Pike Liberal Arts Patriots routed South Montgomery Academy 52-23 on Thursday.

“We came out and we played hard,” said head coach Allen Ponder. “We played a lot better on the defensive end. It was encouraging to see our effort tonight.”

The Patriots defense was suffocating in the opening quarter against the Raiders forcing them to turn over the basketball. The full court press held the Raiders scoreless until the 2:17 mark.

“It was great for us to see,” Ponder said. “That was something that we expressed to guys at practice yesterday. We haven’t been really good on the defensive end, so for us to come out and hold them scoreless for most of the first quarter was encouraging.

The Patriots outscored the Raiders 18-6 in the opening quarter, thanks in part to freshman Ethan Green’s seven points.

The Raiders started the second quarter on a 6-0 run until Hayes Lee ended the run after he picked up an offensive rebound and went right back up for an easy layup. The Patriots closed out the half on a 16-0 run and took a commanding 35-12 lead into halftime.

“We don’t ever want to give up a 6-0 run period,” Ponder said. “It’s going to happen, but it’s nice to see our guys rebound and go on a little run of their own especially at the end of the half.”

The Patriots emptied their bench midway through the third quarter after Hunter Jones knocked down consecutive three point shots to put the Patriots up 46-14.

Both teams scored seven points but the damage was already down as the Patriots entered the final quarter up 47-19.

Lee led the way for the Patriots by scoring 16 points, while Green finished with seven.

With the win the Patriots improve their record to 8-5 on the season. The Patriots travel to Monroe on Friday night. The game begins at 7 p.m.