LANDRUM – Chesnee’s men had the moves, but Landrum was more cohesive, and shot and rebounded better, as the Cardinals played what head coach Lyn Smith called their best game of the season, defeating the visiting Eagles, 98-46.

Maybe the Cardinals tried a bit too hard to follow the wishes of the cheering crowd, but in any case, they couldn’t quite crack the 100-point stratosphere.

However, the fleet-footed, but less-effective Eagles hardly knew what hit them.

“That’s the best we played all season,” Smith said after the win. “That’s the Landrum team we knew we had.”

After that blowout win, the Cardinals are 13-6 overall, and 4-2 in the region.

Tonight, the Cardinals host St. Joseph’s Catholic, another region rival. The Knights bring a 5-1 region mark.

Shortly after Friday’s game began, and the Cardinals had built an 11-0 lead, there was little doubt who would have the upper hand. Chesnee’s first score came with 4:11 left in the first quarter. By quarter’s end, they’d scored but eight, and fell to 8-11 overall, and 2-4 in the region.

At the half, the Cardinals led, 47-17, and were about to reach higher. In that third period, Landrum’s Manny Gonzalez, who’d been flirting with dominance, gave the benches-filled hometown crowd reason to cheer even louder. Gonzalez hit two goals to extend the hosts’ lead to 53-19. His two-for-two performance at the line gave Landrum a 64-21 lead. And, he continued to pull down rebounds (13 of them) like a magician pulling objects from a hat.

“He (Gonzalez) had a breakout game,” Smith remarked.

In all, the junior scored 16, with teammates Trey Smith and Foster Bridges scoring 27 apiece (Bridges hit a three-pointer to start the game’s scoring). Smith found his shooting groove, hitting five of seven three-point attempts. Bridges added three threes. Smith contributed ten assists and eight steals, with teammate Easton Jenkins adding four steals. Bridges also blocked five attempted shots. For Landrum, it was a storybook game.

With their fancy footwork, the Eagles appeared ready to dance, while the Cardinals were ready to score, and to hinder any such attempts by Chesnee.

Tonight’s tipoff is set for 7:30.