Juantavious Smith pulls down a rebound. Smith had 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocks to lead Lafayette past Suwannee. 

LIVE OAK — Gabe Mercedes made five 3-pointers, Juantavious Smith controlled the paint and the Lafayette Hornets came alive in the second half to defeat Suwannee on Thursday.    

Mercedes finished with 20 points and Smith provided 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in the Hornets’ 66-55 win.  

LHS, which outscored Suwannee 44-31 in the second half, has now won four of its last five games heading into Tuesday’s district semifinal matchup with Hamilton County.  

Box score

Lafayette	10	12	22	22	—	66
Suwannee	7	17	18	13	—	55

LHS — Mercedes 20, Smith 15, Siverain 11, Massey 8, Clark 7, Fleming 2, Gay 2, Shiver 1

SHS — Freeman 20, Taylor 14, Bennett 11, Baptiste 4, Ulmer 4, Gardner 2

 

“That’s a good win here in Live Oak,” said Lafayette coach Ehrin Beach. “I feel like we’re making the turn. Everybody is healthy. I’m excited for Tuesday night.”

Smith made five of eight shots in the second half, most of them coming from point-blank range. After converting on some easy baskets, Suwannee had to pay more attention to him, which opened up 3-point looks for Mercedes and Ylusse Siverain (11 points). 

“He’s so long and big. He’s tough to get around,” Beach said of Smith. “His presence down low, you have to respect that. And then we’ve got enough shooters that can hit.”

Tyrece Freeman scored 20 points for Suwannee while Tyree Taylor added four 3-pointers. The Bulldogs fell behind 42-36 late in the third quarter before Freeman and Taylor ignited a 6-2 run to get SHS within two points heading into the fourth quarter.  

Coming out to start the fourth, the Hornets used a pair of buckets from Smith and 3-pointers from Siverain and Mercedes to grab a 54-46 lead with 5:36 remaining.  

Ben Massey had eight points for LHS. Tre’Vontae Clark added seven points. Decalvion Bennett (11 points) made three 3-pointers for Suwannee.

The Bulldogs celebrated Deramous Parker and Jeremiah Baptiste before the game for Senior Night. Baptiste finished with four points and a game-high 12 rebounds. 

UP NEXT: Lafayette (11-10) will play Hamilton County on Tuesday at Madison County High School. Suwannee (5-18) will host Rickards on Wednesday in a district tournament game.