LATHROP — Lathrop went toe-to-toe early with visiting Beyer on Friday night before the Patriots exploded on a 20-4 run. The Spartans never recovered and lost 76-50 in their bid to remain a game back of first-place Mountain House in the Western Athletic Conference.
Beyer (5-1 WAC, 13-6 overall) ran its lead to 44-19 at halftime and kept the throttle down, leading 59-31 after three quarters. The Patriots kept up their pace, leading 72-39 with four minutes left in the game when they finally went to their bench — two minutes after the Spartans (4-2, 12-6) cleared theirs.
“The problem was you can’t have a 17-point half and expect to come out and do well,” Lathrop coach Craig Ward said. “We just were not scoring in that first half.
“And to give them credit they came out in a three-quarter court press. I drew up something to break it and we were unable to get it to the deep corner, which is the only way to break it. We have to bounce back for Mountain House and some other tough games coming up, but we’ll be all right.”
The Patriots played disciplined defense with McKay Bundy (14 points) drawing four charging fouls in the game’s first 10 minutes.
“McKay Bundy is our team leader,” Beyer coach Kyle McKim said. “He averages about three a game.
“It was a fun game. I am glad we came out and played hard and I am looking forward to the rest of league.”
Walton Whaley and C.J. Ward led the Spartans with 11 points each. Whaley scored seven points in the fourth quarter. Aaron Doral added seven points.
The Patriots’ Hayden Keller led all scorers with 22 points.
 
Junior varsity
Beyer 56, Lathrop 55
Daniel Whaley scored 27 points for the Spartans in a back-and-forth heartbreaking loss.
Harold Gary added 10 points for Lathrop.
 
Freshman
Beyer 65, Lathrop 50
Zareef Fasli led the Spartans with 14 points.
Jason Dhaliwal chipped in nine points for Lathrop and Jason Seabron eight.