NEWPORT – After a preseason full of distractions and discontent, the Nokomis Warriors were eager to get the regular season started. And boy did it show.

Nokomis seized momentum and the lead almost immediately after the opening tip and raced out to a 14-3 advantage en route to a fairly comfortable 69-60 boys basketball victory over Presque Isle Saturday evening.

“We lost our center in preseason and there’s been a lot of stuff off the court that’s been a distraction, so this was something we needed to get our season off to a good start,” said senior Trenton Estes, one of three undersized guards in Nokomis’ starting five.

Nokomis was without the services of 6-foot-8 junior forward Dustin Paige (left in preseason), 6-4 senior forward Ian Buzanoski (broken foot, out until January) and Avery Horr (flu) Saturday.

“Even though this is only the first game of the season, there’s no question this was a big game for us because we’ve had such a tough preseason,” said Nokomis coach Jim DiFrederico.

The Warriors played like anything but a team in turmoil as the 5-7 Estes led the fast break and the defensive effort with 19 points and two steals.

Fellow starting guards Shawn Henderson (5-7) and Ryan McLellan (5-9) also enjoyed solid outings. McLellan had 13 points and a game-high six assists while Henderson had eight and three, respectively. But unexpected was this number: nine rebounds from the diminutive trio.

“Estes, Henderson and McLellan are gonna create a lot of headaches for people because they play hard, they’re very fast, and they know what each other is doing,” said Presque Isle coach Tim Prescott. “I was surprised with the number of points they picked up going to the basket … and the rebounding they did.”

“Rebounding was a big factor tonight. If we get a lot of rebounds, we’ll be a contender,” said Henderson. “With us having only one kid 6-4 or taller this year, all of us have to box out and go to the boards.”

The Warriors also got a much-needed yeoman effort from senior Tyler Peters. The 6-2 forward, who was starting in Paige’s stead, had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“Yeah, Tyler Peters had a nice game against us tonight and I didn’t even know his name before,” Prescott said. “He had a lot of rebounds and hit a couple threes. He was a big factor.”

There were a lot of reasons for DiFrederico to smile after this game. Consider the following: Nokomis was only outrebounded 32-28 by a slightly bigger Presque Isle team and the Warriors’ balanced scoring effort saw four players score in double figures.

“We’re definitely more team-oriented this year, especially on offense,” Estes said. “It’s going to be hard to match up against us.”

If that wasn’t enough, the Warriors also wound up shooting 50 percent from the field and a sizzling 85.7 percent (6-for-7) from 3-point range while jumping out to leads of 35-22, 47-28 and 60-41 in the last three periods.

Despite Nokomis’ dominance and a frustrating halfcourt trap and man-to-man defense, the Wildcats refused to fold and eventually made a late charge, but even an 11-4 run in the last two minutes wasn’t enough, although it gave DiFrederico something to admonish his players about.

“That’s something we talked about in the locker room. We basically didn’t do anything the last two minutes of the game,” he said.

Junior forward Nick Casavant was the Presque Isle standout with 26 points and seven boards. Junior center Matt Fortin chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Warriors 69, Wildcats 60

Presque Isle (0-1) 60 Nokomis (1-0) 69

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Graves 1 8 2 3 4 Henderson 2 6 2 2 8

James 0 3 0 0 0 McLellan 5 12 2 3 13

Griffin 0 1 0 0 0 Estes 8 12 3 3 19

Saucier 3 11 1 2 8 Burgess 1 3 0 0 2

Nadeau 2 5 1 2 6 Peters 3 3 3 6 11

Bard 1 1 0 1 2 Veazie 2 2 0 0 5

Robertson 1 2 2 2 4 Hayden 4 11 3 4 11

Casavant 9 19 7 8 26 Martin 0 1 0 0 0

Fortin 4 8 2 3 10

Totals 21 58 15 21 60 Totals 25 50 13 18 69

Presque Isle 14 24 39 60

Nokomis 20 36 51 69

3-pt. goals: Presque Isle (3-13): Saucier 1-1, Nadeau 1-2, Casavant 1-5, Graves 0-5; Nokomis (6-7): Henderson 2-2, Peters 2-2, Veazie 1-1, McLellan 1-2

Attendance: 700 (est.)

JV: Nokomis 54-45