LANETT — The Lanett boys basketball team continued its fourth consecutive state title defense on Tuesday in an 83-47 win over Westminster School at Oak Mountain.

“I thought we played well in spurts,” Lanett boys head basketball coach Richard Carter said. “I don’t think we actually put it all together. We had a lot of leaks in our defense. We have to go back tomorrow because we’re playing a really good Georgiana basketball team on Thursday, and we can’t have those leaks if we want to beat Georgiana.”

The Panthers’ (17-8) physicality proved to be too much for the Westminster. Lanett outpowered its opponents on the offensive glass and gave themselves many second-chance opportunities in the paint. 

“I thought we shot the ball better tonight,” Carter said. “They went and packed the zone in, like most teams do, against us, but we shot the ball well and we dominated on the glass. We have a lot of work to do, but between now and Thursday I hope we’ll be better.”

Although the team’s defense created many transition buckets, Carter said that he felt like the Panthers reached in too often instead of playing solid defense.

“Sometimes it’s fatigue, sometimes it’s just plain out lazy,” Carter said of Lanett’s reaching on defense. 

Senior Dee Dobbs led the team in scoring with 22 points, while Kristian Story and Quae Houston also finished in double figures for Lanett. Seidron Langston, Trey Abner, Zameron Boozer, Jayshon Burton, Larontavious Hurston, O’Bias Patrick, B.J. Smith and Cameron Boozer also got on the board in the victory.

“I think it was a team effort,” Carter said. “That’s what we want. We have to play hard, and we’ve got to play smart. If we can do that over the next four ballgames, then we will be state champions.” 

Lanett’s next opponent Georgiana (25-5) defeated Florala (15-6) 71-62 in Tuesday night’s sub-regional matchup. The Panthers will travel to Montgomery at The Garrett Coliseum to play the regional. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. EST.