WEST POINT — Even with a 35-point lead in the fourth quarter, Dashmon Daniel was still coaching.

The West Point High School Lady Green Wave, a young team according to Daniel, were getting relaxed with a big lead and not running a half-court offense. Instead, they were looking to score early in the possession and not running clock and looking for the easy basket. He called a timeout early in the fourth quarter to voice his concerns.

“A lot of them learned you’ve got to run plays in the playoffs,” Daniel said. “We’re a transition team, but I’ve been telling them, ‘We’ve got to get in the half-court and execute.’ In the fourth quarter we got a little shaky there. We’re young and you can’t let them take a break.”

The Lady Wave didn’t need much of a half-court offense in a 65-29 win over Lewisburg High School Monday night in the first round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A playoffs. But the Lady Wave used the experience as a learning aid for moving forward.

West Point (21-9) will play 7 p.m. Friday at Lanier High School, who had a first round bye, in the second round of the playoffs. The winner will advance to the state quarterfinals at Jackson State University.

The Lady Wave had an easy time with the Lady Patriots and scored many of their early baskets in transition. Freshman Amari Heard had a game-high 18 points and was very active in the first half.

The Lady Wave led 20-6 after the first quarter and 40-12 at halftime, but the Lady Patriots fought hard in the second half and trailed 55-20 after three quarters.

Heard said the win was a confidence builder, but the timeout in the fourth quarter was an eye opener.

“We just need to listen to him and continue to do what we do,” Heard said.

West Point slowed down in the fourth quarter and only outscored Lewisburg 10-9. Daniel used a lot of subs and got some rest for his starters, but during and after the timeout he was pleasantly surprised with how his team acted.

“I was amazed,” Daniel said. “A lot of them took a good coaching because I was on them pretty rough. They didn’t shut down. They work hard for me. I tell them they’re good, but you’ve got to believe in yourself first and then everything will fall into place. They’re young and they don’t know they’re good.”

The Lady Wave finished second in the Region 2 tournament with a loss to Oxford in the championship game last week to get into the playoffs.

Qiayon Bailey scored 14 points, Jamia Hollings added 13 points and Tia McCary chipped in 10 points for the Lady Wave.

The Lady Patriots had just one player in double digits as Andrea Rayford scored 14 points off the bench.

Even though it wasn’t much of a challenge for the Lady Wave, it is experience that the Lady Wave needed moving forward.

“I learned a lot of things,” Heard said. “Coach has taught me different things that I didn’t learn from my middle school years.

“I learned that if we play together we can get to where we want to go.”

Although it wasn’t a very big home crowd for the Lady Wave, it was a playoff atmosphere that Daniel wanted his team to experience. Moving forward the crowds will only get bigger and the pressure will be that more intense for his young team.

“They need to know that it’s going to be so intense from now on out the rest of the way. It’s going to benefit them a whole lot,” Daniel said.

The road to Jackson won’t be easy for Daniel and the Lady Wave, but he feels like his team has a chance to make some noise this week. His practices will be intense and there will be many things he wants to go over with his team, but he feels like they have the pieces to possibly contend for a state title.

He just wants them to understand that.

“I’ve got some of the most athletic girls in north Mississippi,” Daniel said. “They’ve got to believe that nobody can stop us.”

Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait

Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.