The Pike Liberal Arts boys closed out the first half of their regular season by claiming runner-up in the Corey Jones Memorial Tournament in Ashford over the weekend.

Pike won its first two games, before falling to Lakeside 49-39 in the tournament finals Saturday.

Chandler Avant led the way for the Patriots in the final, scoring 15 points.

With the win, Lakside avenged a 51-37 loss to Pike last week. Patriot head coach Gene Allen said Lakeside concentrated on defending Avant.

“You have to tip your hat to Lakeside,” said Allen. “They came in with a plan and took care of it. They did a really good job of taking Chan out of the game, and that was the difference. We didn’t shoot well, and didn’t rebound well. When you don’t, do those two things, you usually don’t come out with a win.”

Despite the loss, Pike sits about .500 on the year, and Allen feels his guys are ready for the stretch run in January.

Pike will play nine games through the first three weeks of January to get ready for the region tournament on Jan. 30.

“We just need to shoot better from the outside and from the the free throw line,” Allen said. “We are going to work over the break, because the tournament will be here before you know it. We need to be peaking about the time the tournament starts.”