By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

Balance on offense.

Total team effort on defense.

If Lake Region can bring both of these elements to the court each time out, Coach J.P. Yorkey believes his club will be in the playoff talk in February.

With four players reaching double digits Tuesday night, the Lakers squeezed out a 67-61 victory over Gray-New Gloucester to improve to 3-2.

Senior Mike Triglione scored 19 points while Sam Smith chipped in 15, Mike Mageles 13 and Quinn Piland 12 points. Smith and Mageles each knocked down three 3-pointers.

The Lakers led 14-10 and 26-21 in the first half, and held off the host Patriots down the stretch. Other LR scorers were: Jack Lesure 5 and Cody Gibbons 3 points.

The victory was the second straight for the Lakers, who bounced back from a tough 65-54 loss to Waynflete — a defeat, along with a loss to Yarmouth which the Lakers were unable to recover from a poor first quarter, that Coach Yorkey hopes doesn’t haunt the Lakers later as they fight for a “middle of the road” seeding.

“We learned a lot about ourselves in the Yarmouth and Waynflete. They were costly lessons as we dropped both games. After struggling with Yarmouth’s half-court trap in the first quarter, we played them even over the final three periods. During those three periods, we saw some things, including the emergence of Jack Lesure.  He showed in that game that he can be effective in all aspects of the game at the varsity level,” Coach Yorkey said.

At Waynflete, the top-ranked team in Class C, the Lakers learned how important it is to adhere to their defensive philosophy on every possession, Coach Yorkey said.

“We learned a lot by watching video of that game as a team and the players made a commitment to each other to hold each other to a high standard defensively at all times,” he said.

In the loss to Waynflete, Triglione scored a team-high 16 points, including three 3-pointers, while Smith netted 13 and Mageles 10. Other scorers were Piland 7, Mark MacDougall 4, Nick Hall 2 and Mark Williams 2 points.

The Lakers corrected the ship at Freeport by blistering the Falcons with runs of 21-9 and 13-4 in the middle quarters en route to a 58-38 victory. Triglione and Piland paced the offense with 16 and 12 points respectively.

Other scorers were: Smith 9, Gibbons 7, Adam Falk 5, Lesure 5, Mageles 2 and Williams 2,

“The players lived up to their agreement with one another and played their best team defensive game so far,” Coach Yorkey said. “Players embraced their roles, played within them, and our reserves started to show their potential.”

Moving forward, Coach Yorkey wants to see continued improvement defensively and in transition — both ways.

“The tone in the locker room on Friday was different,” he said. “They seem like a team with purpose.”

Up next: The Lakers host Cape Elizabeth this Friday at 7 p.m. Then, LR takes a break from regular season action for the holidays. The Lakers return to league action on Thursday, Jan. 3 with a home game against Greely at 7 p.m.