All signs point to Lakeview Academy remaining a force to contend with for the remainder of the season in Region 8-A.
With Friday's 66-47 win against White County (4-7) in Gainesville, the Lions completed their Christmas holiday with four wins in five games, three of those wins were against schools in a higher classification.
"I think we can be a very good team the rest of the season, but we'll need to be better than we were tonight," Lions coach Seth Vining said.
On Friday, Lakeview Academy (9-3) broke open a game that was tight into the third quarter when it shifted from a man press to a zone press.
The Lions' size inside and strong outside shooting led to a 12-1 scoring run to open the fourth quarter to put the game away.
The Lions were also able to counter the strong effort of Warriors junior Rand Rowland and his game-high 16 points and six rebounds with strong shooting of their own in the third quarter.
Rowland's pair of free throws early in the third quarter brought White County to within 27-24, but the Lions fired right back with a basket from Matt Askounis, who finished 10 points.
With Lakeview Academy leading 34-26, Knox Roberts put in another score on the team's fourth attempt under the basket, followed by a 3-pointer from Austin Pearson as he went to the ground.
That gave the Lions their first double-digit lead of the game at 39-29.
Lakeview Academy's rebounding edge was significant at 43-20 over White County.
"What Lakeview was able to do was spread us out with their great shooters and made us focus on the perimeter," White County coach Sam Borg said. "That made us weak underneath the basket.
"Lakeview's got a very talented team and capable of a deep state tournament run in Class A."
Another focal point for Vining is building a two-deep that is equally strong with his regular five-man substitutions.
After White County's Eddie Hurst knocked down a 3-pointer to make the score 44-34 with 7:10 left to play, it was almost all Lakeview the rest of the way scoring.
"If you have a second five as good as the first five, it's hard to deal with," Vining said.
After Hurst scored, Roberts followed with a pair of baskets within only a few seconds of one another.
Derek Fadool stepped up next for the Lions and scored a basket after intercepting a pass, then scored again seconds later on an assist from Trevor Price to stretch the lead to 54-38.
Austin Pearson finished with a team-high 12 points for the Lions, including a 3-pointer for their first points of the game early in the first quarter. Fadool added a 3-pointer later in the first quarter and finishing with 10.
White County kept the score close the majority of the first half.
Trailing 21-12 in the second period, Juwan Dorsey put up a basket for his only points of the night, followed by a pair of baskets inside by Andrew London (11 points).
White County would get to within 1 point with a pair of free throws from Dalton Whitfield, but Lakeview closed out the half with a layup by Askounis at the buzzer to take a 25-22 lead into halftime.
Zach Montgomery finished with 10 points for Lakeview Academy and Roberts had eight points and eight rebounds. Austin Montgomery finished with eight points and seven boards.
With the win, Lakeview Academy awaits a game against subregion rival Tallulah Falls at 8:30 p.m. Friday in Gainesville. White County plays host to Habersham Central at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Cleveland.