By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Just one night removed from a tough 78-71 loss at Benton, the Lafayette boys' basketball team (12-6) bounced back in a big way, jumping out to a 23-7 first quarter lead and cruising to a 69-46 win over Bishop LeBlond at Lafayette High School Wednesday.
After scoring 28 fourth quarter points in a furious comeback attempt at Benton on Tuesday, Irish head coach Kevin Bristol wasn't exactly sure how much energy his team would have coming out of the gate.
"I was kind of concerned about how we were going to play tonight," Bristol said. "That atmosphere from last night and that energy we had to use in the fourth quarter (against Benton) to get back in the game, I was a little concerned. But, I think we did pretty good tonight."
Lafayette, who's 5-0 on their home floor this season, jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first minute and a half, and ended the first quarter on an 8-2 run to set the tone right away.
Juniors Mikey Thomas and Camden Bennett combined to score 21 points in the first eight minutes alone.
"We just had it going honestly," Thomas said. "Our teammates found us, we were running the floor. Sam (Ryan) hit me on at least three passes, and just getting layups like that."
LeBlond (15-8) got going a bit more offensively in the second quarter, knocking down four three-pointers in that frame. Still, the Irish led 38-21 at the break.
Bennett went off coming out of the locker room, scoring 12 points in the third quarter and finishing with a game-high 28 points. Thomas ended up with 20, while Drake Davison had 11.
"We just wanted to come in and perform after last night," Thomas continued. "I mean, obviously a disappointing loss, but nothing you can do. Can't dwell on it. Gotta go ahead and go out and play."
LeBlond, who's 8-2 in their last 10, made eight total triples in a losing effort. Jake Korell led the way with 13 points. Marcos Dominguez scored 11 on three made triples. Alex Libel finished with nine.
LeBlond heads to Columbia Saturday for the Hall of Fame Classic, where they'll face Harrisburg at 11:30 a.m. Lafayette stays home to face No. 7 Platte County on Friday at 7:30.
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