No. 4 Pickering stayed within striking distance in its nonselect Division IV semifinal game on Tuesday at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Marsh Madness boys basketball state tournament. But No. 1 Lakeview’s speed and power inside started to wear on the Red Devils in the second half, and the Gators pulled away for a 54-26 win at Burton Coliseum.

Pickering (24-10) trailed 20-14 at halftime, but Lakeview (27-6) outscored them 19-4 in the third quarter, including a 12-0 run.

Forward Dereon Joseph scored seven of his 15 points in the third quarter and finished with eight rebounds as the Gators won the rebounding battle 38-25, including 21 on offense. Andre Sowell, who scored on a three and putback during the run, added 16 points for the Gators.

“(Joseph) is a powerful guy,” Pickering head coach Robert Cupit said.

“They were holding the ball, so we had to come out and extend our defense to try to prevent them from standing out there and holding the ball.

“When we tried to cover down on him or double him he still made them.”

Pickering shot 5 of 15 from the field in the first half and finished the game with 23 turnovers.

“That is the whole key to our team is being able to hit shots, especially against teams that are as athletic as them,” Cupit said. “We confused them a little with our defense, and it slowed them down from what they are used to playing.

“We actually missed some opportunities offensively, and we could have kept it closer or had a lead with the easy shots we missed and the offensive rebounds we gave up. It just got away in the second half.”

It was Pickering’s first state tournament appearance since 1996.

“We definitely overachieved from any where we thought we would be starting the season,” Cupit said. “We were pretty consistent throughout, and it kept us where we were.

“We didn’t have a lot of ups and downs. It was a great season, and we had a great group. It was a really good group of seniors, and it will be tough to replace that group. We had the inside, the athlete and the shooter. The Seniors brought a little bit of everything to the team.”

Lakeview opened the game on a 7-0 run, but Pickering made a short run to start the second quarter to pull within a point. Christian Morgan made a pair of free throws, and Desire’ Previtera hit a 3-pointer with 5:20 left in the second quarter to cut the Gators’ lead to 11-10.

Previtera led Pickering with seven points, while Anthony Berry and Morgan added six each.