MERRY HILL – Lawrence Academy’s varsity boys turned on the defensive pressure. Well, for a quarter they did anyway.

The Warriors needed only one quarter of the trapping defense to jump out to a 31-8 advantage and set their offense on cruise control as they downed Tarheel Independent Conference rival Pungo Christian Academy 93-39 here Tuesday night.

The first period saw Lawrence hit 13 of 24 shots and force eight PCA turnovers while out-rebounding the Raiders 10-2.

Pungo’s M.D. Sadler started the contest with a three-pointer for the visiting Raiders, but there was little offense for the team the rest of the quarter.

Thomas Ward scored less than 15 seconds later and the Warrior offense rolled from there. Ward’s bucket was followed by hoops from Chad Simmons and Erik Hughes before the later also downed a pair of shots from the charity stripe.

All total, the Warriors went on a 16-0 run that put the game away almost as quickly as it began. Following Hughes’ shots, Ward hit another bucket followed by a Simmons’ free throw and trey. Hughes put the finishing touches on the run with a bucket at the 4:00 mark to give Lawrence a 16-3 run.

Charlie Carawan finally stopped the Lawrence run when he buried a field goal at the 3:37 mark of the first period.

Following the Carawan hoop, the Warriors pulled off another spurt, this time going on a 15-3 run to end the quarter.

Hughes started the run with a basket with 3:02 to play and was followed by a hoop from Simmons. Simmons then added a free throw before Shawn Smith buried the first of his six points.

Gabe White added a bucket to push the Lawrence advantage to 27-5 before Sadler buried a trey.

Smith and Ward each added a field goal to give Lawrence a 31-8 advantage at the end of the first period.

If it were possible, things got worse for Pungo in the second quarter despite the fact that first-year Lawrence skipper Justis Bobbitt was freely substituting from his bench.

The Warriors held PCA to one-of-13 from the floor in the second period while shooting 50 percent (nine-of-18) themselves.

After Wynne Hughes, the Warriors’ leading scorer with 13 points on the night, started the second period with a hoop, Pungo’s Kyle Elliot answered with a bucket at the 7:13 mark. It would be the last field goal the Raiders would score for the next eight minutes of the contest.

Meanwhile, the Warriors rolled off 16 unanswered to close out the first half and take a commanding 49-10 lead at the break.

Andrew Barber (6) and Joe Greisedieck (4) led the streak for the Warriors while James Bostick and Joey Mullin also scored during the quarter.

The third quarter saw the Raiders and Warriors match either other point for point as each team chipped in 15 points.

Lawrence shot only 31.6 percent (six-for-19) while Pungo tallied a 46.2 percentage (six-for-13) during the quarter.

In the final period, the Warriors outscored their visitors 26-14 to seal the victory.

W. Hughes led the way for the Warriors off the bench while Simmons and Ward tallied 10 points each.

&uot;Everybody played hard tonight,&uot; Bobbitt said. &uot;We hustled and didn’t slouch around. Everyone on the team had the opportunity to play and all of them scored.

&uot;We have Halifax Academy coming here Friday night,&uot; he added. &uot;That will be a different ballgame. Hopefully, we’ll be ready for them.&uot;

Lawrence (90)

Wynne Hughes – 13, Chad Simmons – 10, Thomas Ward – 10, J. Greisedieck – 9. A. Barber – 8, E. Hughes – 8, G. Mizelle – 8, D. Waters – 7, J. Bostick – 6, S. Smith – 6, G. White – 3, J. Mullin – 2

FG: 38-of -53; Turnovers: 14

Pungo (39)

M.D. Sadler – 23, Charlie Carawan – 11, K. Elliott – 2, B. Winslow – 2, M. Braddy – 1

FG: 14-of-53; Turnovers: 20