by GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio– Lutheran West junior point guard Jayson Levis continued his stellar start to the season, helping lift the Longhorns past the Lancers, 63-45 as part of the final game of day one of the NEO Youth Elite Christmas Classic.
Levis finishes the night with a game-high 25 points. Fellow point guard Derek Fairly finished with 10 points, headlining a duo at the point guard position that was a mismatch for the Lancers all night.
“Derek is a really good point guard and I think he’s one of the best points guards in the state,” Levis said about Derek Fairly helping run the offense. “He really gets the ball in transition and just makes everybody around him better.”
The Longhorns were able to take command of the game early Thursday night. Beating the Lancers down the floor and their outside shooting kept them in the lead for the majority of the first half and with that, they were able to head into halftime with a 47-39 lead.
“I think that because we come in every day and stay competitive, they got to make sure they come in and compete every day, and it kind of shows on the floor,” Longhorn head coach Jordan Duke said after his team is off to an 8-1 start to the season. “Being competitive in practice has helped us in these first nine games.”
With the two point guards stealing the show during the win, other role players like Clay Noble, Joshua Meyer and Matthew Meyer played imperative parts in the way their team was able to maintain a second-half lead for the entire game.
Gilmour was able to slowly inch its way back late in the third quarter. Nearly a 20-point deficit swiftly turned into just a nine-point deficit after three quarters.
They weren’t able to get any closer as the Longhorns thrived in transition and making defensive stops that really took the life out of the Gilmour offense at times.
That has come with confidence in Dukes’ players. After starting the season the way they have, they’ve garnered the attention of many within the area.
Playing some elite competition and even beating teams like St. Ignatius earlier in the year has given Duke’s team all the confidence in the world as they look to continue their strong start to the season next year.
“You got to play the right way to win because any team can beat you,” Duke said. “It keeps you on your toes and makes our practices that much more competitive and because of that, it gives us more and more confidence to go out and continue to beat anybody because we’ve shown that we can beat good teams.”
