By T. Scott Boatright
GRAMBLING — Lincoln Preparatory School made it a third straight win in dominating fashion Friday night as the Panthers surged to a 55-15 over Haynesville inside the LPS Gym.
Haynesville took the opening lead with a pair of free throws 15 seconds into the contest.
The Panthers never looked back from there, going on a 15-0 run in the final 2:22 of the opening stanza to build a 24-4 lead heading into the second quarter.
By halftime, Lincoln Prep led 33-9, and having a 49-9 advantage at the end of third quarter allowed Panthers coach Antonio Hudson to put his young players on the court as the game wound down.
Hudson said the fact that his team finally had a full roster out on the court at the same time was obviously beneficial against the Golden Hurricane.
“I was talking to our coaches the other day and realized just based on things that have happened, with people being sick at different times, that we haven’t played with a full roster much at all this season,” Hudson said. “So we’re still actually in the early stages of just now trying to put it all together.
“And it’s not good that we’re in January still trying to do that, but we hold our kids accountable — hold them to a higher standard — so that’s just kind of where we are right now.”
Tre Spann and Stephen Burks led the Panthers with 16 points each, with Spann adding eight rebounds, three assists and a steal while Burks chipped in with two assists and a pair of rebounds.
The Panthers connected on seven 3-pointers, with Spann leading the way with four of those treys.
“I said at the beginning of the year that this team was learning new positions and sometimes people think replacing your departed best players is based off of scoring,” Hudson said. “That’s not how that works. Those are leadership roles and trusting in each other and doing all of the small things as well — the intangibles.
“What you’re starting to see now, and I don’t want to speak too soon, is that we’re starting to trust each other and we’re starting to trust the process. A lot of times when you have a younger team with people who haven’t played that much, it takes a little bit to start trusting in the process and believing in each other. We’re starting to play a little better, but we still have a long way to go. We’re just halfway through this thing (the season).”
Amarjae Young totaled eight points, four rebounds and a steal for the Panthers, who also received five points, six assists, five rounds and a steal from Trumarion Smith along with four points, seven boards and a swipe from Zion Hicks.
Holding such a big lead in the second half, the Panthers went to what Hudson terms their “Slo-Mo” offense, some akin to the North Carolina Tar Heels “Four Corners” offense of the 1970s.
“Haynesville has a pretty good record so far, so once we got the game in control we had to start to execute,” Hudson said. “We could have scored a bunch more points and done a lot more different things, but what about when we’re playing a district game on the road and it’s the third quarter and we need a bucket? What about being in foul trouble on the road and we need to understand how to handle that situation?
“We could have run up and down the floor a whole lot tonight, but that wouldn’t have done us any good as a team.”
That “Slo-Mo” offense often meant passing up open shots simply waiting for something even better.
“You’ve heard the saying ‘you pass up a good shot to get a great shot.’” Hudson said. “It’s knowing who you want to get the ball to in order to make a certain shot. Sometimes a player might be open, but that might be on purpose because the defense knows he might not be good at that shot.
“It’s all about learning how to play and that’s something we as coaches have been stressing. But what impressed me is we’re trying to trust in the process. That’s always a good thing. And getting a win at home in front of your home crowd is always good.”
And that big second-half lead also allowed Hudson to give some of his younger Panthers some solid playing time.
“That’s always a good thing because we’re not like bigger schools, so we don’t have the luxury of having freshman and JV and varsity — three separate practices,” Hudson said. “So sometimes in practice the younger guys don’t get as many reps because we’re working on varsity.
“So to see them be able to get into the game and have fun is definitely a good thing.”
Next up for the Panthers, now 6-7, is a road game at Madison on Tuesday.
“Madison is a scrappy team,” Hudson said. “I think they have 12 wins. So going to their place, we’ll be on the bus an hour-and-a-half or so. But that’s what I’m talking about. When we’re on the road in an environment like that, being able to tune out the crowd and not do things out of character is important.
“Teams change. Last year’s team was able to play faster. We had more weapons and all that. This team will eventually get there, but we’re just not there yet. So we’ve got to stay within what we do for us to be successful.”
