Friday night's matchup between Clearview and Open Door Christian was as good as a high basketball game gets.

Lead changes, up-and-down scoring, tough defense and, of course, high drama and emotion. Despite being consistently short-handed throughout the entire season, Open Door's valiant effort was admirable against a more athletic and deeper Clearview squad. Open Door came out firing in the first quarter, with Abe Valentine spearheading the attack. By the end of the first quarter, Open Door led 19-15, but the way they were playing, it seemed they were ahead by much more.

Eventually, Clearview's deep roster overwhelmed Open Door to the point where the Clippers led by 10. Open Door pulled within one point with 19.3 seconds remaining in the third quarter, and even led 56-54 with 2:46 remaining in the game. Clearview's Kyle Baughman clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch was eventually the difference in the game.

If the games around the area are like this one, I'm so glad to cover and report them.