"(Coach) said we weren't playing with enough enthusiasm and emotion," said Corey Hilliard about halftime. "We just needed to turn it up."

Turn it up they did as Ray-South (15-4) outscored Raytown 25-14 in the third quarter. Hilliard delivered three 3-pointers in the quarter which Oestreich said was a product of better ball movement in the second half.

"All of (Hilliard's) three's came after post entries and moving the ball inside," said Oestreich. "I told him the basketball gods will reward you for passing the ball inside which we weren't doing a good job of in the first half."

Hilliard scored 23 points in the Cardinals win.

The win over Raytown was Ray-South's second of the season. The first meeting between the two conference rivals saw Raytown erase a double digit deficit in the final minutes of the game to nearly win. This time around, Ray-South held onto a double digit lead in the final four minutes and never let Raytown creep back in.

"I had a hard time understanding why we didn't have more emotion in the first half," said Oestreich. "In the second half I thought we did a good job of putting pressure on the ball and that made (Raytow) have some problems running plays."

Joe Cooper had a big game for the Cardinals in the paint with several rebounds and blocked shots. Cooper also had a monster dunk in the fourth quarter that brought the crowd's loudest applause of the day.

The game was also the first since before the holiday break that every player was healthy and ready to play. Ishmail Wainright saw his first action after suffering an ankle injury over a month ago. Wainright scored one point in the game but made an obvious impact on the defensive side with a few forced steals.

Raytown South is now 5-0 in conference play with six games remaining on the schedule. Ray-South will host Belton on Tuesday before hosting Rockbridge (Columbia, Mo.) next Friday.

"It was good to have everyone back and healthy but now the competition for minutes is even greater," said Oestreich. "I think it puts us in a good position for a season ending run."