For Nansemond River, it was business as usual in the opening round of the Southeastern District tournament on Tuesday evening. For Lakeland, it was a day when everything finally came together.

Andre Jones led a 13-man scoring attack with 16 points as River overwhelmed visiting visiting Hickory 85-44. Keith Josey just got his 20th double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds, and Nick Wright had nine points and seven rebounds (13 players pulled down at least one miss).

&uot;We had three key areas tonight,&uot; said coach Ed Young. &uot;We really wanted to turn up our defense intensity. Then we had to get rebounds; we really wanted to get the boards. We wanted to run the fast break and get the easy buckets. We’ve been beating people with great shooting, and we’ll get that when we can, but we also want to run them.&uot;

All three worked on Tuesday, as the Warriors charged to a 31-7 halftime lead, capped off by Jhmar Lee’s buzzer-beating three pointer. Throughout the second half, the Warriors continued to torment the Hawk defense with fast breaks and rebounds. They’ll go to Oscar Smith tonight to take on the Tigers in the tournament semifinals.

&uot;We knew coming into this that we’d probably win,&uot; Jones said, &uot;We’ve beaten (Oscar Smith) twice this season, but we can’t underestimate them.&uot;

Over at Deep Creek, the Cavaliers, just as they did in last year’s district tourney, got it together when it truly mattered. Durrell Skeeter scored 14 points and Jaleel Nelson and Cory Davis 13 each as Lakeland took a 24-19 halftime lead and carried it all the way to a 56-50 victory. Lakeland will have another tough task on its hands tonight when the Cavaliers battle Indian River, which has defeated both Suffolk teams this season.

jason.norman@suffolknewsherald.com