NEDERLAND — Nederland coach Brian English knew his Bulldogs were due for a bad quarter.
The time came in the first period against the Lumberton Raiders in the Dog Dome Friday night.
Lumberton kept the score close early until Nederland came alive in the second and third quarters and eventually won going away, 69-31. Nederland got 24 points from senior Jase Miguez and is now 19-8 overall and 5-2 in District 22-5A. Lumberton is 15-11 and 2-5.
Miguez only made one shot behind the arc on six attempts, yet was perfect on all five of his free throw shots and scored 16 points in the paint, including a monster dunk.
“We knew sooner or later we were going to have us a rough quarter and it was tonight,” English said of the opening frame. “We had been playing well and were due for one of those quarters I guess. The kids responded after that.”
English sent a message to his team very early in the game. The Bulldogs starters missed four of their first five shots, and English quickly traded the starters for reserve players.
“We try to do that,” English said. “They learn from that. I think it helped them.”
Lumberton’s Reese Kemp knocked down a three-pointer midway through the first period to give the Raiders an 8-4 advantage. Kemp stayed hot and then hit another bucket to give the visitors a six-point lead.
Ten of the 11 points scored by the Bulldogs were from players off the bench.
The Bulldogs outscored the Raiders 17-8 in the second to take a 28-19 lead into halftime.
Nederland then turned up the intensity even more in the third. The Bulldogs opened the third quarter on a 16-0 run before Tim Rhodes hit a shot to stop the bleeding for Lumberton. The score was 44-19 by the time Rhodes got the Raiders on the board in the second half.
Miguez scored 10 points in the Bulldogs’ 16-0 stretch.
“We stressed the importance of those first 3 minutes in the second half,” English said. “They bought into that and responded well tonight.”
Nederland was not done as the Bulldogs outscored the Raiders 18-4 in the game’s final 8 minutes.
The Bulldogs turned 23 Raiders turnovers into 23 points and outscored Lumberton 46-12 in the paint.
Lumberton held a 29-27 lead in the rebounding category, led by Mason Sikes’ 13 boards. No Lumberton player finished with double-digit points. Rhodes had nine and Sikes and Kemp each finished with eight.
Josh Hebert scored 10 points for the Bulldogs while Adrian Nelson and Kevin Howard each had eight. Howard had seven rebounds and two steals.