LAVACA - The Lamar Warriors bounced back from a loss in their 3A-4 opener last week with a big road win on Tuesday.
Lamar broke away from a tie game in the second quarter to coast past Lavaca, 70-35, at Wendell Hardgrave-Davis Floyd Gymnasium.
Lamar (8-1, 1-1) had balanced scoring with Kaz Crotts and Kendrick Carr each scoring 16 points, Caleb Green adding 13 and Ben Noonan chipping in 10.
"We've been balanced all year long," Lamar Coach Brett Sampley said. "We don't any one guy that they've got to shut down, we've got the other four and even one coming off the bench that can put up points any given night. We're pretty balanced, and that's what we want to be."
Carr had 10 points in the pivotal third quarter when Lamar scored 25 points to break away from a 32-20 halftime edge.
"We talked about picking up the defensive intensity in the second half and getting some transition points," Sampley said. "They did that."
Lamar forced five turnovers in the third quarter and methodically pulled away.
After Lavaca's Jake Watson drilled a 3-pointer to open the third quarter, Green hit a trey and Carr added a bucket off a rebound to push Lamar up, 37-23.
Lamar put together three more two-basket runs in the quarter and led 51-32 before ending the third quarter with two free throws by Noonan, a basket by Ayden Sanders, and a stickback by Crotts for a 57-32 cushion.
"We go in spurts," Sampley said. "We do some stupid stuff, but we're capable of big spurts and that's what we did."
Lamar led, 15-10, after a quarter but a trey by Jace Eck and two free throws by Hudson Noel for Lavaca (8-3, 4-1) tied the game at 18-18 with 5:07 left in the half.
Crotts clanked home a 3-pointer, and Green added a trey from the top of the key before Carr's rebound bucket had Lamar up, 26-18, and on the way to a 32-20 halftime lead.
"We made a lot of mistakes, and also you've got to make shots," Reed said. "When we were in the game, and tied at 18-18, we missed four or five wide-open threes. They're going to make you pay because they're not going to stop attacking the rim or using their length and getting steals."
Lamar opened the conference with a 68-62 loss at Subiaco Academy last week.
"We came from a pretty good conference last year," Sampley said. "I knew this wasn't going to be an easy conference at all. There are some quality teams. We it started flooding, we couldn't control it and it got out of hand."
Lamar was making the move over to the 3A-4 after going to the Class 3A semifinals last year while Subiaco Academy dropped from Class 4A.
"We knew what we getting into," Lavaca Coach Renner Reed said. "Their size and their ability to take away passing lanes hurt us. I consider them one of the top two or three teams in the state in Class 3A."
Hudson Noel led Lavaca with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Lamar hosts Mansfield on Friday. Lavaca plays at Subiaco Academy on Thursday and plays in the Bank OZK Tournament next week.
LAMAR 70, LAVACA 35
Lamar^15^17^25^13^--^70
Lavaca^10^10^12^3^--^35
Lamar (8-1, 1-1) Crotts 16, Carr 16, Green 13, Noonan 10, K.Boen 6, Sanders 4, Smith 3, D.Boen 2.
Lavaca (8-4, 4-1) Noel 16, Watson 6, Eck 5, Floyd 3, Strictland 2, Chartier 2, McDonald 1.
GIRLS
LAMAR 59, LAVACA 29
The Lady Warriors opened up a 27-5 lead after the first quarter and cruised to the win in their conference opener.
Madison Davidson scored 16 points and grabbed 8 rebounds while Kori Sanders scored 10 points, doled out four assists and made four steals to pace Lamar (11-1, 1-0).
Shaylie Mayfield scored 11 points, including a string of four-straight baskets in the first quarter with two coming off steals.
"I'm proud of how the kids came out," Lamar Coach Brandon Schluterman said. "We played three games last week and three games the week before. They turned the switch and focused up. We had a great first quarter for sure."
Makenna Jeffcoat led Lavaca (5-7, 2-3) with 8 points.
LAMAR 59, LAVACA 29
Lamar^27^15^13^4^--^59
Lavaca^5^2^13^9^--^29
Lamar (11-1, 1-0); Mad.Davidson 16, Mayfield 11, Sanders 10, Mac.Davidson 4, Gilmer 4, Long 4, Bailey 3, Parker 3, Miller 2, Young 2.
Lavaca (5-7, 2-3): Jeffcoat 8, Burger 5, Smith 5, Fenner 5, Rogers 2, Irby 2, North 2.