Liberty-Eylau built a solid lead in the first half and cruised to a 22-point win over Daingerfield Friday at the Rader Dome in the Leopards' home opener.
Third-year head coach Marlon Byrdson was pleased with the Leopards' win but not necessarily with the cruising.
"We played well starting the game and played a pretty decent first half," Byrdsong said. "Of course it was an emotional high for their first home game, and they were pretty self-motivated. I didn't have to say much."
Liberty-Eylau built a 7-point lead in the first quarter with a 23-16 run to start the game. A 10-point swing in the second quarter extended the Leopards' advantage to 17 by halftime (42-25).
The Tigers won the third quarter, 9-8, before L-E closed the game on an 18-12 run.
"The thing we've got to improve on is the third quarter; that's two games we've played and been sluggish in the third quarter," Byrdsong said. "To score eight points and didn't have a field goal for the first two and a half or three minutes, that's something that we're definitely going to have to get fixed. We're just preaching putting together four quarters. We've got to continue doing the fundamental things in practice."
Decorian Phillips drained five 3-pointers for the Leopards (2-0) and scored a game-high 25 points. Ajon Gray scored 13 points, and Jordyn Pineda-Davis chipped in with 10 points.
Tim Broner paced Daingerfield with 14 points, Keith Bryson contributed 10 points with a trio of threes, and Reggie Jeter scored eight points.
Daingerfield 16 9 9 12 - 46
Liberty-Eylau 23 19 8 18 - 68
DAINGERFIELD (46): Rushing 0 1-4 1, Jimmerson 1 0-0 3, Reeves 0 1-2 1, Bryson 3 1-3 10, Jeter 3 1-1 8, Tim Broner 6 2-4 14, Timm. Broner 1 0-3 2, Traylor 2 0-0 4, Taylor 1 0-0 3, TOTALS 17 6-17 46.
L-E (68): Phillips 9 2-2 25, Williams 1 0-0 2, Cunningham 1 0-0 3, Pineda-Davis 4 0-0 10, Barron 2 0-0 5, Lemmer 1 1-1 4, Gray 6 1-6 13, Chatmon 1 0-0 2, Caldwell 2 0-2 4, TOTALS 27 4-11 68.
3-point goals: DNG-Bryson 3, Jimmerson, Jeter, Taylor; LE-Phillips 5, Pineda-Davis 2, Cunningham, Barron, Lemmer. Team fouls: Daingerfield 12, Liberty-Eylau 18.