Leopards notch 18th-straight win in blowout on senior night

For the late game Tuesday night, the Lakewood boys hosted the Neuse Charter Cougars for the final edition of the Leopards’ senior night. After a shaky start for the hometown team, they came out on top, 73-48.

Nakai Owens opened up scoring for Lakewood, making the first six points for the Leopards, but the Cougars jumped out to the early 10-6 lead.

It wasn’t for long, though, as the Leopards retook the lead at 11-10. Cameron Williams extended it even further to 14-10 on a wide-open three. Xavier Hall was making his presence known defensively, with multiple blocks so far, before a put-back layup for him got him a pair of points.

A three from the top of the key from Neuse Charter closed the Leopard lead to one at 16-15 before the first quarter ended.

A corner three for the Cougars got the scoring started in the second, but a Hall layup, fed by Dontaveous Smith, tied the game at 18-all shortly after. Smith retook the lead for Lakewood on a fast break layup.

The Cougars’ lead moved to 27-20 with 3:12 to play in the half before Lakewood head coach Brandon Powell signaled for a timeout.

Smith, Hall, and Williams brought things back to make it a 27-26 lead before Dashaun Carr connected with Hall on an alley-oop for Hall’s first dunk of the night, retaking the lead for Lakewood at 28-27 as the game moved to halftime.

Cameron Williams opened the second half nearly immediately, scoring three straight buckets for six points to give Lakewood more breathing room at 34-29.

Just one basket was scored by either side for a few minutes, with Neuse Charter collecting the points to make it a 34-31 game with under four minutes in the third. Dashaun Carr extended it out to 37-31 before a Cougar basket grabbed the points back. It would move to a 42-33 lead shortly after, on the backs of Hall and Smith.

The scoreboard showed a 44-33 lead with under 1:30 remaining in the third. Smith connected with Dashaun Carr for a triple out of a timeout break, further extending it for the hosts.

After an explosive third quarter from the Leopards, they took the 50-33 lead over their visitors to go into the fourth. Williams added a layup to open things in the fourth. With under six minutes to go, the score sat at 56-36 in favor of Lakewood.

With under four minutes showing on the clock, Lakewood had moved to a 63-43 score as they had substituted in some reserves while trying to slow the pace down.

More points poured on for Lakewood, and the Leopards ended their senior night with a 73-48 win.

With the win, Lakewood extended their winning streak to 18 games, moving their record to 18-1 with a perfect 9-0 record against the Carolina 1A conference, which they currently sit atop of.

Leading scorers for Lakewood were Nakai Owens, with 20, Cameron Williams, with 16, and Xavier Hall, with 12. Hall also had 14 rebounds for the double-double.

Head coach Brandon Powell had things he addressed at halftime when the Leopards only held a slim one-point advantage over their conference foes. “We talk a lot about accountability,” Powell said after a smile and a bit of a chuckle. “The guys have a tendency to be a little bit more relaxed in situations where they shouldn’t be relaxed.”

The Leopard coach continued his sentiments with other talking points for the red-hot Leopard squad. “We emphasize playing the game the right way. Regardless of who your opponent is at any time, it should still be played with the same type of energy and intensity. I just reinforce that expectation,” he added.

“I just do it for my family,” said senior Cameron Williams, who leads the Leopards with 17.6 points per game this season. “Just keep pushing my teammates — get my teammates more involved; get this dub. I’m happy for the seniors and hopefully, we go far next year.”

As far as what Williams is doing to keep the camaraderie and momentum up for the Leopards, he had one simple answer: his teammates. “As long as they keep feeding me the ball, I’ll do what I have to. I’ll get defensive stops, but if they get me the ball, I’ll score.”

Powell added his thoughts on how the Leopards are looking to finish their season. “We want to definitely host a playoff game. We’ve been moving in the right direction. I just don’t want them to get relaxed. I’ve explained to them that there’s a lot of competition out there,” he remarked. “And we haven’t seen the best of it yet, so we’ve got to stay focused, stay prepared, and keep working on the things we need to correct.”