Nick Wandishin attempts to block a shot. (Rivet Photo)

By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

Firepower isn’t the issue.

The question is can the Lake Region boys’ basketball team be extinguishers on the defensive end.

They are certainly moving in the direction of stoppers.

Coming off an impressive comeback victory at Falmouth, erasing a 16-point fourth quarter deficit, LR Coach John Mayo emphasized to his team they needed to bring intensity at both ends of the court against their next opponents, Freeport and Cape Elizabeth.

Mission accomplished.

The Lakers held Freeport to 28% shooting, and had three players reach double digits in a lopsided 70-47 victory last Thursday over the Falcons.

LR shot the ball well, 48.4% from the floor, as they raced out to a 12-5 and 34-17 halftime lead. The high percentage was the result of pinpoint passes, finding teammates open inside the lane for easy scores.

Nate Smith paced the Lakers with 7-of-15 shooting for a game-high 18 points. Fellow senior Jack Lesure filled up the stat sheet, shooting 7-of-10 for 17 points to go along with a game-high 15 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals. Marcus DeVoe was also hot, connecting on 6-of-13 for 12 points.

The Lakers built a 21-point lead in the third quarter, but allowed Freeport to get back into the contest with a 11-3 run to close out the quarter, keyed by two 3-point plays (the old fashioned way) by TJ Morrill and Jack Davenport (17 points).

Freeport would get a little closer when Nate Pelletier (11 points, 5 rebounds) drained a 3-pointer and converted a foul shot for a 4-point play with 5:04 left to make it 56-45.

The Lakers restored order, however, giving up just one more Freeport bucket. With four different players scoring down the stretch, the Lakers sprinted to the finish line with a 14-2 run.

For the Lakers, Brandon Palmer chipped in 8 points and 6 rebounds, Nick Wandishin had 6 points and 4 boards, Ryan Hodgdon 4 points and 5 rebounds, Alex Langadas 3 points, and Tyler Walker had 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals.

Laker Scoreboard

Lakers 52, Cape Elizabeth 34: The Lakers sure played like they had this game circled on their schedules.

After opening an 11-6 lead, the Lakers took command of Saturday’s home tilt with a 17-3 run to hammer the Capers.

The Laker defense was stifling as no Caper was able to reach double digits.

“All week, we had been focusing on defense. In the first half, that focus paid off in only giving up 9 points in the half and only 3 points in the 2nd quarter. I told our players at halftime that they are a good team and that they were going to make a run. We had to play smart and not let them back into it,” Coach Mayo said. “They did make a small run, but we were able to minimize it.”

During the second quarter run, forward Alex Langadas gave the Lakers a spark with his intensity, Coach Mayo said.

“Offensively, we shared the ball well and were patient against their zone. We want to play fast and sometimes that hurts our zone offense, but that night I thought that we more patient,” the coach said. “Our guys lost in the Western Maine finals last year to Cape and many of their players returned, so I tried using that as motivation to get them focused to play. It seemed to have worked.”

While Marcus DeVoe and Alex Langadas were leading the Laker charge on offense with 14 and 10 points respectively, Jack Lesure dominated the glass, collecting 18 rebounds to go along with 6 points as the Lakers improved to 7-2.

Other LR scorers were: Nate Smith 7, Brandon Palmer 6, Tyler Walker 4, Damon Knight 3 and Nick Wandishin 2.

Lakers 68, Gray-NG 35: Up 12 at the half, the Lakers turned to their defense to put away the Patriots at Gray.

The Lakers went on a 12-5 run and then out scored the hosts 23-10 to wrap up their eighth win.

Eleven of the 12 Lakers scored with Jack Lesure scoring a game-high 13 points, Brandon Palmer netting 11 and Nate Smith 10.

Other LR scorers were: Tyler Walker 8, Marcus DeVoe 8, True Meyers 4, Ryan Hodgdon 4, Alex Langadas 4, Damon Knight 3, Tristen Chaine 2 and Nick Wandishin 1.

Up next: The Lakers travel to Wells on Friday, and then host Poland on Monday and Waynflete on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.

Heal Watch: As of Wednesday, the Lakers (8-2) are ranked # in Class B South.