PLAIN CITY -- It didn't take more than three minutes for the Fremont Silver Wolves to start playing like they did at the end of last year.
Fueled by a 19-2 run after seeing the game tied in the early moments of Tuesday's non-league contest, the Silver Wolves' pressure defense was too much for the visting Mountain Crest Mustangs as Fremont rolled to a 73-55 win.
"I thought that we came out great in the first half," Fremont coach Corey Melaney said. "We played well offensively and our conditioning was better than I thought it would be, but we had a lapse there in the third quarter and let them get back into the game."
After exchanging early baskets, the Silver Wolves went on a run that left the Mustangs on their heels chasing for the rest of the game, led by Patrick Fishburn and Brock Smith, who had 13 of the 19 points during that span.
Fremont's relentless pressure forced Mountain Crest into careless turnovers that led to some layups on the other end for the home side.
The Silver Wolves had a 21-point halftime lead and were running away with things, but the third quarter was a different story early as a half-court trap and some stingy defense allowed the Mustangs to crawl back into the game. Mountain Crest cut the lead in half on a pair of free throws from Troy Pickett.
A quick timeout from Melaney got Fremont to start running the sets that gave the Silver Wolves their original lead back and it was easy from there.
"There are some things that we need to work on, like not turning the ball over and 55 (points) is way too much to be giving up," Melaney said. "But for our first game out, I thought that we played pretty well tonight."
Smith dominated the post and led all scorers with 23 points. He also contributed 13 rebounds in the win. Fishburn added 19 points, including two 3-pointers. Mountain Crest got a team-high 21 points from Pickett and 15 from Alex Kuresa in the loss.
* BONNEVILLE 65, WEBER 59: At Washington Terrace, the Warriors jumped out to an early lead, but the Lakers battled their way back and won the game late with clutch free throw shooting.
"Weber came out on fire and we struggled trying to get ourselves into the flow of the game," Bonneville coach Jason Finder said. "(Thaddeus) Galvez came out in the second quarter and got us the lead and Brady Borklund took over in the second half. It was a good first game and nice to get the win."
Borklund finished the game with 19 points while Galvez had 16. Jaden Welch added 12 points and Boston Nelson chipped in with 11. Weber was led by Broc Hirst's 20 points, including five 3-pointers in the loss.
* WEST JORDAN 54, DAVIS 52: At West Jordan, the Darts lost a close one to the Jaguars on the road.
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