The first quarter between Lockport and Pontiac at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament appeared to be setting up something of a slog.

Both teams labored to score, and every possession seemed to be an uphill climb, but with the transition to the second quarter, something seemed to click for the Porters.

With its rhythm found, the Porters outscored the hosts by 20 points in the middle two quarters and earned a 65-44 victory to push Lockport into the quarterfinal round where it will face either Curie or Danville on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

“When we move the ball, we get into a rhythm,” Lockport coach Dave Wilson said. “No one wants to stand still and watch one person, right? So we get five guys working together, multiple ball reversals, multiple hard screens, multiple hard cuts, and everyone gets involved in the game.”

That involvement couple with fairly solid shooting allowed Lockport to build a double-digit lead midway through the second quarter. Pontiac did have a small push that trimmed that lead back to six, but Lockport countered by scoring the final seven points, the last of which came on a 3-pointer from Kajus Zubelis that sent the Porters into half with a 31-18 lead.

It was the culmination of a solid second quarter for Zubelis, who clearly sparked the Porters off the bench. He had 11 points in the second quarter with a trio of 3-pointers and ended up leading all scorers with 18 points.

“I felt an opportunity for myself to show what I can do,” Zubelis said, “what I’m capable of.”

Zubelis knocked down his fourth 3 in the third quarter in a frame where Lockport showed the variety of its offensive attack. Led by Zubelis, four Porters finished in double figures as Trace Schaaf finished with 16, Nojus Venckus had 11 including a 35-footer at the third quarter horn, and Nedas Venkas added 10.

That balance allowed Lockport to leave the third quarter with a healthy 51-29 lead. A gritty Pontiac team kept scrapping and pulled as close as 12 points in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t shave the Porters lead into single digits.

After the shaky start, Lockport knocked down shots with regularity, finishing the game shooting at a 54% clip (27 of 50).

Lockport (9-2) was fortunate that the slow start didn’t really hurt it – a luxury it likely won’t have if it hopes to continue advancing in the tournament’s winners’ bracket.

“We are still pretty young. I mean, at one point, we had three juniors and a sophomore, and you can tell with the physical strength, or lack thereof, that some of the younger guys struggled to adapt quicker than the seniors.

“They were able to adapt, though, and we got out of here with the ‘W’ and move on in the tournament.”

Amazin King paced Pontiac (8-3) with 12 points.