Brookland-Cayce boys falter after quick start against Lakewood

Lakewood was on its heels early in the first half of the Class 3A playoff contest against host Brookland-Cayce on Friday night. The Gators trailed by eight, but a simple change in defense turned the momentum and propelled Lakewood to a hard fought 50-38 victory over the Bearcats in the second round.

It was just the second playoff win for Lakewood, which opened in 1996. The first came on Tuesday when the Gators went on the road and defeated North Myrtle Beach. The win sends Lakewood on the road for the third straight playoff game when it travels to Marlboro County on Tuesday. Marlboro County earned a 72-52 victory over Airport to advance.

“We’re in a tough region and it really prepared us for the playoffs,” Lakewood coach Bryan Brown said. “These guys aren’t used to winning. We lost a couple of close games but just being able to play in that environment helped us. We hadn’t played in those type of environments the last few years and to be able to come into a tough one and win says a lot about their character.”

Brookland-Cayce (14-12) jumped to a 20-12 lead in the middle of the second quarter behind the hot shooting of Lloyd Hemming. The junior guard torched the Gators’ zone defense for 11 points, including three 3-pointers.

But Lakewood (20-6) quickly switched to man and started denying Hemming the ball. That allowed the Gators to close the first half on an 11-0 run to take a 23-20 lead into the locker room. They never trailed after that.

“Lakewood went to man-to-man and they started fully denying Hemming, so it made it tougher for him to get the ball,” Brookland-Cayce coach Robert Wells said. “I thought at that time, they slowed him down and in turn slowed our offense down.”

The frustrated Bearcats stayed in an offensive funk for more than 13 minutes. They only made 2-of-17 during that span and watched as the Gators took a 36-27 lead heading to the fourth quarter.

Hemming only scored four points after his hot start to finish with 15.

“The biggest thing is we changed the momentum and started playing with more energy,” Brown said. “We depend on our guards to score, and when we went to man, it gave those guys more energy and they attacked more and scored.”

The guard trio of Malik Wilson (13), Jarvis Johnson (12) and Grant Singleton (9) combined to score 34 points. They found enough ways to keep the lead comfortable. The Bearcats got within 36-32, but the Gators ran their four corners offense almost to perfect. They scored on six of their final eight possessions.

“It’s a game of runs. I thought Lakewood made a great run in the second quarter to take the lead into the half. After halftime, I thought both teams fought but Lakewood just made more shots and got more stops on the defensive end.”

Brookland-Cayce won a playoff game for the first time eight years. They graduate six seniors, but Wells is excited to go into his fifth year coaching the program.

“We do have a bright future,” Wells said. “We’re going to continue to work hard. We’ll work on some things to make us better next year. We’re going to use the success of winning a playoff game. Hopefully they understand the expectations and level they need to play at.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 10:49 PM with the headline "Brookland-Cayce boys falter after quick start against Lakewood."