ALEX – Alex’s girls came up short, but the Longhorn boys won big in Thursday night’s season-opener with Paoli. The Longhorn post players were the big factor in both games, and one was kind of a surprise.

Senior Laurie Watson had 11 points and three blocks, as the Lady Pugs put the bite on their hosts, 43-38, and freshman Zach Mainka sent a message that there are two big ‘Horns in town, coming off the bench to lead the guys to a 59-45 win in the nightcap. Mainka scored 17 points.

Senior starter Brandon Carnes, who got into foul trouble early, finished with 12 points.

GIRLS

PAOLI 43, ALEX 38

Coach Danny Moore wanted his girls to push the ball up the floor. They did, and when they did, they controlled the tempo. But the Pugs forced them to slow things down and go inside more, and Alex let the game slip away.

“We’ve got some good, quick kids,” the coach said. “We need to learn to use our speed more to help our ball club.”

Watson had a big game on both ends, in spite of having to deal with four Lady Pugs in the 5-foot-10 to 6-foot range.

“We’re going to be outsized everywhere we go,” Moore said. “We understand that. We’re not real great outside shooters yet. We shoot well in practice, but we’ve got to figure out how to get our shots off faster.”

Sophomore Courtney Alcorn’s six first-quarter points got Alex out to a 13-8 lead, but Paoli bounced back for a 26-21 halftime cushion in spite of Watson’s six. The Longhorns got to the line in the third and got to 38-32 and the teams traded baskets through a low-scoring fourth for the final.

Alex got to the free throw line playing tough and aggressively inside and converted 14 of 19.

Alcorn finished with eight points, Kristin Williams had seven, Bethani Woods and Terra Helm had five each and freshman Annie Davenport had two off the bench.

“Every game we’ve got to figure out how to get a little better,” the coach said. “It’ll get better for us.”

Junior Lauran Guadaramma had a game-high 15 points and senior Jessica McNeill and junior Jocy Nunez had eleven each for the Lady Pugs.

BOYS

ALEX 59, PAOLI 45

Carnes got Paoli’s biggest Pug, senior post Cody Travis (6-6 and 240), in foul trouble within two minutes but also checked out a few minutes later with two fouls of his own. Mainka was thrust into the fire quicker than coach Erik Yeiser expected, but the freshman didn’t disappoint, dominating play inside on both ends of the floor and finishing with a team-high 17 points.

He sparked a late run to get the Horns out to a 29-22 halftime lead and then Alex broke things open in the third quarter, using both big guys to out-score Paoli by 10 for a 47-30 cushion.

Carnes spent the entire second quarter sitting, but when he checked back in for the third quarter he came up big, picking up seven points playing smart and tough with four fouls, while Mainka added six more points.

Carnes finished with a dozen and senior point guard Wayne Heffington was also in double figures with 11.

Alex Helm, last year’s leading scorer, had six points as he concentrated on getting the ball inside; Bailey Payne had five, Josh Collins, Aaron Rogers and Tanner Akins added two each; and Cash Bray and Trey Anderson had one each on free throws.

“That was our first opening game win in my four years here,” a happy Yeiser said. “Brandon started things out for us going after their big kid and getting him in foul trouble then made some mistakes and got in foul trouble himself, so they kind of negated each other.

“Zach stepped up and wasn’t scared. He knew their big kid was in foul trouble and went right after him also. For a freshman, that’s a great thing to see. I expect good thing from him.”

Junior Daniel Gibson took the Pugs on his shoulders with a game-high twenty points and sophomore Jerry Johnson had nine before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.

The Longhorns travel to Cement Tuesday.