Lakewood dismantles Clinton

Xavier Hall won the opening possession for the Leopards and he scored the first points of the game on a put-back. And Lakewood never looked back, dominating Clinton 69-35.

Clinton looked to set their offense early, but a three-point attempt from Amir Wright was off the mark. Hall and Cameron Williams made their presence in the defensive paint well known early, dominating the glass and wiping it clean.

Williams also produced offensively, sinking the first of his two foul shots to give Lakewood the 3-0 lead two minutes into the first. While the Dark Horses weren’t producing offensively, they were shutting things down relatively well defensively, only allowing three points until this point, with just one coming off a turnover. Hall would add two more on a put-back, which he was fouled on, but couldn’t make the free throw. Williams was there for the rebound and he added two himself, making it 7-0 in favor of Lakewood.

Dontaveous Smith came up with a steal, but got lost in the transition and fumbled it away to the Dark Horses. Clinton’s Zy Wallace attempted a jumper from the free throw line, but Hall was there for the block. Nearly halfway into the opening quarter, Clinton was yet to score. Hall was fouled again on another put-back attempt, and he sank one of the shots to extend the lead to 8-0.

Wright fed Taylen Moore in the low block for the Horses’ first score of the game. Wright hit Anyahs Butler for the open three attempt, but it was off the mark; Moore was there for a couple rebounds on the possession. Wright hit a three in the deep corner to close it to an 8-5 Lakewood lead, as scoring had hit a lull early.

Lakewood’s Jaziah Brunson came up short on a deep three before the quarter ended, but Hall got the rebound to feed him for another attempt, and this time he was good — making it a 11-5 game at the first break, with neither team dominating the other.

Leopard Devin Jones collected a rebound and put it home for the first points of the second quarter. Sloppy basketball came from both sides, as neither team could handle the ball and get themselves into position to score more. Jabari Daughtry added just one on a free throw for the visitors a minute into the period.

Dashaun Carr received a hard foul on his way to the rim for the Leopards, but couldn’t connect on the foul shot. Still, though, Lakewood lead 15-6 nearing three minutes into the quarter. Hall added two more on a put-back, giving them the first double digit lead of the night at 17-6.

A Juan Parker Jr. air ball lead to Smith collecting it for a mid-air put back as Lakewood really put their foot on the throttle.

Dark Horse Dustin Pike gave Daughtry the inbound pass, who turned it into a one-timer three to close it to 19-9. Williams matched at the other end on an acrobatic and-1 for the three point play, moving it to a 22-9 score. He added another two points in a similar play, fighting through contact on his way to a layup. Smith added another two fast break layup and quickly the score sat at 26-9 in favor of Lakewood with 2:30 to play in the opening half.

Hall grabbed another put back to make it 28-9 and a Henry Bass turnaround jumper off a rebound made it 28-11 before half. A pair of free throws from Lakewood extended it to 30-11, which would be the score at the half.

The teams struggled to maintain possessions coming out of the break, throwing away opportunities or having them stolen by their opponents, and no scoring happened for over 2:30, until Cameron Williams got a layup for the Leopards to make it 32-11. Ivey Sampson added one for Clinton via a free throw and the score was 32-12 with five minutes to play in the third period.

Dontaveous Smith would power through a foul and complete the and-1 just seconds later. Brunson assisted Hall on a low block layup and Williams hit a step back jumper from near the elbow to give the Leopards the 39-12 lead.

With the score at 46-14, Brunson lobbed one to Hall for the alley-oop to extend it out even further at 48-14 with 1:17 left to play in the third, much to the excitement of the home crowd. Slowly, the Leopards started substituting in their reserve players.

Each team would add a point before the quarter ended, but the game would move into the fourth with Lakewood holding the commanding 49-15 lead.

Zy Wallace was the first to score in the final period for Clinton, a jumper in the middle of the lane. Lakewood’s Cameron Williams pulled up for the three pointer shortly after, making it 52-17 for the home team.

The teams traded buckets, with Wallace hitting a runner down the lane and J’Kwon McKoy splashing a wide open three to make it 57-22, but the overall pace of the game slowed down considerably.

Ayden Melvin added a put back layup and McKoy added another three as the routing was on and the Leopards grabbed the 40 point advantage at 62-22. Butler completed an and-1 shortly after, combined with another teammate’s efforts, and made it 62-27.

Nathan Pitts got in on the scoring and scored a triple of his own, with Lakewood now leading 65-31 with 1:44 to play.

The score would go final at 69-35.

“I’m really proud of the improvements that my guys are making,” Leopard coach Brandon Powell said after the game. “We’re communicating better on defense, we’re executing better on offense. I just want them to not be satisfied and to continue to work hard so we can continue to grow.”

The Leopards moved to 7-1 on the season and Clinton fell to 2-8. They will also face off on Jan. 22.