HOWE – The Lakeland Christian Academy boys basketball team closed out the regular season in a big way Tuesday night.

The Cougars rode a huge first-quarter effort to a 68-34 win at Howe Military.

LCA led 22-6 after the opening period en route to the dominating victory. The Cougars were up 34-16 at halftime.

Josh McDaniel led the way for the winners with 16 points. The junior standout returned to action after being sidelined due to an illness. McDaniel went over 800 points Tuesday night and now has 813 in his career.

Landon Twombly and Elijah Raymond each scored 14 points for LCA.

Jake Harmon added 11 points and Brandon Keller chipped in with seven for the Cougars.

Raymond led his team with nine rebounds and Twombly dished out six assists.

LCA finished its regular season at 8-15, Howe drops to 3-11.

The Cougars will play on Friday, March 3 at 6 p.m. in the first semifinal of the Class 1-A Bethany Christian Sectional. LCA will face the winner of a first round game between Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian and Elkhart Christian Academy.