Chris DeRocher scored 31 points, Bruz Copping added 13 and 10 different Alpena players scored as the Wildcats breezed past Bay City Western 70-26 at Alpena High School on Tuesday.

Playing a solid game on both ends of the floor, the Wildcats (1-0) raced out to a 14-3 lead after one quarter, built a 37-12 lead by halftime and never looked back.

Though it’s only the first game of the season, Alpena coach John Pintar was pleased with his team’s effort and said he was encouraged by his team’s defensive efforts and communication.

“I was really pleased with our effort. We really talked about playing defense and that’s going to be the key to our season is becoming a great defensive team,” Pintar said. “I thought we got off to a really good start. I thought we did a lot of good things.”

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena’s Jadon Duncan (23) drives to the basket past Western’s Adam Randall. Copping had 13 points and Duncan had six in Alpena’s 70-26 win over the Warriors.

Western ran into foul trouble early and early in the second quarter, the Wildcats were already in the bonus at the charity stripe. Western was also dealt a blow when junior starter Wyatt Reinhardt went down with an ankle injury in the first half. Whenever the Warriors had open looks, they missed more than a handful of easy buckets and turned also the ball over several times.

Alpena cashed in the free-throw line, finishing 29-of-37 and DeRocher was a perfect 17-for-17.

DeRocher and Copping led the way for Alpena in the first half, combining for 33 of Alpena’s 37 points.

“When you’ve got a guy like Chris, you can just see the maturation, growing up and being a fourth-year player. It was a good start for him,” Pintar said. “Bruz, the same thing and we’ve got to keep building on that.”

Jadon Duncan added six points in Alpena’s win, Aidan Goike had five and Jack Schmanski, Kelley Stark and Colin Donajkowski each had three.

Garrett Sheridan led the Warriors with eight points and Evan Schlatter had seven.

The Wildcats’ momentum didn’t slow in the second half as Alpena scored six points in the opening minute of the third quarter, scoring on a pair of free throws by Stark, a basket from Duncan after a behind-the-back pass from Copping and a basket from DeRocher on a perfectly threaded pass from Duncan.

Alpena led 57-18 after three quarters and the starters gave way to the Wildcats’ bench for the final eight minutes.

Alpena will have a short turnaround and will travel to Sault Ste. Marie tonight for a 7 p.m. game.

Alpena’s JV team defeated Western 60-31. Cooper Bright led Alpena with 21 points, Tyler Dickinson added 17 and Jordan Schultz had 11.

Alpena’s freshman team also won, 46-37. Michael Gumtow paced Alpena with 20 points and Christian Wicklund had 10 points.

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BOX SCORE: Field goals made/Free throws made/Free throws attempted/Total Points

ALPENA (70): G. Beaulieu 0 2-2 2; Co. Donajkowski 1 1-2 3; J. Schmanski 1 0-0 3; A. Goike 2 0-0 5; B. Copping 6 0-0 13; A. Urlaub 0 2-2 2; Cl. Donajkowski 0 2-2 2; J. Duncan 2 2-2 6; K. Stark 0 3-6 3; C. DeRocher 6 17-17 31.

BAY CITY WESTERN (26): N. Dardas 2 0-0 4; D. Kalahar 0 3-4 3; G. Sheridan 4 0-0 8; E. Schlatter 3 0-0 7; W. Witzgall 0 2-4 2; T. Miller 1 0-1 2.