The boys basketball team went to Mt. Morris  on Tuesday, Dec. 6, for its season opener and won 52-49.

It was a story of two halves for the Hornets, who were up 21-13 at halftime. A big push by the Panthers, who scored 20 points in the final quarter, made the game much closer.

Senior Chandler Ford, forward, led the team in scoring with 14 points. He made two from beyond the arc and was 50 percent shooting on four free-throw attempts.

Ford said team struggled in the fourth quarter while Mt. Morris started coming from behind.

“I think that when we started to get down, we wanted to not lose more than we wanted to close the game out and win,” he said.

Sophomore Saif Dawan, guard, scored 13 points and made two three-pointers of his own.

The Panthers’ attack was much less balanced, relying heavily on the 19 points scored by their senior captain Cameron Pratt.

The Hornets will play again on Friday, Dec. 9, when they head to Flushing in pursuit of a 2-0 start to the season.

Ford said the team has room to improve.

“We can begin to work more as a team rather than focusing on our individual statistics,” Ford said.