Seniors ignite Legacy boys’ win over Mojave
Legacy boys basketball coach Charles Janette expects returning Longhorns starters Sian Laine, Samuel Johnson and Ira Haywood to lead a run toward the postseason.
On Wednesday, the trio of seniors showed why.
Laine scored 18 points, Johnson 17 and Haywood 14 to help the Longhorns open Northwest League play with a 76-47 win at Mojave.
“They’ve been here since they were freshmen, so they know what we want,” Janette said. “We’ve been waiting three years for them to be seniors. We’re going to ride them all the way; they’re our leadership.”
Legacy (2-1) used a 22-2 run in the second half to take a 67-34 lead in the fourth quarter.
The Rattlers (0-2, 0-1) rode a 14-5 run to pull within 45-32 midway through the third, but their offense stalled from there.
Dylan Baumgarte’s 3-pointer as time expired in the third quarter and a pair of dunks by Johnson highlighted the 22-2 surge that enabled the Longhorns to pull away.
It was a marked improvement for Legacy, which blew a 36-28 halftime lead in a 67-63 loss at Liberty on Monday.
“The last game we lost in the second half,” said Johnson, who had eight rebounds. “This game, we had to step it up and finish it out, and that’s what we did.”
Laine, Johnson and Haywood combined for nearly 65 percent of Legacy’s offense.
“That’s our big three right there,” Johnson said. “It feels good. We came in here and handled business.”
The Longhorns scored 12 of the final 14 points in the third quarter.
“We went to a little bit of a 2-3 zone (defense) to change it up and keep penetration away from them,” Janette said. “And we cleaned the ball up. Sometimes we get caught up going up and down, and we turn the ball over.”
Caleb Maxey led Mojave with 10 points, and Marques Strickland tallied eight points and seven rebounds.
Legacy will try to hold on to its early-season momentum after opening Northwest League play 5-1 last season only to go 2-6 down the stretch and miss the playoffs.
“These guys have been through that, so hopefully it’ll pay off this year,” Janette said. “It’s good to win, especially on the road.
“We talked about league play counting almost like two games, so it’s good to be 1-0 in our division.”
