FARMINGDALE — With just one starter returning between them, Winthrop and Hall-Dale both saw a lot of turnover in their starting lineups from last year to Friday night’s Mountain Valley Conference boys basketball opener at Penny Gym.

As one might expect in a game with nine brand new starters, the first quarter saw a lot of turnovers. But while Hall-Dale was still trying to find its rhythm, Winthrop couldn’t miss when it did hold onto the ball. In the process, the Ramblers built a big enough lead that even a strong second half by the Bulldogs couldn’t throw a scare into their 57-39 win.

“That’s what we anticipated this early part of the season to be about, the highs and the lows,” said Winthrop coach Todd MacArthur. “There are times I look out there and think, ‘wow, we have a chance to be really, really good.’ And there are times where I look out there and think ‘we have a lot to work on.'”

“We weren’t going too fast and everyone was just doing their job and that helped us in the first half,” Winthrop junior guard Jacob Hickey added. “The second half, we got a little rushed. That’s something as a young team we need to learn, not to get too rattled.”

Hickey scored a game-high 20 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead the Ramblers. Anthony Owens, the lone returning starter for either side, added nine points, four rebounds and four steals, despite sitting on the bench for much of the second half after picking up a technical foul.

Tyler Nadeau led the Bulldogs with 10 points while Nate Mills added nine.

Winthrop made eight of 11 shots and got all five starters in the scoring column in the first quarter to overcome nine turnovers and, with the help of eight Hall-Dale turnovers, built an 18-6 lead. Leading 6-4 early, the Ramblers went on a 20-0 run highlighted by a two 3-pointers and a conventional three-point play by Hickey. Good work in the paint and on the boards by Owens, Garrett Tsouprake and Nate Scott extended the lead to 26-6 early in the second quarter.

“We were moving the ball around and playing as a team like we’ve been practicing all preseason,” Winthrop junior forward Spencer Steele said. “We really just executed, taking really great shots instead of just OK shots. Everyone was definitely involved in the offense.”

Hickey scored nine points and Owens seven in the second quarter as Winthrop went up by as much as 28 and settled for a 41-18 lead at halftime.

“Our starting five didn’t have a whole lot of experience. We lost all five of our starters last year and it was pretty evident,” Hall-Dale coach Chris Ranslow said. “Am I disappointed? Absolutely. Am I crushed? No. It’s an 18-game season. We’re 0-1 just like we were last year (starting the season) against Winthrop. Hopefully, we learn from it.”

Hall-Dale played good defense and crashed the offensive boards to chip away at the deficit. The Bulldogs got it to 20 at the end of three, then went on a 9-3 run to cut it to 14 when Alec Byron scored off a steal, got fouled and completed the three-point play with 4:39 left.

“We didn’t really settle down and take the great shots we were taking in the first half. We were just taking okay shots,” Steele said. “We’re pretty familiar with each other, but it’s still different in practice than when we come into a game situation.”

“We know that we’re inexperienced going into the season and we’ve got that live game experience, so we’ve been preaching turnovers and one-and-dones,” MacArthur said. “We did a bad job on our backside rebounds. We got exposed on some of our issues tonight, but we at least know them and we’re going to do everything we can to correct them and make them a strength.”

The Ramblers used their strength in the paint to answer Hall-Dale’s run with inside buckets by Steele and Tsouprake in the final minutes to put the game away.

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33

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