The Lewisburg Middle School Tigers evened their record at 2-2 by whipping Fayetteville Middle School 44-26 on Thursday night at home.

Lewisburg came flying out of the gates and built a 30-14 lead in the first half before outscoring Fayetteville 14-12 over the final two quarters to cruise to the 18-point victory.

Bolstered by a 12-of-24 shooting performance in the first half, the Tigers shot 40 percent (19-of-47) from the field overall, which included a 3-of-12 effort from three-point range.

Top scorers

Guards Caleb Fields and K.J. Johnson both scored 15 points apiece to lead Lewisburg's offensive attack with Fields recording 11 rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Kamron Liggett-Hightower also tallied eight points for the Tigers, while Wesley Walker added six points and five steals.

"Caleb had a great game. He basically controls the game on both ends of the court. He's our leader," said Lewisburg coach David Lovell. "He can get to the basket anytime he wants and can create a shot for himself or create an opportunity for one of his teammates."

FMS, conversely, mustered only nine field goals on 28 percent shooting and missed both three-point attempts. Fayetteville (7-4) had a noticeable size advantage in the frontcourt and outrebounded the Tigers 28-22, but Lewisburg offset that by forcing 22 FMS turnovers, highlighted by 14 steals.

Fast pressure

"I knew they were big, but I felt that if we pressured the ball enough they wouldn't be able to get it inside," said Lovell. "I don't think they were ready for our pressure and how quick we convert from defense to offense. We play faster than they're comfortable with."

Brandon Moore paced Fayetteville with eight points, while Isaiah Watkins and Worth Watson notched seven points each. Jacious Clark chipped in two points for FMS as well and Nathanial Johnson and Carter Hill both had one point.

The Tigers pounced on FMS early and jumped out to a 13-4 lead late in the first quarter with the help of five points from Fields, four points from Johnson, and a Walker layup.

Fayetteville tallied three of the next four points to narrow the gap to 14-7 early in the second period, but Lewisburg put together an 11-4 run on the strength five points from Fields and baskets from Walker, Liggett-Hightower, and Johnson to open up a 25-11 advantage with 1:25 left in the stanza.

Big lead

After FMS trimmed the deficit to 25-13 on a layup by Watkins, Johnson buried a trey from the right corner and scored on a layup to stake the Tigers to a 30-13 lead before Lewisburg took a 30-14 advantage into the break.

Fayetteville outscored the Tigers 7-4 through the first five minutes of the second half to close the gap to 34-21 late in the third quarter, but Lewisburg responded with an 8-0 spurt behind four points from Liggett-Hightower to forge a 42-21 lead early in the fourth period prior to claiming the 44-26 victory.