MEDORA

From start to finish, the Medora’s boys basketball team was in control Friday night.

The Hornets put together their best overall performance of the season Friday evening, defeating Lighthouse Christian Academy (Bloomington) 63-60.

Tony Norklun opened the game with a 3-pointer, and the Hornets would never trail from that basket on.

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The Hornets (2-16) went on a 7-0 run to build their advantage to 10-2, led by five points from Gavin Henson, five minutes into the first quarter.

Hunter Browning added a basket to extend the Hornets’ advantage to 12-7 against the Lions (4-19) after eight minutes of play.

After recording just two points in the first quarter, Brandon Moore scored nine of the Hornets’ 13 second quarter points.

Moore went on a self-made 6-0 run, as the Hornets led 18-10 at the 3:31-mark.

Browning scored a pair of layups before intermission, with the Hornets leading 25-18.

At the break, the Hornets were dominating the boards 21-13 with Norklun pulling down eight boards and Moore adding six.

Following a basket from the Lions’ Will Campbell, the Hornets scored seven unanswered points to go up 32-20 with 5:10 in the third quarter.

The Hornets strung together a 6-0 run before a 3-pointer from Carson Smith ended the streak, as the Lions trailed 40-28 after 24 minutes.

In the third quarter, J.D. Fish accounted for eight of the Hornets’ points.

“He does it in practice, he just hadn’t done it in a game,” Hornets coach Mark Morin said of Fish. “It’s really nice to see him (scoring). Teams key-in on Hunter and Brandon, and it’s nice when we can have someone else step up.”

Moore went back to work offensively in the final eight minutes, scoring the Hornets’ first seven points.

From 4:18 to the three-minute mark in the fourth quarter, the Hornets amassed a 10-0 scoring string — their biggest of the night — to lead 57-38.

The run was capped by a four-point play by Browning, who drilled a 3-pointer in the corner despite a foul before sinking the ensuing free throw.

In the final 2:30 of play, the Hornets rode out the clock for the win.

On the glass, the Hornets won the rebounding margin 33-22 behind 11 from Moore and 10 boards by Norklun.

“What I was really impressed with was our rebounding,” Morin said. “That team was a lot bigger than us. I thought our defense, for the most part, was pretty good. I really can’t complain. It feels really good.”

Moore led the Hornets with 22 points, Browning chipped in 16 and Fish had 11.

Dalton Smith was the only Lion in double figures for scoring, topping the Lions with 11 points.

“That was our best start to finish game we’ve had,” Morin said. “I was really proud of the way they played. We’ve played like that in stretches, but we had all five guys contributing.”