In the night cap at Lakewood High School on Tuesday, the Lakewood men’s varsity basketball team also hosted the Panthers from North Johnston High School. Lakewood, entering the contest winless on the season, once again felt the bitter sting of defeat, falling to North Johnston, 64-32.
North Johnston got off to a fast start. The Panthers led Lakewood 10-1 before Lakewood head coach Brandon Powell called timeout to stem the bleeding.
The regrouping session paid off as Lakewood went on an 8-3 run in the final two minutes of the opening quarter, making it 13-9 after one quarter of play.
The good times wouldn’t last for the Leopards, though.
A scoring drought that lasted three minutes into the second quarter hampered Lakewood’s hopes of completing the comeback. A nine-point second quarter deficit quickly ballooned to a 17 point halftime deficit. North Johnston outscored Lakewood 18-5 in the second quarter to take a 31-14 lead at halftime.
The North Johnston advantage would only increase into the second half when the Panthers slowly but surely built a twenty-five point lead over Lakewood. Again, Lakewood was outscored by a solid margin to make it 48-23 heading into the final quarter of play.
With the game firmly in the Panthers’ hands, the Leopards’ offensive woes continued as North Johnston’s 64-32 victory over the Lakewood went final.
“I think we continued to show better chemistry among our players,” was Powell’s reaction following his team’s loss. “We played aggressively on defense but we have to learn to stay in front of the ball handler. As we get into conference play, I believe we will be a lot more competitive,” Powell concluded.
J.J. Johnson was the leading Lakewood scorer with nine points.
The Leopards will play one final game in 2018 when they travel to Terry Sanford in the CCS Christmas Tournament on Dec. 20. The Leopards will then begin the new year when they travel down the road to Clinton for another matchup against the Dark Horses, who beat Lakewood last week.