Less than three and one-half minutes into the Warriors game against the Lindsey Wilson College junior varsity, the Warriors were in front of the Blue Raiders only 4-2.
Then Josh Locket hit a shot underneath, added a put-back and then another. Brandon Dunson pulled up way outside, on the right wing, and dropped in an NBA-range three pointer.
Suddenly, WVC held a 13-2 lead with 13:44 remaining in the opening half.
The Warriors went on to a 50-24 halftime lead enrout to a 95-62 victory, their fifth of the season against no losses.
The win came on a night the WVC Athletic Department honored the area's veterans. All veterans were admitted to the game free of charge, and the Mt. Carmel Veterans Honor Guard presented the Colors as the WVC pep band played the national anthem prior to the game.
"I don't know how many veterans we had here tonight," said Warriors Head Coach Dan Sparks afterward, "but I'm glad we paid our respects to them. Those people really deserve it."
The coach also admitted his club got off to a slow start. "I thought we missed easy shots early, really didn't knock down some open shots we normally do. Then we kind of got on a roll and, defensively, picked it up and pulled out to a nice, comfortable halftime lead," he said.
The Warriors got that lead with their defense. They were cleaning the boards on the defensive end, picking off 13 missed Lindsey Wilson shots in the first half, to go with 11 off of their own board. The Blue Raiders, on the other hand, managed only 15 first-half rebounds.
The Warriors also had five steals and forced the Blue Raiders into 10 turnovers.
Wabash Valley's defense held the Blue Raiders to 33 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes, nine of 27, while the Warriors were hitting 21 of 42 from the field, 50 percent. All of Lindsey Wilson's buckets were two-pointers; WVC hit two of seven beyond the arc in that first half, 28.6 percent.
WVC's biggest first-half lead was the halftime margin, provided by Jason Landry, who got free on a breakaway and slammed the ball home with less than two seconds on the clock.
The second half was an extension of the first half with the Warriors maintaining leads in the 30-point range. The closest Lindsey Wilson came in the second half was 67-41, midway through the second 20-minute session. The Blue Raiders also came within 26 points with just over five minutes to go.
Coach Sparks noted that both Lockett and Chris Britt played well.
"That's good to see that," he said. "We've been trying to emphasize in practice to get the ball into those guys inside and see what they can do. We got it into them tonight."
Desmond Holloway and Lockett led the Warriors with 13 points each. Cornelius Chatt added 10.
Wabash Valley ended up hitting 46.8 percent from the field, 36 of 77, including 35 percent from three-point range, seven of 20.
Clinton Henderson led Lindsey Wilson with 15 while DeAndre Mensah added 12.
The Blue Raiders hit 38.1 percent from the field, 26 of 63, including six of 25 from three-point range, 24 percent.
WVC was 16 of 25 at the line, 64 percent, to the Blue Raiders' eight of 14, 57.1 percent.
Wabash Valley also pulled down 48 rebounds to Lindsey Wilson's 32, which pleased Coach Sparks. "That's good to see," he said.
Lockett had 12 of those caroms with Landry and Holloway each grabbing five. Brian Nichols had nine for Lindsey Wilson with Ethan Moore grabbing six and Henderson and DeQuann Gordon five each.
BOX SCORE
Lindsey Wilson JV: Wells, 2-0-3--7; Jones, 1-1-0--5; Nichols, 3-0-0--6; Henderson, 3-2-3--15; Parker, 0-0-0--0; Sears, 1-1-0--5; Mensah, 3-2-0--12; Gordon, 2-0-0--4; Brangers, 0-0-0--0; Turner, 0-0-0--0; Clater, 0-0-0--0; Shehan, 1-0-1--3; Moore, 2-0-1--5; Totals, 18-6-8--62
Wabash Valley: Dunson, 2-1-2--9; Chatt, 2-2-0--10; Oxley, 2-1-0--7; McGee, 2-0-1--5; Lockett, 5-0-3--13; Landry, 1-0-0--2; Wickware, 0-1-2--5; Horton, 0-0-0--0; Holloway, 4-0-5--13; George, 3-1-0--9; Smith, 0-1-2--5; Mustapic, 2-0-1--5; Sanders, 3-0-0--6; Britt, 3-0-0--6; Totals, 29-7-16--95
