Westgate put its foot on the accelerator in the second quarter to breeze past Southern Lab 71-41 in a non-district basketball home game for the Tigers Wednesday evening.

The Tigers (13-5) held a 13-9 lead after the first period but quickly pushed it to 22-9 on three consecutive 3-pointers by guard Mar’keyvrick Eddie, who led all scorers with 23 points.

Eddie, who recently committed to play football at Jackson State, was held scoreless in the first quarter before settling into a groove and making seven straight field goals.

“He’s that kind of a player,” WHS head coach Oliver Winston said. “Even if his shot isn’t falling he does a pretty job of handling the ball and setting the tempo, so it was a just a matter of time for him to get into a rhythm.

“In the second quarter, he got into a rhythm and he’s really tough to stop once he starts rolling.”

Eddie was five of five from the field in the second period with all five shots coming from beyond the arc.

“He’s been here four years,” Winston added. “He’s trained as a shooter. If you miss one it doesn’t really matter. Go to your next shot and try to make that one.”

The Tigers expanded their advantage to 30-14 at the half and proceeded to score the first nine points of the third quarter.

Five quick points from Eddie, who finished with seven 3-pointers, and a layup by Keydrain Calligan helped stretch the margin to 39-14 early in the second half.

“We played a lot better than we did in our last game in St. Martinville’s tournament,” Winston said. “We had some energy. We did a good job of running and transition – setting the tempo.

“I think when we’re able to set the tempo we’re a good ballclub, and I thought defensively we played pretty aware.”

Calligan tallied 22 points, including 12 in the third quarter.

“Calligan is a good athlete,” Winston said. “He’s been playing well. He played well today. That’s a good complement for (Eddie) when Calligan can contribute and do the kind of things he does.

“He shoots the ball and can get to the basket at any time. He did a really good job tonight as well.”

The Tigers sank 12 of 17 from the free throw line.

“Overall we got a little bit better today,” Winston said. “We have a long way to go but we did get a little bit better. We’re still not boxing people out. We’re trying to outjump everybody. We have a lot of work to do with that to get better.”

Nick Hudson (12 points) was the sole Southern Lab player in double-digits as the Kittens fell to 5-11.

“We have some more practice days coming up and I think practice is going to get us a lot better,” Winston said. “We played our way into shape but I think practice is going to get us prepared for what we have to deal with in district, which is a tough, brutal district.”