Wilcox Central rebounded from a sluggish first quarter to overpower Southside 30-7 in the second quarter on the way to a 75-55 win Saturday.

“We stepped it up in the second quarter,” said Jaguars coach Mark Dukes. “The defense turned things around for us.”

The Jaguars (2-0) went on a 14-1 run midway through the second quarter. They scored 12 unanswered points to close out the half and lead by 17. The Panthers never got closer than 15 points the rest of the way. Kendrick Atwood dropped in 10 points in the quarter.

“We wanted to play uptempo,” added Dukes, whose team fields four returning starters. “I’m satisfied with the way we played from the second quarter on.”

Southside’s best offensive output came in the opening quarter. After falling behind 8-2 to begin the contest, the Panthers bench ignited an 11-2 run by scoring eight points in the surge. Two of the buckets were from LaQuintin Gunn. Southside led 16-10 after one quarter of play.

Wilcox built its advantage to 21 points to start the fourth quarter.

“We were flat in that second quarter,” said first-year Southside coach Cedric Brown, “We couldn’t get our offense flowing and never were able to bounce back. But our guys hustled for the full 32 minutes”

All five Wilcox starters finished in double figures with senior LaVaughn Nicholson leading the way with 16 points and nine rebounds. Atwood finished with 14 points. Stephon Butler added 13, and Deidrick Irby chipped in 11 points. Gary Nicholson netted 10 points in the contest.

Desmond Moore and Devon Dukes contributed 11 points apiece to lead Southside (2-1). Alfred Davis added 10 points off the bench.