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It was just Tuesday night when the Altus High School Bulldogs had a disastrous third quarter where they scored only two points in a game against Weatherford that they lost. But what a difference three days makes.

Friday night the third quarter was very kind to Coach Rick Bull’s crew. They outscored Duncan 28-0 during that eight minute span and went on to defeat the Demons 71-40 at Cletus B. Street Fieldhouse.

It was Bull who astonished when he was notified after the game about shutting out Duncan in that third period. “Are you kidding?,” he said. “Wow! I don’t ever remember having a quarter like that.”

Altus already had built a 31-18 halftime lead. Bull did he remind his team during his halftime talk about how important it was to get off to a good start. “Oh yeah,” Bull said. “We wanted to make the most out of it. If we can win the third and fourth quarters you know we were going to win the game.”

It was a pressure defense the Bulldogs that gave the Demons fits all night. But it was at it’s best in the third quarter. Altus repeatedly forced Duncan into turnovers that resulted in easy shots off the glass.

The Bulldogs scored 15 points in the first 1:31 of the third period to make 46-18 and for all practical purposes the game was over. Duncan did not score until the 7:41 mark of the fourth period.

“It’s been a long time since we played defense like that for four quarters,” Bull said. “Everyone stepped it up and we didn’t a good job blocking out.”

The stats proved that statement well as Altus overwhelmed Duncan in rebounding 38-17.

Ten players broke into the scoring column. Leading the way was Malik Knight who had 14 points, Nico Maldonado followed with 12 points and Imashay Shivers 10 points. Two others were close to the double digit mark including sophomore Tanner Cross who had nine points and Montel Vidot who finished with eight points.

“Shivers and Nico both shot the ball well,” Bull said.

Missing from the double digit list was leading scorer Kasen Warren who had five points. “He played well but I couldn’t believe we could do this with that happening. It was a good night for us, we played well and had a lot of assists.”

One of those assists that wowed the crowd in the first half came from Shivers. It was behind the back pass that resulted in a basket.

Altus (3-1) will have to bounce back quickly because they host a very talented Anadarko team on Monday. The Warriors are ranked third in Class 4A.

“This couldn’t come at a better time with Anadarko coming in,” Bull said. “They are athletic, they are bigger and they shoot the ball well.”

Tipoff for that game is slated for 8 p.m.

Altus 71, Duncan 40

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Altus - Ybarra 2-0-5, Shivers 4-0-10, K. Knight 1-0-2, Warren 2-1-5, M. Knight 7-0-14, Vidot 3-2-8, Cross 3-3-9, Fernandez 2-0-4, Maldonado 5-0-12, Ward 1-0-2. Totals 30-6-71. 3 point goals - Ybarra, Shivers 2, Maldonado 2.

Duncan - McCoy 1-1-4, Vermaine 2-0-5, Peterson 3-0-8, Ervin 3-0-6, Baldwin 0-2-2, Wright 1-1-3, Braught 2-2-6, Wright 1-1-3, Zawicki 0-6-6. Totals: 13-13-40. 3 point goals - McCoy, Vermain, Peterson 2

Altus21102812 - 71

Duncan711022 - 40