SYRACUSE — In the volatile world of high school sports, Layton High basketball is a model of consistency.

With only two head coaches over a 34-season span, the culture is firmly intact.

The Lancers are going to be scrappy on defense, proficient on offense and almost always in the mix for the league title.

After its showing in the Region 1 opener, it doesn’t seem like this season will be any different.

Layton used an all-around effort to build a big lead and cruise to a 79-56 decision over Syracuse. The win moved the Lancers to 13-1 on the season, while the Titans dropped to 7-7.

“I still feel like we haven’t ironed everything out,” Layton coach Kelby Miller said. “I still feel like we can be a better team than what we are. We’re still making little mistakes; still not executing great. I think once we get those things hammered out, I feel like the sky’s the limit for this group. But, overall, pretty pleased with how tonight went.”

Layton’s defense set the tone early with its aggression and the Titans struggled to get off clean looks, resulting in a 5-for-26 shooting performance in the first half. The Lancers built an 18-10 lead after one and held Syracuse to a single bucket in the second period to open up a sizable 25-point advantage at the break.

“I’m one of those guys that’s never happy,” said Miller, the 15-year head coach. “I’ll be pleased if we’re sizing up a state championship ring at the end of the season. Trust me I can find things; I can nitpick.

“It was more the offensive stuff. We were not quite clicking, not quite on the same page with some things. Those are the types of things we talked about at halftime.”

To their credit, the Titans regrouped and opened the second half with some determination. Terik Hamblin scored on a backdoor play to open the third quarter and dropped in another bucket the next time down the court to garner some momentum. However, the Lancers proved to be too deep and the deficit too large to threaten any semblance of a comeback.

Despite outscoring Layton by two points in the second half, the closest the Titans could get was 17 on a Jake Hopkins 3-pointer with just under six minutes left to play. Layton’s KJ Miller answered right back with a long ball of his own and the Lancers cruised to the win.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” Kelby Miller said. “To hold a team to 12 points in a half, I knew that they were going to make a little run at us, which they did. Obviously, it made it a little more interesting for us than we wanted, but we were still able to keep them at that 20-point deficit.”

Ultimately, Layton’s talent prevailed as a balanced scoring attack put six players in double figures.

Overall, Layton shot 50% from the field (28-of-56) with Mekhi Martin’s 15 points leading the way. Utah signee David Katoa netted 14 points with Sam Romer and KJ Miller adding 12 apiece. Jonah Fullmer and Cade Tidwell had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

“That’s one of the things we’re always aiming for, four to five guys in double digits,” Kelby Miller said. “There’s enough basketball to go around. I think we play a style where guys are going to get plenty of shots and opportunities, so to have six, that’s pretty dang good.”

After being held to three points in the first half, Hamblin broke out with 16 in the second half for a game-high 19. Teammate Joshua Godfrey chipped in 10 for the Titans.

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