ARVADA >> A suffocating defense and 3-point threat would be hard for any team to defeat, and Legacy boys basketball learned that the hard way on Thursday night.

During the second night of the Ralston Valley Roundup Classic at RVHS, the Lightning battled illness and turnover after turnover in suffering a 60-32 loss to host Ralston Valley, despite a first half that saw the teams compete toe-to-toe with each other.

The Mustangs defense, from coast to coast and near the paint, took Legacy out of its game in the final 16 minutes.

“That’s a solid team,” head coach Connor Clay said. “They are all on the same page at the same time, and I think that’s the biggest part that took us out of our game. We’re still not on the same page. We have a long way to go with that — some new faces, new roles. They just did a good job making us uncomfortable.”

Senior shooting guard Joey Delescinskis, who’s been leading the Lightning with 14.5 points per game, added to his resume with 14 more points against the Mustangs, most of which he scored in the first half. Junior center Ari Harpring added another seven as eight players in all got on the board.

A fast start through the first couple weeks of the winter season hindered the Lightning more than it helped, but they still managed a strong showing through their first four games, earning nail-biting victories over Mullen and Arvada West while falling to Cherokee Trail and Cherry Creek by nine and five points, respectively.

Clay hopes a bit more time in the gym will help them iron out the wrinkles.

“I think, moving forward, the number one thing we need is practice time,” he said. “We’ve had six games in the last two weeks, and not very much practice. That’s the biggest thing we’re missing, is just figuring each other out, repping, getting a lot of reps in. I think this next week will be big for us. We have no games, but that’s the biggest thing we need.”

The Lightning stayed tight with the Mustangs through a competitive first half, always trailing but never out of contention. Delescinskis’s 10 points proved pivotal before Ralston Valley claimed a 26-20 lead midway through.

Then the Mustangs broke it open.

Ralston Valley came out of the break tightening its defense near the post — especially around Delescinskis. That severely limited Legacy’s shot selection. The Mustangs, meanwhile, continued to stay hot behind the arc, netting seven triples before night’s end, and took full advantage of each and every Lightning miscue.

“The first few teams we played, don’t get me wrong, all the pressure was good,” Delescinskis said. “It was just a really rough second half for us. We can’t go into a second half like that. We just got to learn how to keep our heads and just how to play together as a team.”

Legacy fell to 2-3 with the loss, and will look to bounce back on Friday night when it returns to Ralston Valley High School to take on Douglas County.