The Verbena Red Devils cruised past Isabella for a 69-46 county victory at home on Friday.

It did not take long for Verbena to grab a double-digit lead by scoring the first 17 points in the game and leading 19-4 after the first quarter.

“We started out the game with intensity and being in the right positions on defense,” Verbena head coach Scott Doss said.

However, Isabella showed some fight in the second quarter with Jaqarise Stacy scoring five of his team-high 15 points.

“Coach got onto us a little bit for slacking off,” Verbena senior Juwan Tyus said. “Once we got that under control, we were able to get back on track in the second half.”

The Mustangs had success driving to the basket and showed a knack for getting to the free throw line.

After leading 34-18 at the half, the Red Devils opened the third quarter with high energy and pushed pace up and down the court.

“I think that we play better when we’re fast-paced,” Tyus said. “That’s what our offense and defense is built around.”

Defensive rebounds leading to transition offense was key for the Red Devils during the game.

“In the past this team has pressed a lot, but we don’t quite have the depth for that this year,” Doss said. “We try to stay away from fouls in the open floor with more of a man-to-man style defense. We’ve got good enough speed in the open floor to capitalize.”

Jordan Rohrbough came off the bench and buried some shots down the stretch and made some blocks at the defensive end that helped maintain the large margin.

“We are a senior-laden team, but we don’t have much middle ground after that,” Doss said. “That’s where the lack of depth issue comes into play.”

Tyus had another highlight-reel performance and finished the game with 25 points and 20 rebounds. He currently leads the nation averaging 20.5 rebounds per game according to Max Preps.

Senior guards Anthony Miller and Tristan Short combined for 20 points and eight assists for Verbena on the night.