The Lakeview Gators looked to keep the ball rolling in the Mac Braxton Classic Tuesday when they faced off against the North DeSoto Griffins.
The first quarter started with a free throw from Andre Sowell, but after that it was nothing but excitement for both teams. The Griffins got a fast break score, which Sowell countered with a long three. DeSoto hit one of their own from long range on the next possession. The shooting hand was definitely turned on because Javonte Howard hit back-to-back threes for Lakeview. The first quarter was capped off with a one handed jam from Sowell following a steal.
Lakeview led 12-7 at the end of the first. The second quarter started with a lot of back and forth action. After a few minutes in, Howard sank another three, followed by an And-1 from Mike Shields. No team was able to make a big difference in the lead though. It was 29-23 at halftime. North DeSoto came out guns blazing, getting a couple nice scores and bringing the lead to just one with five minutes left in the third quarter.
But once that happened, Lakeview turned on their second gear after Alonzo Driver hit an open layup and the Griffins tied it up with a three, Howard, Sowell and Driver hit back-to-back-to-back threes to push the lead to the widest spread of the night. Driver got a steal and score and Sowell knocked down yet another three to give Lakeview a 45-35 lead at the end of three.
The fourth quarter was more of a Lakeview shooting barrage, with threes coming from Shields, who hit two in the fourth, and Sowell, who hit four in the game, and Howard, who hit five in the game. Lakeview walked away with a 66-53 win and pushed their undefeated record to 4-0. At the end of the week Lakeview was ranked fifth in the Class 2A power rankings.