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SMYRNA - It doesn't really matter who or which combination of players Campbell girls basketball coach Randy McClure puts on the floor on any given night. The Lady Spartans always seem to find a way to make it to the state playoffs.

Campbell has made 11 straight state tournament appearances - including this season as a No. 4 seed in Class AAAAA - a feat that McClure says "is a blessing." Two years ago, the Lady Spartans advanced with 10 seniors on the roster. Last year, the squad had two senior first-team all-county selections, including Marietta Daily Journal/Cobb County Player of the Year Brittany Hall.

"This year, we're playing a lot of young kids," said McClure. "You have to weather the storm sometimes. If a kid can play, then you have to get them on the court."

McClure has done just that this season, playing lineups comprised mostly of sophomores and freshmen. It took a while for the team to get on track, however.

The Lady Spartans won their first game of the season, a 63-36 win over Tucker. Following the victory, the team proceeded to lose five in a row, the last of which was a 67-62, overtime setback against McEachern.

"That 1-5 (record) was a pretty bad beginning for us," said McClure. "We were young and we had to kind of expect that start because we played some tough competition.

"All I could do was keep teaching. We didn't beat up on ourselves about losing."

It wasn't until the overtime loss to McEachern that McClure and his young team realized that they could be really competitive and challenge some of the top teams.

"That loss to McEachern really helped us to turn the corner," McClure said. "(The Lady Indians) were a great team, but we just played with a different level and intensity. I knew then that we were headed in the right direction."

"After we lost those first couple of games, we just pulled together," said freshman guard Erica Norwood, one the team's leading scorers.

Campbell won 12 of its next 15 games and 14 of 19, charting wins against two state-ranked opponents in McEachern and Etowah. That win against Etowah, which came in the quarterfinal round of the Region 5AAAAA tournament, qualified the Lady Spartans for their latest state playoff.

The leading scorers in the playoff-clinching win were freshmen Brittany Hodges (14 points), Chakecia Miller (14) and Norwood (10).

"We've all found our roles on this team, which helps us to play better," said Miller.

"There have been some ups and downs, but we've continued to improve as a team," said McClure.

"What I'm most proud of is that these young players are all true student-athletes with 3.5 and above grade-point averages. They're never in trouble."

Instead of rebuilding, Campbell reloaded with talented freshman players from its middle-school program.

"They are tremendous," said McClure.

The program has produced two straight eighth-grade region championships, with players such as Miller, Norwood and Hodges, along with current Campbell sophomores Kiara McLaurin, Monica McClure and Rasha Frye.

"I have a wonderful opportunity to see the kind of student-athletes I'll get through that program," said McClure. "I get to see them play during the summer and I'm comfortable about their development when they play for me. So, I rarely have a problem giving freshmen a lot of minutes."

As the Lady Spartans visit top-ranked Mill Creek on Saturday, senior Taleeshia Hackett and junior London Winston are slated to get the start alongside McClure, Miller and Hodges. The other young players will also get to play plenty of minutes.

Campbell's young players will certainly be tested against the Lady Hawks, who enter the game at 24-1, their only loss coming against Alabama powerhouse Hoover.

"I never put these players out there expecting to lose," he said. "Mill Creek will be tough, but Campbell's not that bad."

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