Dominique Britt scored 22 points and Tario Al-Ahad and Decorelle Demiel dropped in 14 apiece as Against the Grain raced to a 74-30 victory over the Suffolk All-Stars Saturday at Booker T. Washington (BTW) Recrea-tion Center. The teams were battling on opening day of the Suffolk Parks and Recreation youth basketball league.

&uot;We just did what we had to do,&uot; said Demiel. &uot;We play offense and defense like the Los Angeles Lakers!&uot;

It appeared that there was an invisible lid over the All-Stars’ basket during the first 10 minutes, as the team missed its first 14 shots while their opponents raced to a 19-0 lead on the strength of six points each from Demiel and Reginald Evans. DeWayne King banked home a layup at the 10-minute mark to get the All-Stars on the board, but the game was already out of reach.

After Britt scored eight points in the last 6:48 to give his team a 33-12 halftime advantage, the Grains came out just as strong in the second half. In less than four minutes, Britt, Al-Ahad, and Linwood Wiggins had run the score to 41-12. Amos Riddick and Leroy Cooper scored for the All-Stars, but the Grains proceeded to go on a 26-6 run over the next 10 minutes. Six different players scored during this run.

The Grain defense was equally effective, as the All-Stars never scored more than four consecutive points, and often went for several minutes at a time without a bucket.

&uot;I just hope that we play this good every game,&uot; said Evans. &uot;We expect to bring the league championship home.&uot;

The earlier game was much closer, as the Suffolk Wolverines fought off the Lake Kennedy Clippers for a 36-30 win. Linwood Gilchrist scored nine points and Reggie Banks added eight.

&uot;We knew we had them from the beginning,&uot; said Gilchirst, a student at Lakeland High School. &uot;We just focused on playing defense and making out shots.&uot;

Competition continues at 11 a.m. Saturday at BTW.