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The Cardinals raced out to a 28-5 first quarter advantage, and although the Trojans outscored the Cardinals by 10 points the rest of the way, the deficit was too much to overcome.

"The first quarter has been the difference in the last two games," Central Lake head coach Quinn Barry said after the game. "We've got to match other teams' intensity at the beginning.

"I don't mind getting beat if we're playing as hard as the other team, but we didn't the last two games in the first quarter."

Central Lake cut Joburg's lead to 25-43 at the half, and they were down 60-42 after three.

The majority of Central Lake's scoring came, once again, from senior standout Zach Light, who put up 35 points. Jason Barnett had a solid game with 14.

Joburg, however, had five players in double figures, led by Mitch Reed with 17.

Light took the majority of his team's shots on Tuesday, but he'd like to see his teammates get more involved in the offense.

"More than one person needs to look to shoot," he said. "I think only three guys scored all game.

"We need to get other players wanting to shoot the ball."

A balanced scoring attack is something the Barry would like to see as well.

"He (Light) is a good player, but we're asking him to carry a big load," Barry said. "I think we defer to him too much. One guy is not going to beat five. We need to build confidence with the other guys.

"We haven't got the balance of scoring that makes everyone else a threat."

Central Lake had eight days between games, and they play a tough Forest Area team tonight (Wednesday) in Fife Lake.

Light hopes the week off will re-energize his team. "Maybe it will help us get in a little bit better shape," he said.

And, hopefully, the Trojans won't suffer the same first quarter woes as they have been.

"We've got to play better defense," Light said. "We've got to come out (strong) in the first quarter."