FAIRFIELD — It took a quarter for the Lawrence High School boys basketball team to find its groove Friday night, but once the Bulldogs did they played some of their best basketball of the season.

Trailing Cony by six points after one quarter, Lawrence rallied in the second quarter to take the lead. With a strong inside presence on offense and tight defense, the Bulldogs pulled away in the second half, taking a 58-38 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference win.

“We just made plays. We stayed hungry, we jumped passing lanes, we fed each other. We passed the ball around and hit open layups,” said Lawrence senior Seth Powers, who scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Lawrence improved to 6-7 and jumped to sixth place in the Class A North Heal point standings. Cony fell to 5-9.

Down 16-10 after one quarter, Lawrence figured things out. The key to holding Cony to 22 points over the final three quarters was transition defense, Lawrence coach Jason Pellerin said.

“We were a little jazzed up early on and they obviously stuck shots (in the first quarter). They were catching us in mid-transition,” Pellerin said. “When we got back better, it allowed us to close out smarter and take away middle penetration.”

The Rams beat Lawrence 56-52 earlier this month. In Friday’s rematch, the Bulldogs felt that they handled Cony’s pressure much better, and that led to numerous open layups.

“Whatever they threw at us, whether it was the zone or whatever, we felt we could beat their man-to-man and make our layups and extend the lead,” Powers said.

Powers scored 10 of his 16 points in the third quarter, helping the Bulldogs push a four-point halftime lead to 14 points, 45-31, by the end of the quarter. Kyle Robinson also was a force for Lawrence in the paint, scoring a game-high 17 points to go with eight rebounds.

“Kyle Robinson is amazing with his post moves. He practices them every day and we’re getting better at finishing around the rim,” Powers said.

“In general, I think (Lawrence) played well. Kyle Robinson was the best player on the floor tonight and I don’t think that was even close. They had a much bigger desire to win the game. Every loose ball, they seemed to get,” Cony coach TJ Maines said. “They played good D. We didn’t get a lot of penetration. We didn’t get second chances at shots, and we didn’t get out into transition very well. If we don’t do those things, we’re not a very good basketball team.”

Lawrence outrebounded Cony, 39-22.

“We had three total offensive rebounds in the game. For a team that shoots 3-pointers as often as we do, that’s disgraceful,” Maines said.

Mason Cooper had 13 points and six rebounds for the Bulldogs.

“As the season goes along, you hope your team’s progressing. We’re getting better in multiple facets. I think we’re finishing around the hoop better than we were at the beginning of the year,” Pellerin said.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM

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