Baptist Prep's big three outdueled Lamar's dynamic two to move one victory away from winning a conference tournament title.
D.J. Townsend, Ethan Clouser and Daniel Cobb combined to scored 54 points as the Eagles had enough in the fourth quarter to take down the Warriors 80-64 in the semifinals of the 3A-5 Conference tournament Thursday night at Baptist Prep Gymnasium.
"Those three have been getting it done all season for us," Baptist Prep Coach Steve Miller said. "Even when Ethan got in some foul trouble there in the first half, we got some good minutes off the bench from some other guys. But that's been a strength of ours all year.
"We play deep. But those three have been leading the way."
The rest of the Eagles certainly followed the trio's lead to help Baptist Prep (20-4) move into Saturday's championship game against Mayflower.
Townsend, a senior, scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half while Clouser, a junior who saw only 31/2 minutes of action during the first two quarters after picking up two quick fouls, finished with 19 points for Baptist Prep, which won the rubber match after the teams split a pair of regular-season games. Cobb, also a senior, added 15 points.
Junior forward Jonathan Singleton also contributed 9 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals for the Eagles, who led by as many as 20 points in the second quarter but were never able to completely put Lamar (17-5) away until late in the game because the the way Warrior guards Jamarey Larkin and Bradlee Kemp were playing.
Kemp, a 6-0 junior, scored a game-high 25 points, including 19 in the first half, and Larkin, a 5-10 senior, had 19 of his 24 points after halftime. The Warriors needed every one of their points, especially since their high-scoring standout guard, Ethan Kendall, was unable to get into any kind of offensive rhythm due to foul issues.
The senior, who was one of five boys from the state nominated to be a McDonald's All-American this year, picked up his third foul with 4:38 left in the second quarter. He picked up a fourth early in the third period and eventually fouled out with 3:49 remaining in the game just moments after knocking down a pair of free throws -- his only points of the game.
"I thought we defended him pretty well, especially in the first half," Miller said of Kendall. "We came out at the start with a lot of heart and really got after it defensively. We played well offensively, shot it well. But then, [Lamar] made a run there at the end of the second quarter when Kemp started making everything.
"We didn't have an answer for him. He got whatever he wanted, drives to the basket, hitting three pointer. ... He put on a display."
The Eagles' own hot shooting offset Kemp's effort during the opening half. Baptist Prep went 9 of 13 (69.2%) from behind the three-point line, with Townsend hitting five of them. His 21-footer from the top of the key gave the Eagles a 39-19 lead midway through the second quarter. But Lamar closed the period on a 12-3 run to close the gap to 42-31 by halftime.
After sitting out most of the first half, Clouser returned at the start of the third quarter and scored 11 points to help the Eagles establish a lead as big as 61-39. However, Larkin began attacking at the start of the final quarter to get Lamar going.
He scored eight of the first 10 points of the fourth, all off driving lay-ups. Larkin would later hit a 6-footer in the lane that got the Warriors within 67-56 with just under three minutes left in the game. Lamar had a chance to draw closer after forcing a turnover on Baptist Prep's ensuing possession but misfired on a basket inside.
The Eagles grabbed the rebound, and Townsend scored on a putback to put Baptist Prep back in control.
"We fouled too much and made some mental mistakes down the stretch," Miller said of his team's fourth quarter. "But we can clean those up [today]. Now, we've got to get ready for the next one, which we know will be a tough one."
Both teams shot 50% for the game, with Baptist Prep going 24 of 48 and Lamar finishing 20 of 40. The Eagles did end the night with 12 made three-pointers compared to four for the Warriors.