Long Reach put together its highest scoring output of the season, led by Kevin Duckett's 22 points, on the way to shocking previously undefeated Oakland Mills on Friday night, 75-63.
The win, which is the third straight for the Lightning (3-3) after dropping their first three games, marks the first time the Long Reach program has beaten Oakland Mills since the opening round of the playoffs in 2012.
"It's unbelievable man, the kids just responded so well tonight," Long Reach coach Al Moraz Jr. said. "They listened to the game plan, understood what we were trying to do and those guys were just so pumped up for this one. Being at home and having that crowd behind us really helped us pull it out."
Long Reach ended up with five guys with nine or more points, but it was Duckett that stole the show. The Lightning guard went 10-13 from the free throw line, made several key lay-ups and added five assists and three steals for good measure.
"He was all over the place tonight, doing a little bit of everything for us," Moraz said. "He had a stretch there where he made three lay-ups going into traffic against their big boys ... and I thought that gave us a huge spark."
Oakland Mills (4-1, 4-1), which got 20 points from Will Robinson and another 15 from Naquan Williams-Day on the night, had gotten off to a good start. The Scorpions led 17-12 after the first quarter.
But the Lightning cut their deficit to one at the break, 32-31, and Moraz said the way his team finished the half was particularly nice for momentum.
"We scored the last bucket there of the half and I really thought that we carried that with us into the third quarter," he said.
In that third quarter, Long Reach ended up outscoring the Scorpions 18-10 to grab a lead it never lost. Down the stretch, Ron Carter did the heavy lifting for the Lightning by scoring eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Other big games for Long Reach came from David Clark (10 points), Terrell Lamar (10) and Dakwonte Avery (9).
After losing two overtime games to start the season, and then suffering a lopsided defeat at the hands of Centennial, Long Reach has bounced back in a big way.
"Those first two (games) were extremely tough, but we've definitely grown since that point," Moraz said. "We're a different team now."
Long Reach 75, Oakland Mills 63
LR (3-2, 3-3): Avery 9, Carter 14, Clark 10, Duckett 22, Lamar 10, Menusan 4, Stamatiades 4, Brodnax 2.
OM (4-1, 4-1): Kiely 9, McFadden 2, Hopkins 6, Williams-Day 15, Robinson 20, Aaron 2, Stanfield 6, Smith 3.
Half: 32-31 OM.