Lake Charles College Prep kept its hot streak going Friday night, but the Trailblazers are still looking for more uniform play.

The Trailblazers beat South Beauregard 57-53 to open District 3-3A play after nearly squandered a double-digit lead as they won their eighth consecutive game.

“I felt like we played hard, but we have to play a little bit smarter,” LCCP head coach Sean Andrus said. “And we have to be more efficient.

“We had some times where we could have executed by making a layup, and we kind of missed it by short arming it. That is a credit to South Beau because they played very physical, and we had to step up our game and match their physicality tonight. I am proud of our effort.

“Tonight was a great opportunity for some of my young guys to play in a pressure-filled situation, learn from this experience and get ready for our next district game. I told my guys during practice that district is a step up from just the regular season. Now everybody knows how much it means, so everybody is going to fight to the end. I want my guys to play a little harder and play with more poise.”

LCCP (9-7, 1-0) shot 50 percent in the first quarter as they built a 22-12 lead. They upped it to 29-14 when Izayha Brown scored off an offensive rebound and added a free throw after being fouled with 6:20 left in the second quarter. Brown had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

But the Trailblazers hit just 4 of 14 shots in the quarter, and the Golden Knights charged back into the game. South Beauregard (12-10, 0-1) turned to guard Landon Smith as he hit a trio of 3-pointers in less than three minutes. His last cut LCCP’s lead to 31-30 with 49 left in the first half.

South Beauregard took its only lead, 33-32, on a free throw by Mason Derouen with 5:45 left in the third quarter.

LCCP led by as many as nine points in the second half and had several opportunities to put the game away but struggled at the free throw line, making just 16 of 47. They made two of their final 10 free throws, and the Golden Knights were able to rally late in the fourth to cut the deficit to 55-53 on two free throws by Logan Young.

“We had been shooting free throws pretty well lately,” Andrus said. “With the weather and the guys having off a couple of days, we missed some reps.

“It was big tonight because I think we missed around 20 free throws. It is the difference in the game. You have to make free throws.”

Young had a game-high 24 points and Smith finished with 10.