Hot Springs has too much fire power for gimmick defenses.
Hot Springs riddled Lakeside's triangle-and-two set, designed to negate Trey Lenox and Exavian Christon, with 55.3 percent shooting Thursday night in a 72-43 romp at Lakeside Athletic Complex.
"My kids just keep playing hard, and I'm proud of the effort they gave me. Since we haven't been able to practice since Sunday, we focused on attacking the basket quite a bit. And the guys did that," Hot Springs coach Rodney Echols said.
The Trojans (20-5, 12-1) locked up their second-straight 5A-South championship, the Lady Trojans doing so earlier with a 50-21 win over Lakeside.
"It's another contribution to our program and what we're doing here in Hot Springs," Echols said. "I'm around a great group of kids each and every day that pour their heart into basketball, and these kids are pouring everything they have into getting to that next level."
Making its first three attempts, Hot Springs shot above 50 percent all night. Anthony Tate, coming off the bench with Hot Springs leading 6-2, scored all of his game-high 17 points in the first half.
"We told him to keep attacking the basket," Echols said. "He has the capability to put up points, and he can put up points quickly. It was just one of those games where he had the opportunity to score, and we need that out of him."
Tate made his first four shots and finished eight of 12, missing his only second-half attempt.
"They were in a triangle-and-two against our two best players, and they had them covered," Tate said. "That left me wide open, and I just exploited it."
Down 32-8 after one quarter at Trojan Fieldhouse, Lakeside stayed within 18-10 Thursday night before the Trojans, with a 15-2 turnover advantage in the half, went on a 14-0 run. KJ Corder hit a buzzer-beating basket for a 44-24 halftime lead.
"We played them much better tonight than we did the first time," Lakeside coach Tommy White said. "We were 32-8 at the end of the first quarter over there, and tonight we had the ball down 16 there at the end of the half. Then they go up 20 at the half, and they're just that good."
Corder stayed hot out of the locker room, hitting back-to-back three-pointers to fuel an 8-0 run for a 52-24 advantage.
"It was big," said Corder of his buzzer-beating effort. "It was a momentum builder. ... It gave me a lot of confidence. Whenever you hit a big shot, you get a lot confidence. I just went out there and kept shooting."
Corder finished with 14 points, eight in the second half. Hot Springs led by as much as 32 three times in the third quarter, which ended 66-38 after 10-of-15 shooting by the Trojans.
Lakeside held off the mercy rule until Isaiah Gulley's three free throws pushed the lead to 69-38. The Trojans led 72-40 with 1:31 left, 11 players scoring after 13 tallied against De Queen last week.
"Everybody is contributing, and that's what we like," Echols said. "That's a tribute to our program, a tribute to how we're doing things. It's one of those accomplishments where everyone's playing and having fun."
Hot Springs won despite a scoreless game by Lenox, who scored a career-high 32 against Lakeside at Trojan Fieldhouse.
Tanner Rice, Chris Babb and Shawn Smith each scored eight points to lead the Rams.
Hot Springs concluded the regular season Friday night at Hope while Lakeside finished the year at Camden Fairview.
Hot Springs 22 22 22 6 -- 72
Lakeside 10 14 14 5 -- 43
Hot Springs: Tate 17, Corder 14, Dobbins 8, E. Christon 6, K. Christon 6, Floyd 6, Smith 5, Gulley 5, Hampton 2, Goffigan 2, White 1.
Lakeside: Rice 8, Babb 8, Smith 8, Spakes 7, Bland 3, Gulley 3, Jolley 2, Webber 2, Hogan 2.
Sports on 02/28/2015