One of Alabama’s biggest and best basketball rivalries looked like anything but on the scoreboard Friday night as the Sumter Co. varsity boys thumped archrival Livingston 66-38.

Both teams got out to a sluggish start in front of a standing-room-only crowd in York, with Sumter claiming a narrow 12-10 lead at the end of one. But the Wildcats dominated the visiting Cougars on both ends of the floor in the second quarter, outscoring Livingston 21-6 and pushing their lead to 17 points, 33-16, at halftime.

Things only got better for the Wildcats after the break, as they closed the third quarter on a 12-4 run that put the score at 51-24 and the outcome beyond all doubt. The 20 seconds spanning the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth–when the Wildcats’ Cameron Ezell hit a shot at the third quarter buzzer followed by a steal of the Cougars’ fourth-quarter inbounds and a breakaway basket by Koty Lard–seemed to sum up the Cougars’ struggles on the evening.

The Wildcats’ All-State senior Larry Foster led the home team with 20 points, followed by Ezell with 14, Codarro Law with 12, LaMelvin Sturdivant, Keandre Cunningham, and Lard with 4, and Patrick Delaine, Cardarrin Wilson, Charles Ward, and Jeremy Brown with 2 each.

Roland James led Livingston with 11 in the losing effort. Jeremy Yates had 9 for the Cougars, followed by LaMarcus Bell and Tony Harris with 7, Brock Williams with 3, and Haley Williams with 1.

Sumter moved to 6-0 with the Livingston win and to 7-0 over the weekend with a 64-59 road victory over previously undefeated Central-Tuscaloosa. Foster recorded his second straight 20-point game to lead the Wildcats.

Sumter will travel to Eutaw Tuesday to take on Greene Co. in a battle of defending state champions and a rematch of the Dec. 2 contest, won 63-60 by Sumter in overtime.