The West Texas A&M Buffs figured to be in yet another hard-fought battle with Eastern New Mexico, who split the regular-season series in two games decided by a total of five points. 

            So, in the inaugural game of the 2012 LSC Championships at the Allen Event Center, West Texas A&M cruised to a 33-point victory over the Greyhounds.

            Sounds like March must be right around the corner. That’s usually the time of year when wacky basketball things start to occur. Either that or it’s also the time of year when Rick Cooper’s Buffs usually start to play their best basketball.

            The latter certainly seems to be the case, especially after WT’s 80-47 blowout over the Greyhounds Wednesday. And the Buffs did that despite losing key point guard Kennon Washington to a season-ending Achilles injury in the regular-season finale loss to Cameron. That defeat snapped WT’s six-game winning streak.

            But there were no lingering effects for the Buffaloes, who have clearly turned the corner on a this basketball season – a season that saw the Buffs at 11-6 overall and 6-5 in the middle of conference play. West Texas A&M is now 19-7 and rank seventh in the latest South Central Regional rankings that were released on Wednesday.

            Cooper, who has roamed the WT sidelines for 19 seasons now, credits the players more than anything else.

            “This time of year, the reality of it is, with a team with good seniors, you’re basically getting out of the way,” Cooper said. “That’s what we’ve been able to do. I give a lot of credit to these players. They’ve stepped up and have played their best basketball here lately.”

            That was never more evident than Wednesday’s quarterfinal win over the Greyhounds, who were simply dominated in the paint, where WT held a 48-22 advantage. Senior forward Courtney Carr never missed a shot, hitting nine field goals and two free throws for an even 20 points.

            Fellow senior Lionel Foster was just as impressive in the backcourt, scoring 10 points and dishing out nine assists.

            But the senior leadership provided by both players might have been even more beneficial for the Buffs, especially with Washington out.

            “After the last game in our loss to Cameron, I told everyone on the bus that we’re going to all have to step up,” Foster said. “People who play all the time or never play are going to have to step up.”

            The reality for the Buffaloes is that many players have already stepped up for this team, evident by the LSC’s Awards Banquet on Tuesday before the opening games. That’s when the league recognized junior forward Donald Sims as the Newcomer of the Year and Tez Dumars was named Freshman of the Year.

            “Those guys have really come on strong for us,” Cooper said. “We had a lot of new players at the beginning of the year. We have good seniors, but we did have new players and they’ve meshed well. You really have to credit the kids on that. Chemistry is one of those things that you know when you have it and you know it when you don’t. But there’s not much you can do about it either way. This time of year, these guys have been through a tough Lone Star Conference. They’ve’ grown up a lot and we’ve grown up as a team.”

            That growth is never more apparent as the Buffaloes head into March, even without one of their best players.