Liberty-Eylau controlled the tempo from the opening tip to the final whistle.
The Lady Leopards defeated Center in a rout Friday night at the Rader Dome, 62-49.
"I'll take a win any day but this isn't a win I'm proud about," Liberty-Eylau head coach Aquanetta Watson said. "There's a lot of things at this point of the season, that we need to work on. Overall, our team defense took a dive tonight. I put some things in defensively for my girls to do and we were just unable to execute."
The Leopards won the turnover battle with Center, forcing the Roughriders to commit 31 turnovers, while only committing 20 during the game.
Eliyah Howard led the Leopards offensively, pouring in 19 points.
"Eliyah is so quick, she can cause problems for most teams," Watson said. "We've instilled in her that no one is as quick as her on the court with the ball in her hands. We've told her that her first priority with the ball is to get to the basket and if they stop you at the basket, find one of your shooters.
"From the beginning of the game, we told her that she was going to be able to drive past these girls tonight. She took advantage of it and I'm proud of her for that."
Liberty-Eylau continued to apply the full-court pressure, which flustered Center in the third quarter.
Kyla Coston added 10 points and six rebounds for Liberty-Eylau in the rout.
"Kyla is a great all-around kid," Watson said. "I told her tonight to have confidence in her shot. When she lets it go, the whole bench stands up. She's one of the better shooters on our team.
"She'll also get in there and do a good job of rebounding for us as well. She's been better about getting the defensive rebound and getting the ball to her outlets, so we can get some easy buckets."
Ja'Kayla Parks led Center with a game-high 20 points.
The Leopards continued to exploit the mismatches defensively in the second half.
Skylier Bailey finished with 10 points and six rebounds for L-E.
"Skylier did an amazing job for us tonight on defense," Watson said. "I've been challenging her to have confidence in her shot and her drive. Tonight, we told her to get to the basket.
"She did exactly what we asked her to do. She was able to get some key putbacks and she kept our team motivated."
Center sliced into the Leopards lead in the second period, trailing only by seven heading into intermission, 27-20.
A few ill-advised shots by the Leopards allowed the Roughriders to garner the defensive rebounds, which created scoring opportunities in their transition offense.
"I'm trying to keep my girls in shape," Watson said. "You have to be in shape when district time rolls around. It's anybody's game on any night during district play. Everyone is trying to win and make it to the playoffs.
"We're going to try to wear teams down with our press. We want to keep fresh legs, that's why we substitute in waves. We want to keep fresh legs, so we can continue to keep pressing."
Liberty-Eylau held a double-digit lead at the end of the first period, which was largely attributed to converting Roughrider turnovers into points.
Center attempted to match the Leopards pace, which was an advantage for L-E.
Liberty-Eylau outran the Roughriders from the opening tip.
Liberty-Eylau's junior varsity squad defeated Center, 50-35. Tamara Norris led the Leopards with 14 points.
Center=8=12=12=17 - 49
Liberty-Eylau=20=7=15=20 - 62
CENTER (49): Patton 4 0-0 8, LaRock 5 0-0 10, Caranar 2 1-2 5, Weathered 2 0-0 5, Cooks 1 0-0 3, Parks 7 6-11 20. TOTALS 21 7-13 49.
LIBERTY-EYLAU (62): Howard 9 1-4 19, K. Bailey 3 1-3 7, Coston 4 1-2 10, George 0 0-3 0, Meadows 1 0-1 2, Ka. Norris 3 1-2 8, Brown 1 0-0 2, Crabtree 2 0-0 5, S. Bailey 4 2-2 10. TOTALS 27 6-17 62.
3-point goals: CHS-Cooks, Weathered. LE-Coston, Ka. Norris, Crabtree. Team fouls: Center 19, Liberty-Eylau 17.