WENDELL - East Wake was on a warpath in the first quarter of Friday’s game, threatening to beat rival Southeast Raleigh for the second time this season.

But the Bulldog boys rallied and followed in the Lady Bulldogs’ footsteps to win their road game against the Warriors 57-45.

The Warriors (8-13, 6-6 Greater Neuse River 4A) racked up points from the moment of tip-off and led the Bulldogs 13-5 at the end of the first quarter. East Wake continued to rack up points well into the second quarter to take a 19-10 lead.

But the cushion was deflated as Southeast (11-5, 8-4) sized up the Warriors and attacked, pulling to within 1 point midway through the second quarter and pulling ahead for a 33-28 lead at the half.

“Anytime during this time of year (going into playoffs) is tough,” said Southeast coach John Baker. “You have got to go in and steal these games.”

David Washington was the Bulldogs’ go-to guy on offense. Despite Washington’s 14 points, his coach was reluctant to single him out.

“This was a whole team effort,” Baker said. “The whole team, including the bench was involved.”

Southeast’s lead ebbed and flowed, and at any point during the game, the victory could have gone either way.

The Bulldog defense shut down the Warriors’ inside game, but East Wake compensated behind the arc and on the free throw line. The Warriors completed 77 percent of their free throws.

Warrior Zavier Strickland fouled out with 4:26 left in the game. East Wake was down by just four points at that time, but the Bulldogs took charge in the final minutes to pull off the 12-point win.

“Our whole team is about defense,” Baker said. “Shutting down our opponents’ offense is what we do. That’s Southeast Raleigh basketball, our trademark.”

Baker said this was a big win for his team, but also a grudge match of sorts since East Wake defeated Southeast in Raleigh on Jan. 6.

Warrior coach Darrin Stinson said his team lapsed on fundamentals.

“We left our game plan, had a lot of turnovers and panicked,” he said. “They triple teamed us at times. We either shot too fast, or just didn’t make our shots.”

East Wake played the game without Shaquille Leach, and Stinson did not say why Leach did not see action.

Stinson did admit the last week of the regular season would not get any easier.

“We have a hard row to hoe going forward,” he said. “We can do it, but we have got to play hard.”

LeAnder Ashe chipped in 9 points for Southeast and William Walker added 8.

For the Warriors, Josh Siler led the charge with 14 points and Chris Pernell contributed 12.