Gilbert Christian had the recipe for victory correct in the first quarter Tuesday night as a hearty serving of Mitch Lightfoot got the Knights off to a double-digit lead over new Division II foe Cesar Chavez.

When Gilbert Christian settled more for other options in the second period, its lead evaporated so they stocked up on more Lightfoot in the second half. Lightfoot answered the call, pouring in 39 points and keying a late third period and early fourth period burst that led to a 92-85 victory over Chavez at Gilbert Christian.

The 6-foot-8-inch senior post faced little resistance in the first period scoring 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting -- all inside of eight feet. Gilbert Christian led 19-7 at one point in the quarter and the high-percentage shots they got were routine.

Cesar Chavez (6-4, 5-1 power-ranking games) cut down on turnovers that hurt it in the first quarter (eight) and kept up solid shooting behind point guard Kenny Sutton. Rather than wilt under the weight of Lightfoot, the Champions battled back and actually led for a few seconds 32-30 before heading to halftime down 42-38. Sutton scored eight of his 11 first-half points in the second quarter and made 3 threes in the half. Add 12 points off the bench in the half from Dischon Thomas and Chavez had Gilbert's Christian's attention to start of the second half.

Gilbert Christian (6-2, 3-1 prg) returned to feeding Lightfoot and he responded with 14 points in the third, either posting up or hitting the offensive boards. The game remained tight most of the third period, but Gilbert Christian bumped the lead back to nine (62-53) to begin the fourth.

Lightfoot , who signed a letter of intent last month to attend Kansas, didn't take the his foot off the offensive pedal when the final period began. He converted a three-point play oj the first possession  and 38 seconds into the stanza added a putback and the margin was a game-high 67-53 with 7:22 to play.

Chavez matched baskets over the next 5 1/2 minutes to trail 86-71 with 1:51 to go. Gilbert Christian coach Kurt Keener felt it safe to send in wholesale substitutions, but that move nearly unraveled. A couple turnovers and piping hot offense from Donald Carter and a couple threes from Sutton and Chavez sliced the deficit to 89-83 with 48 seconds left.

Back came the starters and Gilbert Christian stopped the bleeding, but only after Sutton made a steal and missed what seemed to be a sure layup with 30 seconds left. That could have cut the lead to four to further complicate the ending for Gilbert Christian.

Tony Licavolli (16 points) and Nate Graville (14 points) had their moments for Gilbert Christian. Licavolli scored 10 of his points in the fourth period afer Lightfoot set the tone. Graville had 11 of his points in the first half.

Sutton led Chavez with 27 points and caused fits often with penetration in addition to five three-pointers. Carter finished with 20 points for Chavez -- 17 in the final period.