BRANCH -- County Line hit its first six shots of the game to build a lead and didn't look back after that Tuesday night at County Line Gym.
Gage Gattis scored a game-high 18 points to lead County Line's balanced offense in a 58-26 victory against Lavaca in Class 1A/2A District 5 play.
County Line was able to make eight of 11 shots in the first quarter, while Lavaca hit just one of its first 12 shots. That allowed the Indians to build a 19-3 lead after the initial quarter.
"I was really pleased with our offensive efficiency in the first half," County Line coach Joe Brunson said. "We got good shots and made a high percentage of them. That's something we have been talking about doing."
County Line (25-2, 9-0) didn't let off the gas in the second quarter either. The Indians then made 10 of 16 from the floor in that quarter. The Golden Arrows were limited to two of 10 shooting while committing six turnovers.
That helped County Line build a 42-8 advantage heading into the break.
"We talked about between the quarters, we knew they only scored three points in the first quarter," Brunson said. "We knew they would score more than that. We knew we still needed stops and more scoring on our end. I'm proud of my guys staying with it."
Lavaca got a basket early to cut the lead to 7-3, but County Line then scored 22 unanswered points after that to take a 29-3 lead early in the second quarter.
"This just wasn't our night," Lavaca coach Renner Reed said. "A lot of things went wrong. That's not us. But that is them. They are very good. I thought our energy was flat. We gave up some easy baskets."
County Line didn't miss many shots in the third quarter either, making six of 13 to take a 58-19 lead heading into the final quarter.
"When you don't make shots again them, it destroys your defense," Reed said. "We are an outside shooting team. We were averaging about 44 points given up per game. I think they could've scored whatever they wanted to tonight."
Pacyn Reanes scored 16 points for County Line to help round out the scoring. Tyler Young also added 10 off the bench for the Indians.
"We try to stay balanced," Brunson said. "We play six guys and they all can score on any given night. Any of those guys could score 20 points for us."
Lavaca (16-5, 5-1) was led by Jordan Fenner's team-high eight points.
County Line 58, Lavaca 26
Lavaca 3 5 11 7 -- 26
County Line 19 23 16 0 -- 58
Lavaca (16-5, 5-1): Fenner 8, Walker 5, Eck 3, Dockery 3, Wagner 3, White 2, Armshed 1, Moore 1.
County Line (25-2, 9-0): Gattis 18, Reanes 16, Young 10, Johnston 8, Bateman 6,
Girls
Lavaca 57, County Line 48
Lavaca found itself down early but then used a strong second half to pull away late Tuesday night at County Line Gym.
County Line was able to take a 33-28 lead heading into the break with help of Martha Neumeier hitting a jumper at the buzzer.
The Lady Indians were able to take a slight lead into halftime while shooting 14 for 28 from the field in the initial two quarters. The Lady Golden Arrows made just 10 of 30 shots in the first half.
Lavaca (16-4, 7-0 1A/2A District 5) was able to turn it around on both offense and defense to take a 42-38 lead heading into the final quarter.
County Line was limited to just five points while shooting two for 12 from the floor in the third quarter.
Lavaca was able to push its advantage out to 55-45 with a steal and then a lay-up from Mairady Dempsey and didn't look back after that.
Defensive pressure was big in Lavaca's come-from-behind effort, as it forced 10 second-half turnover after County Line finished with just four in the first half.
"We came out a little flat, and they were fired up," Lavaca coach Justin Wyles said. "They were ready for this one. We weren't. But in the second half, we played so much better on defense. Turnovers were huge, too."
Dempsey led the way for Lavaca, finishing with a game-high 17 points. Breanna Dorsey added 12, while Beth Ann May scored 11 for the Lady Golden Arrows.
"We've had a few different girls lead us in scoring," Wyles said. "I was really proud of our inside-outside game on offense. We pride ourselves on spreading the ball around. We try to stay pretty balanced."
County Line (12-11, 7-2) was led by Martha Neumeier's team-high 12 points. Alexis Dear added 11, and Shae Parsons contributed 10 for the Lady Indians.
Lavaca 57, County Line 48
Lavaca 13 15 14 15 -- 57
County Line 16 17 5 10 -- 48
Lavaca (16-4, 7-0): Dempsey 17, Dorsey 12, May 11, Rose 9, Headley 4, Green 2, Lamb 2.
County Line (12-11, 7-2): Neumeier 12, Dear 11, Parsons 10, Toney 6, Price 6, Odoumvilay 3.
Preps Basketball on 01/17/2018