The boys basketball team didn’t take long to prove it could compete in 4A with a district opening 65-57 win against McKinney North.

The game was hyped up on Twitter with the MNHS fan page tweeting, “Lovejoys student section is used to that 3A competition. North’s student section and basketball team is about to welcome them to 4A.”

The Lovejoy Lunatics responded by encouraging everyone to attend the game to cheer on the Leopards. The Leopard fans did not disappoint, either, by gathering twice the student fan section that the Bulldogs brought.

However, the Leopards kept the Bulldogs fans quiet by coming out strong in the first quarter for a 19-8 lead. They built that lead with balanced scoring, as four players scored multiple baskets.

In the second quarter, the fan heckling got overly rowdy, forcing the announcer to warn that a technical would be issued the next time artificial noises were made by either fan section.

The Leopards jumped out to a 27-12 lead in the second quarter, but the Bulldogs made a late push cutting the lead down to nine at half.

In the fourth quarter, senior Jake Flaggert’s dunk pushed the Leopard lead to 13.

But some sloppy basketball by the Leopards let the Bulldogs back into the game. First Flaggert was assessed a technical foul; then the Leopards gave up an open 3-pointer, turned the ball over and were called for a blocking foul, allowing the lead to dwindle down to seven.

Senior Chris Ford left in the second quarter after a hard foul drew blood from his elbow, which required stitches after the game, but returned in the second half and scored 11 points on the way to a team high 15. Senior Trevor Eckard added another 14 to help the Leopards start district play with a win.

The Leopards next district game is Friday at Denison at 8:00 p.m.

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