The Buckingham County High School basketball team ran out to an early lead in its James River District Tournament quarterfinal game against Central of Lunenburg on Monday night and cruised to an 88-62 victory to advance into the semifinal round.

The Knights were led by junior guard Cam Johnson, who scored 23 points on the evening, with 13 of those coming in the third quarter.

Buckingham was never seriously challenged in the contest. Senior guard Tarian Ayers helped BCHS to a 27-8 lead after the first quarter. Ayers scored eight of his 19 points in the opening quarter.

Buckingham held a 49-25 lead at the half, and was ahead 69-47 at the end of the third. After a quick start by the Knights to start the fourth quarter, Buckingham went to its bench, as Central chopped away at the Knights in the final minutes.

The Chargers were led in scoring by Brandyn Seward, who had 25 points, with 20 of those coming after halftime. DJ Haywood scored 22 on the night, while Markeith Carr added seven.

Johnson missed out on a double-double with 23 points and eight rebounds, while Ayers almost had a triple-double of 19 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists.

Senior wing LA Briley scored 11 points and had five assists, while freshman Kyree Koonce scored 11. Tariq Bartee only scored four points, but still managed to have a highly-productive night with seven rebounds and six assists.

Central was 23-29 (79 percent) from the foul line, while the Knights were 15-26 (58 percent) at the stripe.

The Knights will host Cumbeland on Wednesday in the semifinal round of the JRD Tournament. It will be the fourth meeting between the two rivals, with BCHS holding a 2-1 advantage. The winner of that game will advance to Friday night's James River District Tournament finals against the Amelia County/Randolph-Henry winner. Should R-H upset Amelia the Buckingham/Cumberland winner will host. Should Amelia win, the Raiders will host the tournament finals. The championship game will follow the JV Title game between Cumberland and Bluestone at 6 p.m.