A strong offensive showing in the first half combined with a smothering defensive second half helped Pike Liberal Arts girl’s basketball to a 54-21 win over Hooper Thursday night.

PLAS came out shooting hot from the floor in the first quarter, taking advantage of their length and speed advantage over the Lady Colts. Lauren Johnson  led the Patriots with eight points in the first half as they sprinted out to a 15-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter held much of the same for PLAS, but Hooper did their best to rally in what was their highest scoring quarter of the game.

The Lady Colts were able to hit shots from behind the 3-point arc to pressure the Patriots. But Johnson and Ashley Dietrich each scored four points in the second quarter, helping the Patiots to weather the Hooper comeback attempt, helping the Patriots to a 30-17 halftime lead.

But the second half was all PLAS. The Patriots stifled the Hooper offense, holding the Lady Colts to just six points in the entire second half.

The PLAS offense had struggles of its own in the third quater, scoring just eight points.But Johnson and Dietrich helped PLAS get back on track as the Patriots went on to score 16 points in the final quater.

When all was said and done, the Patriots’ defense stomped out any hope of a Hooper comback attempt in the final 16 minutes of the game on their way to a victory over the Lady Colts.

Johnson finished the game with 18 points and Dietrich finished with eight.

The Patriots will return to the court Dec. 9 at Springwood.