SUFFOLK—The Southampton High School boys’ basketball team opened the 2011-12 campaign on Saturday with a 70-60 win over Lakeland in the King’s Fork Show Case.

This marked the first time in Coach Will Melbye’s tenure that the Indians faced a AAA opponent, but the team, led by a solid returning group of seniors, let no signs of intimidation surface.

Lakeland used a surge midway through the first quarter to build a 14-7 lead, but a pair of free throws by Nick Doyle, a jumper by Karon Evans and a layup by Trey Ellis brought the Indians back, closing the first quarter on a 6-0 run to climb within a point to 14-13 Lakeland at the end of quarter number one.

The second quarter saw the Indians go to work, and Nick Doyle show why he is a prospect worth noting. The scoring started quickly with De’Von Peterson knocking down a jumper, Jamal Johnson hitting a pair of free throws and then Doyle hitting a pair of threes in their first six possessions.

The Cavaliers answered with their own set of threes, but after another Peterson bucket, the Indians rolled into halftime. Doyle finished out the quarter scoring with a layup after a Johnson steal and finally with a pair of free throws, the senior accumulated 12 points in the second quarter.

The third quarter saw the Indians struggle to find the bucket as it took one minute and 58 seconds for them to crack the score board. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers began to heat up hitting three of their 10 three-pointers and went 7-for-7 from the line, climbing within one point, 51-50, heading into the final quarter.

The Indians found their stride defensively and took the wind out of Lakeland’s sails. They held Lakeland to 10 fourth-quarter points, and reeled off 19 of their own.

The Indians started to crank up the pressure on defense, using a combination of zones, trapping and man-to-man sets, and one possession was highlighted by some nifty passing between Johnson and Doyle that had a Lakeland defender going every which way but loose in what resulted in a Doyle layup.

“All in all, it was a great team effort, especially on the defensive end,” Melbye said. “I told the guys at halftime, no more than 60 (points for Lakeland for the game), no more!”

“Lakeland shot the ball very well from outside,” he added.

The Indians were led by Doyle’s 31 points. Peterson added 12.

Tuesday was the annual showdown with rival Franklin. As of press time, results were not available.

Southampton opens up Southside District play on Friday, Dec. 9, when Park View comes to Courtland. The junior varsity game starts at 6 p.m.