The Lakers may have sputtered their way through their first three quarters of the game, but they piled on points during the fourth quarter against the Baby Jayhawks.

The fifth- and sixth-grade Lakers rallied late in the game to beat the Baby Jayhawks, 21-18, Saturday at Langston Hughes Elementary.

Lakers head coach Luigui Green, said his team played a decent game but they’ve still got some obvious flaws.

“We’ve got to have better rebounding, and we’ll work on running our plays a little bit better,” Green said.

The Baby Jayhawks started the game slowly, but played consistent basketball during the last three quarters. The team scored zero points in the first frame, but scored six points in each of the last three.

Baby Jayhawks point guardRonnie Taylor led his team on the offensive attack. Taylor used fancy dribbling skills while calling out plays to elude his defender. Taylor took the ball coast-to-coast to score on fast-break plays, but he also had the presence of mind to stop and pass on fast breaks when the basket wasn’t open.

The Lakers scored four points in the opening quarter to build a lead. Lakers point guard Rodney Clemens used his slashing ability to drive down the baseline to score reverse lay-ups.

The Baby Jayhawks might have started slow, but they were able to take a 12-9 lead after three quarters. Baby Jayhawks back-up point guard Garrin Sloan lifted his team’s offensive play during the second and third quarters. Sloan was scrappy and quick on defense and used his outside jump shot to knock down two-pointers.

Ryan Lahman dribbles the ball up the court for the Baby Jayhawks, who suffered a close loss to the Lakers Saturday at Langston Hughes Elementary.

The Baby Jayhawks held the lead going into the final eight minutes of the game, but the Lakers were never out of it.

The Lakers more than doubled their scoring output by putting up 12 points during the last quarter.

Lakers forward Philip Gabler epitomized what his team was all about. Gabler showed hustle on defense during the fourth quarter. His hustle, along with the rest of the teams, allowed the Lakers to run up and down the court to score six baskets, which helped the Lakers pull away to a 21-18 victory.

Linze Tate, Baby Jayhawks head coach, said the game was all about having fun.

“I thought the game was very competitive, and winning and losing isn’t that important,” Tate said. “The kids had fun and all around everybody had a good game.”

Tate said his team will work on setting screens and picks this week in practice. If the screens and picks can create four extra points for the Baby Jayhawks, they should be able to pick up their first win of the season next Saturday.