LAYTON — Replacing six seniors from a team that went undefeated in its region a season ago is a difficult enough task, let alone trying to do it while moving up a classification.

With 6-foot-8 Christian Musoko, Layton Christian’s transition looks to be a lot easier.

The senior foreign exchange student from the Democratic Republic of Congo scored 25 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked seven shots as Layton Christian Academy defeated the visiting Ogden Tigers 64-53 in the season opener for both teams on Tuesday.

“We don’t rebuild, we reload,” head coach Bobby Porter said. “We’re fortunate that we have some young men who want to step up to the task.”

Musoko was especially dominant in the third quarter when he scored 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting.

“This is a young man that I think the sky is the limit,” Porter said. “He’s a very humble young man, he works hard every day and to me, I’m not going to see a better big man from 1-A to 5-A in the state of Utah. I think he’s the best. And I’m not being partial. I’ve seen a lot of them. He’s the best.”

Musoko’s third quarter proved to be of huge importance later as Ogden battled back from 25 points down to pull within four with 1:13 remaining in the contest.

The deficit proved to be too much, however, and Layton Christian — which had struggled from the free-throw line for most of the game — made six of its final seven attempts to seal the victory.

Layton Christian finished the game just 18 of 38 from the free-throw line.

“If we’d have made free throws, it wouldn’t have been a game,” Porter said. “Free throws are important. That’s something we’re really going to work on and add sprints when we miss free throws. We’re going to have a little more focus on the free throws.”

Senior Joao Batista and junior Gerado Munoz each chipped in nine points for the Eagles while Cale Kwallek and Emric Egbert led Ogden with 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Layton Christian wasted little time jumping ahead, building a 10-3 advantage midway through the first quarter. The Eagles then finished the first half on a 16-3 run to go into the break leading 32-17.

The third quarter was all about Musoko, who scored Layton Christian’s first 14 points and fueled a 16-6 run to balloon the Eagles’ advantage to 25.

Ogden cut the lead to 19 by the end of the third quarter and used a 19-2 run in the fourth to cut Layton Christian’s lead to just four, but couldn’t get any closer.

“You got to give Ogden credit because they’re a team that scrapped and played hard,” Porter said. “And they gave everything they had. They did a good job.”

• WASATCH ACADEMY 86, MORGAN 56: At Morgan, Wow!

That expression was the general consensus among those who attended Tuesday night’s season opener between defending 3-A champion Morgan and defending 2-A champion Wasatch Academy, a private school out of Mount Pleasant.

Turns out that the hype surrounding Wasatch Academy is well-deserved. With a starting five consisting of a 6-foot-9 center, a 6-7 forward and three ridiculously athletic guards, the Tigers handed Morgan what will very possibly be its worst loss of the season — an 86-56 beatdown that left the Trojans shaking their heads.

“Athletic-wise, that’s probably as good a team as well see,” Morgan coach Jim Wiscombe said. “They’ve got size and they’ve got athleticism. They’re a good team.”

People in Morgan were talking about the Tigers’ stable of Division I prospects well before they arrived in town and they didn’t disappoint.

Senior Geno Luzcando scored a game-high 24 points and junior Cody John added 23 to lead the Tigers. The two guards also had the game’s only dunks. Senior forward Alex Baptist scored 12 points, while sophomore guard Koby McEwen chipped in with 11.

The Tigers jumped out to a 7-0 advantage and expanded the lead to 22-7 by the end of the first period. They led by 19 at halftime before opening the third quarter with seven straight points.

Morgan’s chances of actually winning were pretty slim to begin with, especially considering the fact that two of their best players were dressed in street clothes nursing injuries. Matt Murdock and Bridger Streadbeck – both key performers in last season’s championship run – may be back as early as next week, but the Trojans sure could have used them on Tuesday.

Hunter Stanford scored 14 points to lead Morgan, while Jordan Nelson and Garren Miles added 10 points apiece. Miles will be among the Trojans’ top scorers this season, but was saddled with four fouls before the second quarter was over.

• ST. JOSEPH 48, ROWLAND HALL 40 (OT): At Ogden, the Jayhawks claimed the win in coach Rick Stoeckl’s return to the St. Joseph bench.

St. Joseph made 10 of 13 free throws in the overtime period to win the opener. Nick Gruet led the Jayhawks with 15 points. Chris O’Brien scored 13 points, while Mike O’Brien added eight points, while Thomas Emenger had four points and 14 big boards.

Neither team built a significant lead, but St. Joseph’s David Donlevy needed a rebound basket at the buzzer to send the game to OT.

Kyle Baranko paced Rowland Hall with three 3-pointers and 11 points.

• MOUNTAIN CREST 67, FREMONT 60: At Hyrum, the Mustangs edged ahead in the final frame for the victory. Tanner Kirby scored a game-high of 18 points to lead Mountain Crest.

Justin Shaw scored 17 points, Cameron Chugg and Bryce Graves added 11 points apiece and Grant Belnap checked in with nine for the Silver Wolves.

• LAYTON 75, WEST 53: At Salt Lake City, the Lancers won every quarter to open the season with a blowout win.

Mike Hibbert earned a game high of 27 points, including two 3-pointers, in the road win. The Lancers also had 23 free throws. Julian Blackmon and Brandon Hill added 13 points each, while Malcolm Petty chipped in with 11.

• VIEWMONT 43, CLEARFIELD 30: At Clearfield, the Vikings had the last laugh in a game featuring several scoring swings.

The Falcons led 14-5 after one quarter, but fell behind 25-18 at the break. McKay Butler paced the Bikings with 15 points.

Cody Gypp paced Clearfield with 14 points.