By Andy Walter

FELTON — Sometimes getting off to a fast start in a state tournament game can be difficult.

But Darius Miller made sure that wasn’t a problem for the Lake Forest High boys’ basketball team on Tuesday night.

The Spartans’ standout junior netted 15 of its first 21 points as No. 15 Lake Forest registered a 58-36 victory over No. 18 Laurel in the opening round of the DIAA boys’ state tournament.

Miller finished with a game-high 26 points for Spartans (16-5) which notched their first tourney win since 2018.

The victory sends Lake Forest to a second-round matchup at No. 2 Dover (19-2) on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Miller said the goal is to get off to a fast start every game.

“It’s always in my mind in pre-game,” he said. “In warmups we’ve just got to be locked in and focused. The team, together, we combine our chemistry. That brings all the energy together before the game.”

“We talked about trying to get off to a fast start because this Laurel team is so dangerous,” said Lake Forest coach Ridge Betts, “They can get up on you and they play really hard on defense. ... Getting up 11-2, that was huge.”

The Spartans never trailed after tallying the contest’s first nine points. That run included a dunk from Miller and a three-pointer from junior Seth Young, who ended up with 18 points and three threes.

The Bulldogs (11-10) came into the tourney on a roll having won six of their last seven games just get into the 24-team bracket. One of those victories was a three-point overtime win over Lake Forest on Feb. 15 on this same court.

After falling behind by as many as 12 points in the first half, Laurel trailed only 32-25 at halftime when junior Brock Hill sank a three-pointer with two seconds left before intermission. Hill scored 18 of the Bulldogs’ 36 points.

But Laurel never got Lake Forest’s lead under seven points in the second half as the Spartans kept the Bulldogs at arm’s length. The Spartans finished the game on a 13-2 run.

According to Lake Forest’s stats, seniors Adam Mudri (12) and Jaabir Robinson (10) both finished with double digits in rebounds. Betts said that was a big part of staying in control most of the night.

“We had to win the rebound battle,” said Betts.

“We just had to rebound better and execute more stuff on offense,” agreed Miller.

Dover and Lake Forest last played in the state tournament in 2021 with the Senators winning, 57-45.

The Spartans know that getting past Henlopen Conference champion Dover won’t be easy.

“We’re going in there as underdogs,” said Miller. “It always feels great to try to get a win on the road.”

“This is a veteran group and their goal all year has been to make it to ‘The Bob’ (Carpenter Center),” said Betts. “You’ve got to win a few to get to there — you’ve got to win more now than compared to what it used to be.

“Our mantra as a program is ‘next play,’” said Betts. “We’re going to enjoy this one for a few minutes and then I’ll start talking about these Laurel notes that I have already. The last one was great but we’ve got to worry about the next one.

"It’s going to be a tough battle up there at Dover on Thursday night.”

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at awalter@iniusa.org. Follow on X at @DSNsports.

Ruggerio.com