Multiple scorers help Lakeside down Greenbrier
An all-around performance led Lakeside past Greenbrier 58-43 at Lakeside Athletic Complex Tuesday night.
Lakeside (5-3) played a balanced game offensively with multiple Rams getting in on the action. Braylen Russell led the Rams with 13 points, and Skylar Purifoy and Jordan Mills each added 10 points each.
“I thought we started out well,” Lakeside head coach Eddie Lamb said. “We shot well early. Had a little lull in the second quarter. When we had to get stops, we got stops. I think we had some good balance on offense. The effort was really good tonight. I thought we did a good job defensively overall. We gave up 43 points throughout the whole game, so I felt we gave some good effort defensively.”
Entering the fourth quarter, Lakeside led 35-28, and the Rams really turned up the pressure. Purifoy and Mills both made shots in the paint to extend the lead to 4330, and Alveon Harris added a dunk to get the Lakeside crowd going late.
The Rams continued to work under the basket, and a good pass found Jamison Craig for an easy layup and a 56-40 advantage.
“Down the stretch we quit looking for quick jump shots and threes, like getting more to the rim, getting the easy shot,” Lamb said. “Then we made some free throws, too. So I think we settled in and got some easy baskets. Then we get a stop or two. I think that built our lead up. Fine effort tonight by the Rams for sure.”
Lakeside opened the game with four 3-pointers to jump out to an early 12-6 edge. Greenbrier (8-3) head coach Mike Simmons said once Lakeside took the solid lead, the Panthers had to play catch up all night.
“I mean they’re physical,” Simmons said. “They run some good stuff on offense and everything. I felt like just early us not keeping them out of the lane — letting them get it deep in the lane — created where we had to get down there and trap. They got
some easy kick outs for threes off of it.”
Simmons said his team shot the ball “absolutely horrible” and emphasized that Greenbrier could not put any pressure on Lakeside.
Jace Dunlap led Greenbrier with 11 points, Aidan Berry added eight and Jacob Mathis scored seven points for the Panthers.
“We couldn’t ever put any pressure on them,” Simmons said. “When the game’s getting close, there’s a little more pressure when you’re shooting the basketball, they can just stay relaxed. If we could’ve made a little run and we scored some points and got it closer, it could’ve made a little bit of a difference I think.”
Lamb attributed his team’s defensive performance to the amount of switching styles the Rams did Tuesday night.
“We did a lot of switching,” he said. “We’re multiple. Our guys can guard anybody we feel like, so we gave them a little trouble switching when we had to. Then just getting in the right gaps and spots, we did a good job of taking away their driving lane.”
Although Lamb said Lakeside’s ball movement could improve moving forward, the Rams passed the ball well to create open shots Tuesday night.
In the third quarter, Mills crossed over a defender before finding Purifoy with a no-look pass in the paint. Purifoy finished the play for a 34-24 lead.
“It could always improve every practice,” Lamb said about the ball movement. “But overall all our guys are getting touches. We don’t have one guy you can key on. We played seven guys, and all seven guys scored, so that’s a good thing. All of our guys are giving good production for sure.”
Moving forward, Lamb said a team can always go back after a game and watch the film on how to improve.
“You can always take from every game do the little things that make you better,” he said. “You know, cutting down on the turnovers, cutting down on the silly fouls, cutting down on just anything you’re not doing well defensively.”