Wilcox County is the No. 4 boys basketball team in Class A. On Friday night, they played like it.

Wilcox exploded in the second quarter, built a 19-point halftime lead and went on to defeat No. 5 Lanier County 82-55 on Friday.

The Patriots drained 10 3-pointers in the win. They are now 14-2 this season, with their only losses coming to Whitefield Academy (the No. 1 team in Class A) and Tift County (a AAAAA school).

“They’re pretty good. A lot of credit to them,” Lanier head coach Jared Garner said.

Wilcox guard Nick Marshall is considered one of the top players in the state, and he turned in another big game Friday, scoring 33 points.

“Nick can really fill it up. He’s a tough kid to guard,” Garner said. “He’s a special talent.

“I think what makes Nick so good (is that) his teammates … play incredibly well together. (You’ve) got to guard everybody.”

For the first six minutes of the game, things went well for the Bulldogs. Lanier built an 18-13 lead, thanks in part to a 9-0 run.

Then Wilcox County exploded, and took control of the game.

Wilcox’s Milton Jackson scored inside, then with 11 seconds left in the quarter, he scored an uncontested layup off a pass from Marshall. Then Marshall caught a pass on a fast break and dunked with one second left, giving the Patriots a 19-18 left after the first period.

Marshall started the second quarter with a 3-pointer and a layup. Malik Kone scored for Lanier, but 33 seconds later, Marshall stole the ball near the Lanier basket, was fouled while stealing the ball, tossed an underhand shot that went into the basket, then made the free throw to complete the three-point play. Wilcox’s Makain Grace scored the next two baskets, then Marshall inadvertently gave Lanier two points when he tipped in a missed shot while trying to grab a rebound. Wilcox got 3-pointers on its next two possessions, then got a lay-in by Grace. Marshall completed the Patriots’ run by dunking an alley-oop pass from Grace with one minute left in the first half.

In a span of nine minutes, Wilcox had gone on a 28-4 run, and had turned a five-point deficit into a 19-point lead.

“Halfway through the second quarter, we were (tired),” Garner said. “They’re already a very athletic and good basketball team, so then if you give them another step because you’re tired, it’s almost impossible to overcome that.”

The Patriots headed to the locker room at halftime leading 43-24.

Wilcox went on a 10-0 run late in the third quarter, and increased its lead to as many as 29 points, 66-37. The Patriots headed to the final period with a 24-point lead, 66-42.

Lanier cut its deficit to 20 points early in the fourth quarter. But Wilcox, which kept its regulars in the game in the fourth quarter, closed out the game with a 10-2 run, and built its lead back to 27. Shaquille West’s alley-oop dunk with two seconds left made the final score 82-55.

“They click on all cylinders when they play us,” Garner said.

In addition to Marshall’s 33 points, Vidhal Emory scored 15 points for Wilcox and Jackson had 12.

“They’re pretty good. When you shut down one kid, or you guard one kid well, he swings it to the opposite side of the floor, and another kid steps up out of nowhere and hits a 3. Then you guard those two, and they reverse it back the next time down the floor to a different kid, and he hits a 3,” Garner said.

Kone led the Bulldogs with 16 points. Emmanuel Ezoua added 12.

Lanier, which dropped to 16-4, will try to bounce back on Tuesday, when it hosts Echols County.

Garner knows there is a possibility that Lanier and Wilcox could meet in the finals of the Region 2-A tournament in three weeks, and he says the Bulldogs will be working to get ready for that rematch if it comes.

“I’m glad we played them now. I’m glad they’re on our schedule,” he said. “If we take care of our end, we get in shape, we correct some things that we need to correct, we’re (possibly) going to see them again in the region championship game.

“As a coaching staff, and as a team, and as a program, it’s our job to get to Wilcox’s level in about three weeks.”