DALTON, Mass. -- The key for Wahconah boys basketball coach Dustin Belcher in Wednesday's season opener was the performance of his bench.
Not the players who subbed into the game, the ones actually on the bench.
Reserves and starters alike excelled in their seats in a mostly empty Ed Ladley Gymnasium as Wahconah used a big second half run to storm off with a 55-21 win over Mount Everett.
"It was definitely a lot different," senior captain Nick Astore said after scoring six points and grabbing eight rebounds. "Usually we have a pretty good student section out here supporting us.
"I think the young guys on the team on the bench did a really good job of creating that energy for us."
Sophomore Lucas Wildrick came off the bench to score a game-high 10 points, including two 3-pointers to spark a 22-0 Wahconah run that spanned the third and fourth quarters and broke open an 11-point game.
Belcher said that he knew the lack of fans necessitated by the COVID-19 protocols could be a factor, and he prepared his team to make sure it wasn't.
"I told the guys before the game: Everything about what we're gonna do tonight is going to feel different," Belcher said. "But the one thing that's not going to feel different is the energy that we have on the bench. We're going to act like this gym is full.
"And when we make a big play, we're gonna have the same response we'd usually have. And our guys did a good job of that."
After Mount Everett senior Cooper Rothvoss (team-high seven points) broke the seal on the 2021 season with a bucket in the post on the Eagles' first possession, Wahconah took control of the game with an 11-0 run.
Astore got things started with baskets on back-to-back possessions, and Brody Calvert connected from the corner to make it 6-2.
Quinn Gallagher knocked down a triple and then scored in transition off a Mount Everett turnover to push the lead to 11-2 midway through the quarter.
It was a 17-9 game at the end of one quarter, and Wahconah turned up the defense in a low-scoring second that sent the teams into half-time with the hosts up, 26-15.
It was just 28-17 midway through the fourth when Wildrick drilled his first triple.
He hit one more in the closing seconds of the quarter to push the margin to 21 points, and Wahconah scored 14 in a row to open the fourth and put the game out of reach with a run that ended with Calvert's lay-up in transition.
Calvert ended with eight points, and Gallagher scored nine in the win.
Ben Monteleone scored five, and Jack Carpenter had seven rebounds for Mount Everett.
While Astore thanked the "young guys" for bringing their energy to the game, Belcher said a lot of the credit goes to tri-captains Astore, Gallagher and Aiden Trager.
"It's very exciting," Belcher said. "We've got five sophomores, we've got two freshmen on the roster. The way they've developed in the last seven weeks has been amazing. But I've got to give a lot of credit to my senior captains.
"I think all three guys did a really good job just bringing those young guys along. It's been a weird year, and it's even stranger for those young kids."
