OAKLAND — The Messalonskee boys’ basketball team started a bit slowly, then everything the Eagles hope they could be this winter came together.  

Ty Bernier drained three 3-pointers, turning an early deficit into a major lead for the Eagles. Parker Reynolds made key blocks at one end and a vicious dunk at the other. In between it all, Messalonskee played more than two quarters without a turnover while looking flawless in transition. 

It all added up to a resounding 62-43 victory over Nokomis in Friday night’s season opener. The Eagles easily shook off deficits of 7-0 in the opening minutes and 15-10 through one quarter by dominating the remaining three periods in an early-season statement. And Messalonskee did all of it with one of its best players, Drake Brunelle, out with an injury.

“It’s fun to be back,” said Messalonskee Coach Sam Smith. “We had a rough first quarter with some early-game jitters, but we didn’t let it get to us and responded well. We turned up the intensity, and I think that was the key to the game.”

Bernier led all scorers with 16 points, including nine of the Eagles’ 20 in the second quarter.  Reynolds added 14 points while registering seven rebounds and five blocks and Anderson Arbour added 10 points. Seth Bowden had 11 points to lead Nokomis.

If the past six or seven months have primed any Messalonskee player to succeed, it’s been Reynolds. With the Eagles losing a potential Mr. Maine Basketball candidate in 6-foot-9 Merrick Smith to prep school, the 6-foot-5 Reynolds has taken on the role of Messalonskee’s primary big.

On Friday night, Reynolds’ strides were as clear. It was his 3-pointer that got Messalonskee started after falling behind 7-0. Then, he started a block party, and with just under two minutes in the third quarter, he threw down a dunk to give the Eagles their largest lead yet at 40-28.

“It wasn’t just me; the whole team, we were all moving, really,” Reynolds said. “We weren’t scoring as much in the first quarter, but that was mostly because of turnovers. We cleaned it up, and it was a team effort.”

Indeed, fixing the turnover troubles went a long way for Messalonskee. The Eagles committed seven turnovers in the first quarter alone but were turnover-free in the second and third quarters and their lead grew as large as 27.

“You look at the first quarter, and we’re down 15-10 with seven turnovers – that’s us only down five and giving them seven extra possessions,” Smith said. “We felt like if we were able to fix that the rest of the game, that was going to be the key, and it was.”

Forcing Nokomis into turnovers during its turnover-free stretch was also key for Messalonskee, and the Eagles did that by forcing five out of the Warriors in the second quarter. Those turnovers frequently led to transition points, from Bernier 3-pointers to layups from Arbour, Sean Achorn and Jeziah Stone.

It was another stretch that saw Messalonskee show a piece of the identity Smith hopes it can build this season. While the Eagles could play transition basketball last season, Smith has made it a goal for this year’s team to be even more of a running team – and in Game 1, that vision looked a reality.

“Coming into the season, we knew we wanted to play really fast,” Bernier said. “We’re a well-conditioned team, so once we started to play fast, we just kept on going.”

There’s still work to be done. In addition to the slew of early turnovers, Messalonskee’s defense, Smith said, had some breakdowns that need to be fixed. Overall, though?

“I’d rank this (performance) about a 7 (out of 10),” Smith said. “We have a lot of improving to do, but it was a good win and some great energy.”