Sentinel photo by MIKE GOSS Mifflin County's leading scorer Zach Keller drives to the hoop past Shikellamy's Justin Zeigler during the season opener on Wednesday night.

LEWISTOWN — Mifflin County boys basketball clashed with the Shikellamy Braves on Wednesday night as the Braves looked to rebound after a four-win season. But, the Huskies had other ideas in an 85-42 season-opening win.

Mifflin County got out to a quick start, firing on all cylinders as Luke Bender got things going on the scoring end. The Huskies would break the game open quickly on scoring runs that ultimately led to the purple and white leading 27-4 after one stanza.

Mifflin County’s Zach Keller had a first half to remember as he knocked down four threes to a tune of 17 points. Keller would end the night with 20 points.

The Huskies posted 14 three-pointers. Lucas Hartung had 15 points off the bench. Luke Bender added 14, Carson Franklin added 12 and Jack Curry had 10.

Huskies head coach Wade Curry said, “Yeah we’re super pleased to have five guys in double figures. I think our focus the next couple days preparing for the tip-off tournament at Mifflinburg will be just closing some gaps defensively. We had a small lapse in the second quarter where our energy slipped a little bit so we want to work on just maintaining that energy for four quarters, no gaps in that overall. We’re very pleased with the outcome tonight.”

Curry also reflected on the physical strength over the past couple years. Curry noted, “The obvious thing is for us was sort of the guys in the locker room and our physical strength over the last couple of years has really been a game changer, holding onto rebounds, getting off their feet in a way that we just haven’t had in the past season and the icing on the cake we really shot the ball well tonight.”

Mifflin County had five players in double figures in the blowout win over the Braves in a game where shooting was at its best and the Huskies shots were on point. The Huskies even got production from their newcomers like Dylan Bonson (seven points) and Carson Cherry (two points) in the team’s big win.

Husky Zach Keller said, “I really thought we played selflessly. You know we passed the ball really well and having five guys in double figures tonight played to our advantage and if we play the way we played tonight I think we will have a great season.”

The Braves (0-1) got very little production when it came to generating points. Charlie Walter tallied 16 points on the night and Corbin Stahl also came on late and factored for his team despite the defeat.

Mifflin County (1-0) will travel to Mifflinburg on Friday and will take part in the Wildcat Winter Classic.

The JV Huskies also got to 1-0 on the season with a 45-40 win over the Braves.

Junior Carson Cherry led the way with 17, and sophomore Dylan Bonson added 16.