It's been a rough month at Lakeside High School, but after Friday night the Panther portion of Columbia County finally has something to smile about.

Lakeside's boys basketball team beat rival Greenbrier 66-46 in a upset the school hasn't seen in at least five years.

"It's big. It's big for the whole school," Lakeside coach Ryan Morningstar said. "The whole school needed this, especially against Greenbrier."

For weeks the school has worn a black eye after the football team ran an illegal play near the end of the final game of the season. The entire athletic department has been under scrutiny ever since, and football coach Jody Grooms lost his athletic director position over it.

"It's unbelievable," Morningstar said as he shook hands with several well-wishers after the game. "I can't remember the last time Lakeside beat Greenbrier."

The two rivals battled for the first eight minutes of the game, and Lakeside took an 11-10 lead after the first quarter.

The one-point lead quickly ballooned when forward Jared Ackerman nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to start the second quarter. The senior hit four 3-pointers on the night and finished with 18 points.

"He can shoot it," Morningstar said. "He's a senior, but this is his first year on varsity. I think he's got to the point where the rest of the kids trust him when he shoots the ball. They want him to shoot."

Ackerman wasn't the only Panther who had a hot night. Junior Rosbie Mutcherson also score 18 points. Most of those points came from the free-throw line, where he went 13-for-13.

Lakeside hit 27 of 38 foul shots, going 13-for-15 in a four-minute stretch in the fourth quarter. Greenbrier got to within nine points with under five minutes left, but the Panthers finished the game on a 16-5 run.

Greenbrier senior Andy Gray led the Wolfpack with a game-high 23 points.