In the case of Landrum basketball, home is definitely where the heart is. Under head coach Lyn Smith, the Cardinals have been dominant in the friendly confines for the last seven years. Landrum went into the first round playoff game against Ninety Six on Tuesday with a 67-9 record in their house.
After a dominating 100-50 win over the Wildcats, the Cardinals added one more to the win column.
“It’s got a lot to do with our fans,” Smith said. “We always have a packed house. Our players feed off of it.”
It was a feeding frenzy for the Cardinals on Tuesday.
Landrum took control early in the first round of the 1A state playoffs against Ninety Six, but you could sense an offensive explosion coming.  Landrum had opportunities to pull away in the first half, but it didn’t start clicking until the second half.
That explosion happened in the third quarter. The Cardinals built up some momentum with a 6-2 spurt to close the second quarter and then came out in the third quarter flat out on fire.
“We didn’t really have to make any adjustments (at halftime),” Smith said. “I told them, ‘you’ve got to come out and play your game and put defensive pressure on them.”
His team responded with a 17-3 run to start the third quarter. Truston Whiteside got things started with a 3-pointer. Daniel Bridges scored 9 points in the run. After that initial run, the Cardinals ran away with it. Bridges finished with 22 points and Whiteside scored 17.
“We were a little caught up with it being the first round,” Landrum’s T.J. Fincher said. “We came out in the second half and put it on them.”
Fincher was a big reason the Cardinals were able to “put it on them.” Fincher scored 9 points in the quarter and finished with 12 points.
J.P. Henderson hit a basket with seconds left on the clock to get the Cardinals to 100 points.
This was the third time this season the Cardinals have hit the century mark in a game. The Cardinals will host C.A. Johnson in the second round of the state playoffs on Friday at 7 p.m. and with a win, will have one more home game.
That’s just fine with Smith.
The Cardinals know how to protect their house.