The Lakeland Lady Cavs played a near perfect half in the first half of Friday night’s contest against the Lady Bruins of Western Branch.

Unfortunately the second half was not as perfect for them and Western Branch pulled away for a 77-55 district win.

The Lady Cavs won the opening tip and raced down court and drove the ball straight to the hole and drew a foul. LeCetra Arrington stepped to the line and calmly sank the two shots to give the Lady Cavs a 2-0 lead.

On WB’s first possession, senior Ana Imani drew a foul on her way to the basket and she stepped to the line and hit 1 of 2 free throws. These two ladies would trade big baskets as the night progressed.

In the first quarter the Lady Cavs were deadly from beyond the arc. Lakeland went three straight possessions nailing the long range shots, two from Arrington and one from

Kaylyn Chatman.

As devastating as Imani was, her partner in scoring, Janelle Harrison, was equally potent from the field as she contributed two consecutive buckets to give the Lady Bruins their first lead, 14-13.

Arrington hit another triple to put the Lady Cavs back in front, but the Lady Bruins maintained their composure and hit two buckets to end the quarter deadlocked at 20 with the Lady Cavs.

The second quarter was much like the first, with Imani and Arrington trading big baskets for their squads.

Arrington started with a sweet jumper to push Lakeland in front. Imani immediately followed with the same, a smooth jumper of her own.

Midway through the quarter though, the Lady Bruins seemed to hit their stride. After being tied 26-26, WB went on a 12-2 run to end the half. The run was highlighted by a drive to the hole by Imani that started with a wicked crossover dribble. The Lady Bruins led 38-28 at the half.

In the third quarter the Lady Bruins caught fire and outscored the Lady Cavs 21-11. As the shots continued to fall for WB the same could not be said for Lakeland. The Lady Cavs trailed by 20, 59-39, going into the fourth.

In the fourth it was much of the same as in the third, more hot shooting from WB and ice-cold shooting for Lakeland. For the evening Lakeland was led in scoring by Arrington who poured in 24 points and was assisted by the always steady Terika Lunsford who went for 13 points on the night.

WB was led by Imani who had 23 on the night and Janelle Harrison who contributed 21 points of her own, giving WB the 77-55 victory over Lakeland.

Lakeland (0-5, 0-4) travels to Hickory on Tuesday night.

The next home game for the Lady Cavaliers will be during Lakeland’s Christmas Tournament beginning on Dec. 27.