The message for the Lewis-Palmer basketball players at halftime was to be true to themselves.

Tied with Air Academy last week, Rangers coach Bill Benton knew that the team with the most discipline, and that could control the pace, was going to come out on top.

That team was Lewis-Palmer, which, after nine lead changes and three ties in the second half, beat the Kadets on their own court 56-48 to open Pikes Peak conference play.

Senior guard Jonas Miller had 16 points, 11 in the first half, to lead an explosive night on offense with six Rangers recording at least one 3-pointer.

“We knew we would be in a late battle with them,” Benton said. “They are playing really well, they have guys that can stroke it from the outside, guys that can go and crash it, and we knew we needed to control and be physical both out on the perimeter and the paint, and I thought our guys handled that call really well.”

“That’s how we wanted to start conference, it was important to us,” Miller, who is averaging 17.1 points per game, said. “We are trying to go undefeated in conference.”

Lewis-Palmer moves to 6-5 with this most recent win being its fifth in a row over Air Academy after also beating them in four matchups over the last two seasons. The Kadets (8-3) have had a strong start to the season and had three players in double figures Thursday, led by junior Kaden Mai with 11.

“We were missing layups and that was a big thing. We just didn’t shoot very well,” Air Academy guard Teagan Morse said. “Not getting boards kills us.”

The Kadets led 11-9 after the first quarter. But the Rangers started the second quarter with a 9-0 run to put them up 21-11. Air Academy slowly crept back to tie it at 26-26 heading into the locker room off a 3-pointer from senior Brody Winnett.

After eight ties and two lead changes, the third quarter ended tied 41-41, with Air Academy beginning to slow down Miller while going 6 of 9 from the foul line. However, Lewis-Palmer pulled away early in the fourth and maintained its lead for the rest of the half, going 7 of 8 from the foul line while holding Air Academy scoreless for the final minute.

While Miller was the spark the team needed in the second quarter, Benton emphasized to the team that everyone has to be a playmaker.

“Being a playmaker means you have more than one person doing it,” Benton said. “I thought we did a great job getting everyone involved … thought we had some key performances from guys on both sides of the floor. (Miller) knows when to take over a game, have that moment. He has a lot of opportunities and took his own, but also created some stuff for other guys.”

With more discipline and energy off the bench than they’ve had all season, Miller saw Thursday as a turning point for the team.

“Our schedule has been incredibly difficult,” Benton said. “The guys have learned through our losses and successes. … This group has done well adjusting game to game. I’m proud of these guys, it was a great effort.”