The Lakewood Leopard boys basketball team won their conference opener at home Tuesday night in a 68-55 victory against the Spring Creek Gators.

The two teams played the first quarter relatively close, as the Leopards held a slim 16-15 lead. Then the second quarter happened.

And that was a great thing for the Leopards. Lakewood went on a 22-2 run in the second, and ended up outscoring the Gators 23-8 in the quarter.

Lakewood built their lead to 39-23 after the third quarter, then coasted to the 68-55 final margin.

They were led by Kobe Jackson, who knocked down 4 3-pointers en route to 16 Leopard points. Jirah Cooper scored 11 on the night, including a thunderous dunk in the fourth quarter that helped to put an exclamation point on the Leopards’ third win of the year.

Lakewood’s head coach, Sylvester Pittman liked the way his team came out from the start of the game Tuesday.

“I loved our fire and our drive tonight. We played very hard, and that was huge for us early. That second quarter was really big for us, and we were knocking down shots,” said Pittman. “We are pleased with the shot selection we got tonight too. I think that was a big reason why we shot it so well. It makes a difference when we get good shots. It’s easier to make those.

“I want to congratulate and tip my hat to Coach Jones and Spring Creek though,” continued Pittman. “Those guys never quit fighting, and never felt like they were out of the game. They came back in the fourth and got it down to 10, we fortunately could hang on. We feel good being 1-0 in the conference, and I think that we will be ready to go when we head to North Duplin on Thursday,” finished the Leopard head coach.

Lakewood is now 3-3 on the season, and as mentioned earlier, 1-0 in the Carolina 1A Conference. They are set to travel to North Duplin Thursday for another conference match-up. The game is set to tip around 7:30 p.m.

By Adam Capps

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Lakewood guard Quamaine Williams heads to the basket during their win over
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_DSC_0010.jpgLakewood guard Quamaine Williams heads to the basket during their win over