CALDWELL, Idaho — Even as Lapwai fell behind 16-0 midway through the first quarter, it just felt like a matter of time before it took charge.

The Wildcats, by nature of the program, play at a pace unmatched in Idaho Class 1A Division I. They love to run and gun, chuck pinpoint crosscourt passes and speed up opponents to the point of exhaustion.

They weren’t really doing so in the first half Thursday. But once they started? Whole different ballgame.

Lapwai blitzed Oakley after halftime in the quarterfinal round of the state tournament, outscoring the Hornets by 22 and shooting a smoking 71.4 percent to win comfortably, 52-44, at Vallivue High School.

“We were all confident in each other. We all know the level we can play at and we knew we weren’t playing our game,” sophomore star and Whitepine League Division I MVP Titus Yearout said. “So we came out, kept our heads high, then played our game.

“As soon as we made them play faster, that’s when we got the upper hand.”

Lapwai (21-3) next will play Grace (15-10), a 63-51 winner against Liberty Charter later in the day, at 5:15 p.m. Pacific today here.

The Wildcats (21-3), last year’s third-place finishers, sprinted to a 14-2 run, spanning six minutes of the third and fourth quarters. The Hornets (18-6) tallied just four points in an 11-minute stretch, scoring a total of 15 in the second half — four in the third — after entering the break up 29-15. They shot 26 percent and committed nine turnovers after intermission.

“This is all new, and our boys had to realize that, every team here, there’s a reason they’re here,” first-year Wildcats coach Zachary Eastman said. “... A lot of jitters, a lot of jitters. With being young, it takes a leader like Titus to really calm everyone down.”

Yearout, who started relatively slowly, ended up with 20 points and six rebounds. He shot 5-of-10 from the field and was 8-for-8 from the foul line, but his impact couldn’t be measured on paper.

Just about every ounce of the second half’s flow went through the 6-foot-2 guard. He had a hand in several takeaways, set up teammates with coast-to-coast passes, snapped ankles in the paint, drew mass attention and handed out four next-level, look-off assists on drives inside during Lapwai’s eruption.

“We told Titus from the beginning, ‘Lead us. Show these boys how to do it,’” Eastman said. “He led by example offensively and defensively. Everyone fed off of it, then our subs came in and made some tremendous plays, and we just got going.

“Once we get going, we’re hard to beat.”

AJ Ellenwood, standing 6-4, locked up the paint down the stretch. He had 10 points and six boards. Lengthy Lydell Mitchell scored all eight of his points after halftime, succeeding with turnaround moves underneath.

But also standing out was the play of reserves JC Sobotta, Terrell Ellenwood-Jones and Robert Denunzio, the team’s only senior. Sobotta sparked the offense with a quick scoring spurt in the second quarter, and Ellenwood-Jones and Denunzio were pests to Oakley’s backcourt.

“In practice, I tell everyone to be ready, because you never know when it’s your time to shine,” Eastman said. “Those boys came in and shined. As a coach, I love that.”

Lapwai took its first lead at 35-33 early in the fourth. Kross Taylor swished a deep 3-pointer, and Mitchell flipped in two attempts from the post. Taylor then was smacked on a 3-point try and hit two free throws. Just like that, rapid-moving Lapwai was up 45-38. Oakley, which once was fired up and in charge, looked tired.

“We’ve been down in a bunch of games, and we’ve come back and won,” Eastman said. “It’s just our experience from this past year. Being in such a good league got us ready for the tournament.”

The Wildcats’ speed and size — and Yearout’s ballhandling — eventually exhausted Oakley. In hopes of halting momentum, the Hornets fouled, but Lapwai went 15-for-17 from the line. All of those came in the second half to lock it up.

The Hornets opted to swing the ball around in the first quarter, and it worked. They hit five 3s — only one after halftime — and made Lapwai’s defense creep up. Oakley then found its lanes. Robert Wybenga (10 points) was the Hornets’ lone double-digit scorer.

Oakley slowed it down, initially taking Lapwai off-guard and disorientating the Wildcat offense into giveaways and rushed shots.

But once Lapwai took off?

“It turned into our game, our kind of game,” Yearout said.

LAPWAI (21-3)

JC Sobotta 3 0-0 6, Terrell Ellenwood-Jones 0 1-2 1, Titus Yearout 5 8-8 20, Kross Taylor 1 2-3 5, Lydell Mitchell 3 2-2 8, Robert Denunzio 1 0-0 2, Simon Henry 0 0-0 0, AJ Ellenwood 4 2-2 10. Totals 17 15-17 52.

OAKLEY (18-6)

Chandler Jones 3 2-2 9, Robert Wybenga 4 0-0 10, Strom Pickett 0 0-0 0, Corbin Bedke 3 0-0 7, Caleb Arnell 1 0-0 3, Payton Beck 1 2-2 4, Austin Cranney 0 0-0 0, Jace Robinson 4 0-0 9, Dalton Hunter 1 0-2 2. Totals 17 4-6 44.

Lapwai 9 6 13 24—52

Oakley 21 8 4 11—44

3-point goals — Yearout 2, Taylor, Jones, Wybenga 2, Bedke, Arnell, Robinson.

Clark may be reached at cclark@lmtribune.com, on Twitter @ClarkTrib or by phone at (208) 848-2260.