LINDEN — The Patriots (19-7) ran away from the St. Luke’s Wildcats quickly Friday night en route to a 61-44 in in the 1A South Sub-regional.

Linden opened the game on a 6-0 run before St. Luke’s answered with a 6-0 run of their own to tie it at the 4:19 mark in the first quarter.

Linden’s second unit then took control with a 6-0 run of its own to put the Patriots in control with a lead they would never give away.

The Pats led 14-8 after the first quarter and really pulled away in the second frame when they jumped into their press defense.

Linden scored six points in 22 seconds off it press, going from 24-17 to 30-17 in a flash. The Patriots hung 20 points in the board in the second stanza to carry a 34-21 lead into the locker room.

St. Luke’s could get no closer in the second half and fell behind by as many as 20 in the fourth quarter when Calvin Poole drained the only Linden trey of the night with 3:15 left in the contest.

Shauka Reese led the way with 14 points for Linden. Chris Rogers had 12 while Kynard Craig put together his first double-digit performance of the season with 10.

Imoras Agee had eight points and Wilvonta Horton had six. Anthony Robinson finished the night with eight rebounds and eight assists.

Chris Enger led St. Luke’s with 15 points while Hunter Kirksey had 13.

Linden is scheduled to play in the 1A South Regional in Mobile Tuesday. The regional finals are set for Friday.