WELLSVILLE – The story remained the same.

The Toronto boys’ basketball team built a 10-point advantage in all four quarters against Wellsville, however, the Tigers cut into their deficit all four times. The boys from Columbiana County closed to within three points in the fourth, however, the Red Knights responded and ultimately pulled away for a 56-47 victory in the two team’s season opener Wednesday night up at Wellsville.

“We suffered some very key injuries prior to the start season, and then last night at practice we suffered another key injury to one of our starters,” Toronto (1-0) head coach Sean Tucker said. “We had to move guys around. We told those guys to play to their strength and do what they do best and things would take of itself. We didn’t want to play outside of ourselves, but we wanted to play inside ourselves.

“In the first quarter, we went up, and we played very well defensively. In the second quarter, we kept it up. Wellsville is a good team. They are very, very scrappy. They are hard to put away.

“In the third quarter, we suffered another key injury with a starter with an ankle. We were very shorthanded after that. In the fourth, we literally played with five guys, but those five guys have a lot of time in. They put a lot of time in in the preseason and in the summer. That is what makes you a basketball player. When you do that, you are under pressure, but when you put the time in when the times comes, you are comfortable. You are not uncomfortable. You play under control, and they did that.

The game was close early on as the hosts trailed by just one point at 6-5, however, the boys from Jefferson County tallied the next nine points to build a 15-5 advantage. The boys in white cut their deficit down to 17-12 at the end of the quarter.

The boys in red netted the first five points of the second to regain a 10-point lead at 22-12. Once again, the Orange-and-Black rallied and closed to within 24-21 before the visitors took a 29-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.

It was more of the same in the second half.

The Red-and-White extended their advantage out to 34-24 in the third. Wellsville battled back and pulled to within 37-34 before the boys from the Gem City increased their lead to 43-34 before the home team scored the final basket of the quarter to close within 43-36 entering the fourth.

The Tigers continued to cut into their deficit in the fourth as they pulled within 45-42, however, the locals responded and built a 10-point advantage on two occasions at 52-42 and 54-44 before holding on and winning by nine.

“It went very well,” Tucker said about his team’s first game. “We had a sophomore – Max Rebich – start at point guard, and he played like a three-year starter. He was able to control the tempo.

“We had Brady Fair out there. He is a senior. We had our point guard and our backup point guard out there. We had a two-headed monster. We wanted to control the tempo, and that is something we were able to do. We were able to control the tempo and wear them down on defense.

“We had Brody Winters and Michael Henry. They are leaders. Colt Joynson started at the end of last year, and he is going to have to step up and play a major role for us the rest of the season. They took care of the guys on the floor. Hank Bodnar did what he was supposed to do. He can score, and he is a really-good shooter. He just have to get more physicality on the defensive end, and he did that in the second half. He forced a steal that ultimately sealed the game.

“I am very proud of the guys. They played very hard. They played together, they played for each other and they represented Toronto basketball very well.”

Joynson collected a game-high 21 points to lead the way offensively for Toronto, Henry tallied 11 points and Rebich recorded nine points.

Andrew MacKey contributed a team-high 16 points to lead the way for Wellsville, Darnell Roe delivered 13 points and Jeron Jackson ended up with eight points.

“It is always tough out of the gate,” Tucker said. “You don’t get a good scout or a good read on teams. We were able to scout Wellsville. One of our coaches went out and took a look at them. You don’t see a lot in scrimmages because coaches don’t show a lot in scrimmages.

“I coached against Bug for many, many years. He had a great program. One of his former players came back and took over. Nate (Scott) does a very good job. They do what they have done in the past, and it was the same with us. It comes down to personnel.

“They have a big guy (MacKey) who is a handful. He’s a handful. He does a great job down low. We used two or three guys to try and keep him off the boards, and they did a good job. They have guards who can shoot the ball extremely well.

“We bent a little bit, but we did not break.

“We had two younger guys step up. One was a starter and one came off the bench. One was our backup point guard. They had to fill some major roles, they accepted those roles and they did an excellent job.”

Toronto is scheduled to take on Jefferson County rival Indian Creek Tuesday night at home inside the George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.

“We hope we are able to get guys healthy,” Tucker said. “We are going to give them a day off or maybe two. We are just trying to get guys healthy. It makes no sense to take a chance. We are going to have to put a very-good gameplan together. We are going to get a look at Indian Creek Friday live. That will help.

“It is going to be battle. We play low-scoring games. We were without a lot of points due to injuries, and we are going to have to find a way to make up those points if we want to have a shot.”

Wellsville is slated to play Heartland Christian Dec. 5 on the road.

Toronto 56, Wellsville 47

Toronto 17 12 14 13 – 56

Wellsville 12 12 12 11 – 47

TORONTO (1-0): Joynson 8 5-8 21 Bodnar 2 0-0 5, Winters 2 1-2 5, Fair 2 1-1 5, Henry 4 0-0 11, Rebich 3 3-4 9. TOTALS: 21 10-15 56.

WELLSVILLE (0-1): Jackson 3 0-0 8, Oliver 2 0-0 4, Rose 5 0-0 13, Adkins 3 0-0 6, Kersey 0 0-0 0, MacKey 8 0-0 16. TOTALS: 21 0-0 47.

3-POINTERS: Toronto 2 (Bodnar, Henry); Wellsville 5 (Rose 3, Jackson 2)