By Frank Davis

Correspondent

It took the visiting Great Bridge Wildcats until early in the third quarter to convince the Lakeland Cavaliers they were number 1 in the Southeastern District in a game at Lakeland High School on Friday.

The visitors opened with a 4-0 lead and through speed and controlling the boards opened that lead to 11-5 by midway through the first period. Drawing fouls and connecting at the foul line was Marcus Evans, which resulted in six points for the Wildcats.

The Cavaliers’ L. Davis dropped in a basket on a drive at the buzzer to cut the Wildcats’ first-quarter lead to 22-19.

In the second quarter, Lakeland continued to chase the Wildcats and cut the lead. Hitting the mark on three three-pointers was Samson Worrell, whose third three-pointer tied the game at 32 with 3:15 remaining in the half.

Lakeland’s Rodney Goodman went to the foul line and connected on one of two shots to put the home team ahead for the first time in the game at 33-32 with 2:10 remaining in the half.

The Wildcats’ Evans dropped in a three-pointer and six more points to reclaim the lead and take a 39-37 cushion to the locker room at the half.

Opening the second half, Marche Everett for the home team scored two baskets from the foul line to tie the game at 39. Rodney Goodman got a steal to put the Cavs ahead for the last time, with the score 41-39.

The Wildcats quickly took back the lead and continued to add to it in the third quarter, finishing it at 50-45.

For the final quarter of play, the Wildcats jumped out with a fast four points to advance the score to 54-45. With five minutes remaining and the score 56-47, the Wildcats froze the ball, slowly raising the score to 63-47 with 2:28 remaining.

When the Cavs were able to get the ball, they were plagued with turnovers, steals and failed shots, resulted in them scoring only five points in the final quarter.

“We played well for three quarters,” Lakeland coach James Jones said after the game. “We just didn’t have the consistence for the final quarter.”

The Wildcats went on to finish the job with a 67-50 win over the Cavaliers.

In scoring for the Cavaliers, Worrell was the only player in double figures, with 14 points.

For the Wildcats, Evans led with 27 points and Taj Owens had 12 points.

Lakeland’s record now stands at 4-12 overall and 4-9 in the district. The Wildcats are 14-2 overall and 12-1 in the district.

Lakeland is off until Friday, when they will head to Western Branch for a 7:30 p.m. game.