The No. 4 Sulphur Tors put aside a shaky first half to dominate the second half of 53-32 District 3-5A win over the Barbe Bucs on Friday in front of a packed house at Sulphur High.

The Bucs used their long range shooting with four three-pointers in the first half to take a 22-19 lead at halftime. Deonte Brown hit a three with three seconds left in the second quarter.

Brown’s shot capped a 10-1 run by the Bucs (12-16, 0-5) after the Tors (24-5, 5-0) had taken a 18-12 lead when Matt LeBato banked one in off the glass with 3:56 left in the second quarter.

But whatever went on in the Tors’ locker room at halftime it worked instantly.

The Tors opened up the second half with a flurry of shots. Chip Armelin hit a three-pointer forty seconds into the third to tie it at 22-22. LeBato scored the next six points to give Sulphur a 28-22 lead and forcing the Bucs to take a timeout to regroup.

“We did a good job of shutting down their offense after they went on an 8-0 run to end the first half,” Sulphur head coach Clint LeBato said. “It was a very important start in the third quarter and we did a good job of hitting some shots too.

“We played better offensively. I thought that was the difference.”

Barbe’s Nick Morris made a shot in the lane after the time out but that would be it for the Bucs in the third quarter,as the Tors defense locked them out the rest of the way.

Sulphur finished the third on a 9-0 run and carried it over into the fourth quarter to make it a 13-0 run.

After going 4-for-9 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Bucs went 0-for-7 in the second half.

The Tors went 7-for-8 in the third quarter and missed just six shots in the second half while shooting 50 percent in the game while. Sulphur had just seven turnovers.

Armelin led three Tors in double figures with 17 points. Matt LeBato had 16 and Donovan Williams finished with 11 points. The trio combined to score 31 of the Tors’ 34 second half points.

Armelin was the only Tor to score in double figures in the first game against Barbe on January 19th.

“We definitely have to get some help from our other guys and they stepped up,” LeBato said. “I know Matt had a pretty good game and Donovan was solid inside.”

The Tors are now 5-0 in district with three district games remaining and still looking to lock up the district title. With Acadiana’s overtime upset of No. 17 Lafayette, the Tors need just one more district win to get at least a share of the title. Two wins will give them the district championship outright.

“We just have to make sure we don’t let any of the next ones slip up,” LeBato said. “Our guys are working hard and I think they are focused on the job at hand.”

Sulphur will host Acadiana on Tuesday.