WENDELL - East Wake turned the ball over 22 times and Leesville Road was able to preserve a comfortable first quarter lead, defeating the Warriors 68-60 Monday night.

It also helped Leesville (4-5, 1-2 Cap 8 4A) was 73 percent from the free throw line in the second half, cashing in on 19 of 26 attempts. East Wake (2-7, 1-2 Greater Neuse River 4A) had just 25 attempts from the line the entire game.

Despite falling behind 21-7 through the first frame, East Wake coach Darrin Stinson said it was the turnovers and numerous missed lay-ups throughout the game that led to the loss.

“We gave away some key possessions and didn’t get back on defense quick enough,” Stinson said. “We missed nine lay-ups and those lay-ups could have cut it at the end.”

The Warriors revived their end of the scoreboard after implementing a full-court press in the final minutes of the first half. Senior guard Chris Pernell took advantage of a couple turnovers and struck from behind the arc on back-to-back possessions to pull East Wake within a 29-23 deficit at the half.

“We stopped turning the ball over and added a little pressure. That was the difference,” Stinson said of the run.

The Warriors lingered about three possessions behind the Pride throughout the majority of the second half aside from a few significant stabs.

Pernell hit two more 3-point shots in the third quarter — adding to his game-high five treys — and a steal and reverse layup by Alex Cowan cut the difference to 45-39 with under a minute left in the third.

Cowan drew a foul on a 3-point attempt with three minutes left to play and hit all three free throws to pull within 5, 56-51, but Leesville owned the foul game in the fourth quarter. The Pride’s 18 attempts from the line turned into 11 points. East Wake went 3-for-6 from the line in the final period.

“They hit their free throws. That’s the way it goes,” Stinson said. “But overall I liked the way we played. Leesville was tough.”

Sanders Rohs led the Pride with 16 points, followed by Shyheim Debnam with 12, Brandon Staves with 9, Reggie Jones, Shyheid Petteway and Kris Sherrod with 8 points each, Selo Kuvuna with 5 and Lemont Martin-White with 2 points.

East Wake was led by Pernell and Cowan with 19 points each, followed by Shaquille Leach with 9, Quincey Jackson with 7 and Jonathan High, Zavier Strickland and Da’quan Wooten with 2 points each.