The Lafayette boys’ basketball team led wire-to-wire Thursday against Liberty North in their Class 4 Sectional game at Staley High School as they beat the Eagles 53-41.

The Fighting Irish improve to 23-4 this season and advance to the Class 4 quarterfinals for the second time in four years.

Lafayette led 10-9 after the first quarter, but then outscored Liberty North 20-5 in the second quarter to take control of the game and they led 30-14 at halftime.

Xavier Kurth scored 18 first half points as the Irish went 8-for-13 from the field in the second quarter and they made four three-point field goals.

Lafayette extended its lead to 18 points in the third quarter before Liberty North chipped away.

The Eagles pulled to within nine points in the fourth quarter but that was as close as they’d get.

Kurth ended the game with 21 points, while Gary Wilkinson scored 11 and Billy Cook added nine points.

It’s the 14th consecutive win for Lafayette as they will face Grandview in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. inside the Independence Event Center.  The game will be broadcast on 680 KFEQ and on stjosephpost.com.