Lafayette Christian pulled away in the second half to beat Barbe 53-44 at the Washington-Marion Classic.

Barbe tied the game at 28- 28 midway through the third quarter, but the Knights ended the quarter with a 15-6 run and held off the Bucs the rest of the way.

Taelyn Taylor, who hadn’t scored a point since the opening basket of the game, jump-started the LCA run with eight-straight points after Barbe knotted the game on a steal and pull-up jumper by Mikaylah Manley.

Taylor responded with a three-point play, inside basket and three-pointer to give the Knights a 36-28 lead.

Consecutive baskets by Areil Williams got the Bucs within four, but the Knights scored the next five on a basket by Kaliyah Samuels and another 3-pointer by Taylor. Barbe didn’t get closer than seven the rest of the way.

“Rebounding is always big for us since we’re on the smaller side,” Bucs head coach Trey DiGiglia said. “They got some rebounds and a few loose balls and were able to take advantage. They have a great team over there. They hit some shots and we had some that rimmed out and that helped decide the game.”

Taylor scored 11 of her 13 points in the third. Eve Alexander led the Knights with 16, including all 10 LCA points in the second quarter.

Areil Williams led the Bucs with 21 points, including 11 in the first half to keep the Bucs close at 23-21.

“She is a student of the game, she watches film and wants to learn,” DiGiglia said. “She is starting to realize just how athletic she really is and the game is slowing down for her.”

Manley added 17 for Barbe, including 11 in the second half.

Barbe led just once, at 6-4 on a post basket by Manley. Jada Richard scored seven points in a 9-4 quarter-closing run for the Knights. Richard finished with 14 points and four assists.