Reservoir High ran into an extra motivated and focused Long Reach squad Wednesday night.

The 14th-ranked Lightning, coming off their first loss of the season last Friday against River Hill, raced out to a 16-7 lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back on the way to a convincing, 64-43, victory that secures sole possession of first place in the Howard County standings.

“It feels great, man. Coming off our first tough loss of the season, facing one of the best teams in the county, this was a huge confidence boost tonight,” said Long Reach senior Ethan Maokhamphiou, who finished with a game-high 16 points.

As good as the Long Reach (10-1 overall, 6-1 Howard) offense was — with juniors RJ Barnes Jr. (15 points) and Jayden Saunders (10) also finishing in double figures scoring — it was the team’s defense that gave Reservoir (8-2, 6-1 Howard) fits all evening.

The Lightning forced the Gators into 16 turnovers in the first half and effectively negated Reservoir’s distinct size advantage by not allowing it to get into its halfcourt offense.

“What we were trying to do all night was be faster, be quicker, be more aggressive and be stronger [with our] on-ball defense,” Long Reach coach Andrew Lazzor said. “I felt that our guards played tremendous [defense], like Cameron Valentine on Zach [Chin]. …The way they work, the effort and the energy — everything is together with this group.”

Reservoir coach Justin McCoy said afterward that multiple things played into his team coming out slow, particularly noting a lack of big-game experience on this year’s roster after going 8-8 last winter.

“I think as much as we talked about believing we are every bit as good as Long Reach, our guys came in here with a bit of an underdog mentality. You could see it on their faces starting slow and doing some uncharacteristic things,” McCoy said. “Third quarter, we finally picked up the energy a little bit, started seeing results, but by then it was just too late.”

Behind some hot shooting from Chin (team-high 10 points), Reservoir outscored Long Reach in the third quarter by three. But at no point over the final 16 minutes did the Gators get any closer than 13 points.

Reservoir finished with its lowest offensive point total of the season, having scored at least 55 points in each of its first nine games this winter.

Christian Dean, who was hindered by foul trouble almost the entire game, scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter to help Long Reach put the game away. Overall, eight different players scored three or more points for the Lightning.

“We were just talking in the locker room about it how it can be anybody’s night every time we step on the floor and, when we accept that, that’s when we are most dangerous,” Maokhamphiou said. “We have plenty of people that can put the ball in the basket and a lot of people that can go.”

Long Reach is back in action on Friday at home against Wilde Lake, while Reservoir will look to bounce back that same night on the road against Glenelg.

NO. 14 LONG REACH 64, RESERVOIR 43

Long Reach 16 15 13 20 – 64

Reservoir 7 8 16 12 – 43

Long Reach - Ethan Maokhamphiou 16, RJ Barnes Jr. 15, Jayden Saunders 10, Christian Dean 7, Brice Koontz 6, Brendan Diggs 4, Cam Valentine 3, Charles Etoule Jr. 3.

Reservoir - Zach Chin 10, Jeff Weeks 7, Phoenix Eggleston 6, Trace Johnson 6, Irby Hunter 5, Jacobi Jones 4, Zach Gaynor 3, Miles Reinders 2.

Half: 31-15 Long Reach