MIDDLEBORO — After narrowly leading 32-31 at halftime, Apponequet Regional High School’s boys basketball team outscored Middleboro High School 21-6 in the third quarter to help push the Lakers past the Sachems, 70-54.

Apponequet Junior Will Levrault made five three-pointers and scored 30 points to pace the Laker offense at the Middleboro High School gym. Senior Nate Levesque controlled the paint for Apponequet, adding 21 points of his own.

“My shots were just falling tonight,” said Levrault. “My teammates were getting me the ball when I was open and I was hitting the shots.”

“Will was making better decisions tonight,” said Apponequet Head Coach Jim Cabucio. “He knew when to [pass] and when to penetrate. If we can get him doing that it just makes us a better team.”

The Junior guard was steady throughout the night, scoring 15 points in each half. A highlight of the game came in the second quarter, where Levrault made a flashy behind-the-back pass on a fast break to Levesque, who caught the pass and instantly converted a layup to bring Apponequet back within two points, 25-23.

Levrault said that he often plays basketball for fun in the offseason with many of Middleboro’s players. “I know all of these guys, we are always at the YMCA playing so it's fun to play against them in a real game.”

After a close first half where neither team led the game by more than five points at any point, Apponequet started the third quarter on a 12-2 scoring run to take a 44-33 lead and never looked back.

One factor in the Lakers’ success in the second half: they were able to shut down one of Middleboro’s key players.

Middleboro Senior Matt Youngquist had tormented the Lakers in the first half, scoring 14 of his 21 points in the first two quarters.

But in the third quarter, Apponequet’s defense adjusted, holding Middleboro’s star to just one point in that quarter.

“We started defending well in the third quarter after Youngquist really hurt us in the first half.” said Cabucio.

“He’s a great player. We have a lot of respect for him.” Cabucio added.

“It’s never easy on [Youngquist] — other teams know that Matt’s a good scorer,” said Middleboro Head Coach Joe Pauze. “They made it hard for him, I bet they went into halftime and said ‘we have to slow down 22’”.

Ultimately, Pauze said that the Lakers’ win came down to tenacity.

“[Apponequet] looked like they wanted it more. We weren’t locked in right from the get-go,” said Pauze. “We have to get the team more prepared to start games and match the other team’s energy.”

Pauze said that results at the free throw line were a factor in Apponequet’s win. Apponequet finished the game 11-17 on free throw shooting, while Middleboro shot just 4-12.

“They attacked the paint and we were settling early,” said Pauze. “That was the ultimate difference. They were just more aggressive than us.”

Apponequet improved its record to 5-3 with the victory, while Middleboro fell to 5-2.

The two sides will meet again on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at the Apponequet Regional High School gym.