SOUR LAKE — Cade Smith has a pretty simple job: Knock down three-point baskets.

“That’s a fun job to have, isn’t it?” Nederland coach Brian English said. “If coach just wants you to go out there and shoot threes and make them, I think I would like that myself.”

It sure pays well … in points.

Smith scored all of his points on three-pointers — five treys in a 64-49 win over Shepherd and four in a 54-36 win over Laredo Nixon — Thursday in the first day of the Hardin-Jefferson Basketball Marathon.

“I just want to prove everyone wrong,” the senior guard said. “They’re saying we’re not going to do any of this. If we come out winning the tournament, we’re going to be 15-1, so we need to keep shooting the ball well so we can take these dubs [W’s for wins].”

Right now, Nederland’s 11-1 mark isn’t too shabby for a team that just won its own Classic.

“We’re real good together,” Smith said. “We’ve been playing together our whole lives. This year is our year to finally get to show what we’ve been doing the past couple of years.”

Smith’s three-point prowess has continued to improve. His 15 points against Shepherd was just one behind Hayden Hefner’s team high, and his 12 points led the Bulldogs against Nixon (11-4), a 5A team.

But Nederland’s defense might have been the game changer in its second game.

Nixon was held without a basket for 6 minutes, 25 seconds in the first half, as Nederland opened up a 15-12 first-quarter lead and went into halftime ahead 29-17. The Bulldogs scored eight unanswered after trailing 12-11.

“We knew they just like shooting the ball, and we just had to close out,” Smith said. “No breathing room for them to shoot the ball. The one thing they seemed to look for was the three-point ball.”

The Mustangs hit four treys for the game. Roger Vasquez hit four of them in the final quarter and led them with 10 points.

Shafin Momin and Hefner each had eight points for Nederland, which takes on Tatum at 8:30 a.m. today.

“This team is really starting to jell a lot quicker than we thought,” English said. “That’s what happens when you become a senior; you kind of learn to play both ends of the floor.”

I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews