LITTLE ROCK — Little Rock Fair coach Charlie Johnson summed up his team's loss at Little Rock McClellan with one word, turnovers.
That, and the Lions dictating the pace of the game for their entire 48 minutes, helped McClellan cruise past the War Eagles 71-51 at the Lion's Den.
The Lions (12-6, 7-0 6A South Conference) wanted to run, just ask coach Chris Threatt, and they did just that against a Fair (8-10, 3-3) squad that, by Johnson's admission, favored a half-court game.
From the beginning, McClellan got out to a 14-6 lead thanks to two quick baskets from guard Gregg Easter and a 3-pointer from guard Akee Johnson. The energy was prevalent for the Lions, something Threatt said he wanted, including Johnson getting a technical foul for taunting after his made three.
Fair couldn't account for McClellan's size and speed advantage. The Lions brought a mixture of full court presses, from a man-to-man to 2-2-1, and forced the War Eagles into 13 first-half turnovers and 22 for the game.
The Lions led 33-21 at halftime.
McClellan ended any chance Fair had at a comeback in the first three minutes of the third quarter with a 14-2 run that put them up 49-23.
Easter led the Lions with 20 points and Jason Hendrix followed with 15 for McClellan.
Read more about this game in tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.