OK, it makes sense now.

Banning Lewis Prep’s boys basketball team continues to post unbelievable numbers, but one game is all that’s required to understand this team’s potency.

The scary part about the Stallions? Their coach doesn’t feel they’ve played their best ball.

After Banning Lewis routed Peyton 73-52 at home Tuesday night, Stallions coach Wes McKenzie said his players still have “stuff to clean up.” Stallions players agreed with that statement.

“We can shoot it way better,” Stallions guard Zander Muna said. “We might have had a better night tonight, but as a team we can shoot better and if we hit more free throws, we can beat teams by more.”

The Stallions, who entered the game ranked No. 2 in 3A, improved to 13-0 with their drubbing of the Panthers, who are ranked sixth and had their six-game winning streak snapped.

In nine of their 13 games, the Stallions have scored 70 or more points and their always-room-for-improvement mentality plays a large role in their success. Well, that and an uncanny amount of pressure applied to opposing teams.

Banning Lewis led 10-6 with 3:36 left in the opening period and proceeded to flex their defensive muscles on Peyton. The Stallions closed the first on a 13-4 run and led 23-10 after the opening eight minutes. Muna, who leads the team with 4.7 steals per game, earned two in the opening frame.

If Muna didn’t steal the ball, the senior guard seldom let any Panther pass reach its destination. Muna had several more deflections in the first and throughout the night.

“Banning Lewis is based off of defense,” Muna said. “If we don’t play defense, we’re not going to do too much. That translates to our offense because we get a lot in transition and end up scoring a lot from there. That’s on our defense and our coaches. Every practice our coaches harp on defense and that’s who we are and it shows in games and it gets us points.”

Insert Matthew Lebron, who led the Stallions with 27 points. A slew of Lebron’s buckets came from transition steals where Muna fed him the rock and Lebron finished for a layup.

When the Stallions slowed the pace, Lebron operated with confidence, found his spot on the floor to sink a 3-pointer or to drive past a Panther defender to kiss a floater off the glass.

When Peyton (11-3) found a smidge of offense, Lebron or the Stallions responded with a flurry of scores which carried them to a 40-22 halftime lead and, after the third quarter, a 55-36 advantage.

“That comes from the work,” Lebron said. “I have confidence that I’ve outworked everyone that I’ve played and I feel like every shot is going to go in. I have to thank my teammates for that. They’re the ones who’re finding me and I have the best passer (Muna) in the state and when he passes it to me in my pocket, I gotta make it.”

The Stallions’ lead flickered between 15 to 17 for most of the third quarter until Muna and Marcus Duboue scored late in the period to put the lead at 19.

In the fourth, the Panthers never got closer than 18 points and the Stallions’ advantage ballooned to 25 following back-to-back layups from Jordan Jones midway through the fourth.

Peyton’s Bryce Love finished with a team-high 18 points and Michael Perry, who entered the game averaging 22.9, ended with a season-low 12 points.

“If we play to our level, we can beat anybody,” Lebron said. “We don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves so we make sure to focus on the little things. If we focus on the little things, we’ll be all right. We have the group to win it. We just have to stay humble and keep working every day.”