GIRARD — Shaking off a two-game losing skid was exactly what the Indians had in mind when Lakeview visited Girard on Tuesday.

After dropping a nail-biter to Liberty, and getting outplayed by South Range last week, the Indians got back on track with a 56-31 triumph over their Northeast-8 rival.

“We didn’t play our best game against South Range,” Girard coach Craig Hannon said. “I think we responded well tonight. We learned a lesson that you have to come out ready to go every night. The two practices leading in were good. Credit to our guys. They were mature. They did a good job of bouncing back when we needed them to.”

It appeared to be anyone’s ballgame early on as Girard held a 12-10 lead after one quarter.

However, Lakeview got into some serious foul trouble which forced leaders like senior Nate Fox to the bench.

“That’s part of the game though,” Lakeview coach Mark Novotny said. “Credit to Girard. They executed what they wanted to do, especially in the second half. They took it to us. They got the looks they wanted. We’ll have put this one behind us.”

The game was at somewhat of a slow pace until Stephen Sims went cutting through the Lakeview defense. Colton Maiorca scored at the halftime buzzer for the Bulldogs, but Girard was up 26-18 at the break.

Girard (9-5) pulled away, in the third, behind the play of Thomas Cardiero. Cardiero finished with a game-high 24 points.

“We weren’t happy with our last performance,” Cardiero said. “We had been declining a little bit recently. Tonight was the night to get it back on track.

“I love my teammates. They’re high energy guys. Win or loss, I love playing basketball with them. I can’t wait to see what they all can do down the road.”

One of those high energy guys is junior Mike Palmer (10 points). Palmer had a couple of good takes, as he went driving through the lane, and used a jump-stop to shed the defense.

“It was there a lot,” Palmer said. “That’s my game. I take it to the hole. I just have to finish. It was a good win.

“The narrative was to turn it around. We’re a better basketball team than that. When we play like we did tonight, not too many teams can hang with us.”

Girard started to get hot from deep as Gus Johnson (11 points) nailed one from long distance. Blaine Barr (team-high 11 points) answered for Lakeview, but Cardiero hit one from behind the arc just before the third quarter came to an end. Girard took a 41-24 lead to the fourth.

Hayden Rozzo made one, from downtown, for Lakeview (5-9). Jordan Grant put it back up after pulling down a board, and he completed the and-one for Girard.

The Indians made a nice play to Johnson, underneath the rim off of an inbound, as Cardiero and company finished off the win.

“We made it an effort tonight to make sure Cardiero got some touches,” Hannon said. “He only took seven shots against South Range. Tonight, we decided we needed to get the ball in his hands a little bit more. It’s up to him to get in the right position, and the guys to get him the ball.”