If West Forsyth’s boys were looking for a little payback on Friday night, they got it.

After losing to Lambert in their own gym earlier this season, the Wolverines returned the favor to their newest county rivals, venturing into Longhorn territory for a 53-38 road win.

West coach Chris Roy said his players recognized the threat Lambert posed after the two teams met last month.

“They played great [in the first game] and we studied the film, talked about being mentally ready to come out and play for 32 minutes because they’re going to give us their best shot. It’s a rivalry game, it’s a region game and our kids responded,” Roy said.

West (8-13 overall, 6-8 Region 7-AAAAA) held Lambert (5-15, 1-9) to four points in the first quarter, setting the tone for a quality defensive outing.

Roy said Lambert burned his team on dribble penetration and getting to the free throw line last time out. On Friday, the Wolverines were focused on contesting jump shots, scrambling to defensive rebounds and limiting fouls.

“We talked about playing with your feet and not your hands. If you play with your hands, you’re reaching and holding and doing things you’re not supposed to do,” Roy said.

West won the in-game foul battle, getting to the free throw line 23 times to Lambert’s 16.

West had a 10-4 lead after a low-scoring first quarter, and took a 22-18 advantage to the locker room after Lambert’s Ronnie Rolle knocked down a 3-pointer just ahead of the halftime buzzer.

The game didn’t stay that tight for much longer, though.

West started the third quarter on a 12-4 run, knocking down two 3-pointers in the period to build a 12-point lead. The Wolverines never ran away with the game, but remained in control after pushing the lead to double digits after halftime.

“I think ... we weren’t in rhythm and that shows when you give up 17 turnovers,” Lambert coach Derrick DeWitt said.

“We didn’t shoot that well from the field. We took some good shots but we’ve got to be ready to knock those down. That’s been an issue. We continue to work on that and tonight just wasn’t our night and the best team won.”

Evan Dunwoody (16 points), Fineto Lunguana (16) and Shaeem McLaren (10) led West in scoring.

Taylor Moore (11 points) and Keenan Valdez (10) were the Longhorns’ top scorers.

Roy said he hopes the win will help his team build momentum following a 51-49 win over West Hall earlier in the week. He said he’s seeing positive signs that effort in practice is translating into passion at game time.

“The kids that were on the floor [tonight], they gave everything they had — boxing out, diving on the floor for loose balls, doing anything to give our team a chance to win. ... I asked them to leave it all on the floor and they did that,” he said.

“Lambert does a good job. Coach DeWitt is a good coach. We knew coming over here it was going to be tough and we had to be ready to play for 32 minutes, and I think our kids did that tonight.”