Due to a scheduling quirk, Lockport hadn’t been able to practice since last Thursday.

And for a program that is clearly thriving on regiment and routine, that break from the norm looked like it had a little bit of an effect on the Porters.

The first few minutes of Tuesday night’s game with Lincoln-Way West were not what one might expect from a Porters team just a few days removed from toppling Homewood-Flossmoor in a showdown of the top teams in the SouthWest Suburban Conference.

But eventually things started to click as the Porters erased an early deficit with an 11-0 scoring run, which set the wheels in motion for a runaway 62-33 win for Lockport.

“We were in a weird spell in that we hadn’t practiced since Thursday and it showed,” Lockport coach Dave Wilson said. “A lot of the little things we were a little rusty on. Offensively our spacing wasn’t where it needed to be and our ball movement wasn’t what it needed to be.”

After escaping from the ragged first quarter with a 17-12 lead, things cleared up considerably in the next stanza.

Lockport (21-4, 11-2) quickly drained four 3-pointers in the early portion of the second quarter (to go along with three more makes from downtown in the first quarter), and the Porters were off and running.

“The first couple of possessions were not really going our way, but going into the game I already know that we are going to win because I’m confident and I trust my teammates,” Lockport guard Nojus Venckus said. “Once we started banging in some 3s, we gained a lead and the game was over.”

The 3-pointers opened up some things offensively, but the defensive intensity didn’t waver almost from the outset. The Porters forced a series of turnovers, and their ball pressure forced the Warriors (13-14, 4-9) into numerous shots they probably were better off not have taken.

“We have written on the board that intensity is our competitive advantage. Our goal is to be more intense than our opponents hands down, and we want to completely destroy them,” Wilson said. “And it doesn’t matter who the opponent is. Intensity is our edge, and I think top to bottom they’ve all bought into that.”

That defensive intensity led to Lockport holding Lincoln-Way West to just five points in the second quarter and allowed the Porters to carry over that same frame of mind into the third quarter where Lockport held the Warriors to just four and extended its lead past 30 points to start a running clock.

“We always like to keep the intensity up,” Lockport guard Nedas Venckas said. “Down 40 or up 40, we have a high motor for offense and for defense.

“We just have to not be complacent and just keep working hard and believing in ourselves.”

Nojus Venckas led Lockport with 20 points, while Nedas Venckas added 14.

Lockport’s win, its 21st, helped extend the team past the 20-win mark for the first time since 2011.

“We’ve got players that want to be a part of something special,” Wilson said, “and everyone has just been following suit.”

Lincoln-Way West was led in scoring by Eiden Kubilius, who finished with nine points.