By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Lafayette girls' basketball team (4-3) got back in the win column with a 40-25 win over Mid-Buchanan, while the Lafayette boys (3-1) took down the Dragons, 66-39 at Lafayette High School Monday.
The Lady Irish got off to a 24-8 start in the first half, and held Mid-Buchanan (5-2) to just eight made field goals all night.
That comes right after Lafayette lost to Tipton, 49-24, in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Basketball Classic at Benton High School Saturday.
"The best way to wash a bad defensive game out of your mouth is to come back the next game and turn things around," Lafayette girls' coach Brad Spinner said. "I thought we did a good job of really sitting down and defending and making shots hard to come by and really battling for the boards."
Lafayette was led in scoring by junior Talicia Byrd, who logged a game-high 15 points. Fellow junior Jazlyn King chipped in 10 points on a pair of three-pointers.
Mid-Buchanan was led in scoring by junior Mallie Lieffring, who wound up with nine points.
The Lafayette boys, meanwhile, took control almost immediately, getting off to a 13-3 start in the first 3:48 of the ballgame.
Leading 32-13 at halftime, the Irish were able to cruise in the second half, despite a 15-point effort from the Dragons (5-2) in the third quarter.
"I felt like we could have played a little bit better," Lafayette junior Camden Bennett said. "Third quarter, we were slacking just a little bit. But, other than that, we were playing what we do and we were playing to our potential and it was a good night."
Bennett led all scorers with 22 points. He knocked down three triples on the night, including two right away in the first quarter. Senior Drake Davison tallied 13 points, while junior Mikey Thomas contributed 11.
Lafayette was also hot from downtown, knocking down eight three-pointers, including four in the first quarter.
"Camden is our go-to guy," Lafayette head coach Kevin Bristol said. "But, we have many guys on different nights who can also knock down and score big for us."
Lafayette's defense was aggressive throughout, forcing 21 Mid-Buchanan turnovers and holding standout Dragon point guard Joe Clark to just seven points on two made field goals.
Senior Caiden Bailey led the Dragons with 15 points.
Both Mid-Buchanan teams are at Stanberry Thursday. The Lafayette girls are at Hamilton Wednesday, while the Lafayette boys will next face Des Moines Hoover on Saturday in the inaugural '12 Courts of Christmas' event at Hyvee Arena in Kansas City.
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