Coming into Friday night’s home game against Lakeside, the Pike Liberal Arts boys’ teams was looking to get on a roll.

And the Patriots did just that after only a few minutes of play.

At the end of the first quarter, PLAS led Lakeside 18-2, with the Chiefs’ lone bucket being scored with 3.5 seconds remaining.

PLAS would go one to win 66-54, holding off a late rally by Lakeside.

“I thought we did a pretty good job in the first half,” head coach Mike Barbaree said after the game. “We kept a good tempo throughout [during the first half] but let things slip away in the second.”

The Patriots were up 41-16 after two periods, and kept a 20-point lead throughout the third quarter, leading 56-30 at the end of three quarters however in the fourth, the Chiefs seized the momentum.

Lakeside outscored PLAS 24-10 in the fourth, and 38-25 overall in the second half.

But thanks the Patriots’ ability to hit late free throws, 11 points would be the closest the Chiefs would come to getting a victory.

“We are improving – and getting better with each game,” Barbaree said.

“Overall, I thought we played pretty well [Friday night], despite the let down in the fourth quarter,” the coach added.

Ross Hixon led the way for the Patriots, scoring 18 points, while Justin McLaughlin and Stewart Pinckard added 13 and 12 points respectively.

While the boys’ team got off to a fast start, the same could not be said about the girls’ team – however the end result could.

The girls’ team defeated Lakeside 48-45, thanks to a fourth quarter comeback.

At the half, the Patriots trailed by a point, 22-21,

In the third, the Chiefs were able to jump out to a nine-point lead before PLAS went on a 16-8 run that begin late in the third quarter and extended into the fourth.

With 1:43 left in the game, the Patriots were able to take the lead and never looked back as the team would go on to the win.

“We didn’t play very well in the first half,” head coach Steven Kilcrease said. “But this is a good basketball team and they would a way to win.”

“We kept chipping away at the lead and eventually we were able to come all the way back and get it – we played with a lot of confidence and I am very proud of them.”

Rebecca Farrar led the way with 12 points with Eady Pinckard and Katie Wiggins contributing 10 and eight points, respectively.

Like both varsity teams, the JV teams got things started off with wins as the boys’ team won 60-21 and the girls’ team won 55-10.

Tatum Barnes led the way for the boys with 15 points and Katie Ward and Carely Barron led the way for the girls with 10 points.