For the third time this season, the Pike Liberal Arts Lady Patriots on Tuesday defeated the Hooper Academy Colts.

“I challenged them to play as hard as they did,” head coach Robert Hawkins said after Tuesday’s 54-20 win. “The main thing you wanted to get out of this game is that nobody gets hurt and everybody has fun.”

The Lady Patriots put on a clinic in the first half against the Colts. Their full court defense suffocated the Colts early, and high-octane play led to easy points.

“We have been working on the press for the last year and half and really haven’t had it click,” Hawkins said. “Against teams that can’t really handle the ball we have really been able to jump on them. It has been a really good advantage.”

The Lady Patriots began the game on an 18-0 run, all scored by Regine Parker and Lauren Johnson.

The Colts were able to get on the board with a three-pointer, but the Lady Patriots outscored the Colts 5-3 the remaining minutes of the first period and entered the second frame with a 23-6 lead.

Parker and Johnson kept rolling and the Lady Patriots outscored the Colts 13-4 to take a 38-10 lead into half time.

After the Lady Patriots increased their lead out to 48-12 with 5:00 remaining in the third quarter, Hawkins emptied his bench giving ample playing time for his reserve players.

“Everybody got a lot of playing time,” Hawkins said. “I was really proud of the second group that came in. They did what they were supposed to do and showed a lot of class.”

It was the third time these two teams have matched up already this season so the familiarity was a potential challenge.

“When it’s two similar teams, I think you’re at a disadvantage,” Hawkins said. “When you have something like this, you can start working on your team to start playing good for next time.”

Susie Stell led and Parker led the Patriots in scoring with 13 while Johnson finished with 12.

The Patriots will be back in action on Thursday when they host Abbeville before playing Georgia’s number one seeded private school Westwood Academy

“I don’t know what they have, so we will have to see,” Hawkins said. “We are playing the number one private school in Georgia which will be good.”