CHARLOTTESVILLE —After two tough losses, the Class 2A Lapel Bulldogs were looking to continue to rebound.
On the road at Eastern Hancock on Friday, they kept the momentum going.
Six days after defeating 3A New Castle, the Bulldogs (10-7) won their second straight game while handing the host Royals (6-7) their third straight loss.
Using their height advantage, the Bulldogs broke an early tie before rolling to a decisive 58-37 victory.
“The whole key is the last two games we’ve played defense,” Lapel head coach Jimmie Howell said. “We’ve guarded people, and we haven’t done that too many games this year. And our practices have been much better the past couple of weeks. There’s a correlation between practices and games.”
The Bulldogs defense allowed Eastern Hancock sophomore Cyrus Burton to score a team-high 14 points with four rebounds, but the Bulldogs broke two early first-half ties behind a 13-3 run to take control.
No other Eastern Hancock player reached double figures.
The Royals missed their first six shot attempts from the field and faced a 26-18 deficit by halftime. Down 9-0 to start the game, Landon O’Neal, who had 9 points, and Burton led an 11-2 run to tie the score 11-11 heading into the second quarter.
Burton deadlocked the game 13-all early in the second quarter, but Lapel’s bigs created problems the rest of the way, particularly on the defensive glass.
The Bulldogs outrebounded Eastern Hancock 33-19 overall, including 27 defensive boards for Lapel, which created multiple second-chance shots.
“We wanted to make sure we controlled the game. When they shoot a lot of 3s, they get hot and are hard to handle,” Howell said. “We wanted to make sure we didn’t help very much.”
The Bulldogs scored 11 points or more in each quarter, and used an 11-2 run to open the second half to build a 17-point lead.
Kolby Bullard, who stands 5-foot-11, posted a game-high 16 points, while 6-5 Bryce Carpenter had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Carson Huber, a 5-8 point guard, had 10 points and eight assists. Cole Alexander, a 6-2 forward, had six rebounds — all defensive — and 4 points off the bench.
Caden Eicks, a 6-5 junior, added 4 points and four rebounds.
Offensive efficiency was key for the Bulldogs. Lapel shot 51 percent from the field in the game and outscored the Royals 32-19 in the second half as the Bulldogs made their push.
Bullard capped a 9-0 run to open the second half with a quick cut towards the basket off an assist from Huber to make it 33-18. A Bullard 3 with 4:28 left in the quarter increased the lead 40-22.
“Carson Huber just does a great job leading the way. He’s pretty flawless. He hits big shots. He hits free throws. He doesn’t turn it over much,” Howell said. “We had nine kids score. That doesn’t happen very often.”
Bullard shot 7-of-14 from the field and had nine rebounds. A 14-4 run in the fourth quarter locked up the game for Lapel. Huber was 4-of-5 from the field.