it and recovered his own rebound to put up a shot that went through. The Thunder faithful came out of their seats cheering their team on, their noise was only matched by the fiery yell that Sweeney let out after he scored. 30 seconds to go and the Clippers were holding on to a slim two point lead. Davis who hadn’t been able to break the double team for the entire second half finally broke loose, receiving the ball off the inbound and advancing the ball up court. Davis took one look at his Coach both of them nodded as all Coach Walston did was point at the basket. Cameron faked right went left and went for the lay-up. Cameron was able to draw a foul as he drove down the lane. With seconds left on the clock and the Thunder fans making it hard to concentrate Cameron walked up to the free throw line and sank both free throws. Sweeney finished the game off with a three pointer which made the final score a one point deficit for the Thunder but on this day Cameron and the Clippers owned the right to be called Champions of the Clayton County 12 and under division.