The NRHEG boys put together fine showings on both offense and defense and won their first game of the season impressively over Cedar Mountain 61-36 on Friday night.

&8220;We had a little trouble getting going, but we played well the last 10 minutes of the first half,&8221; said Panther head coach Matt Eppen.

The boys’ trailed early in the game but by the end of the first half they lead C-M by 17 points.

The Panthers offense may have been slow to get started, but they fired on all cylinders once they did.

Justin Stieglbauer scored 16 points including four 3-pointers, Ben Waldhauser scored nine points &045; all on 3-pointers &045; and Joe McGuire also had nine points.

&8220;We had good balance, we are looking for that kind of balance night in and night out,&8221; said Eppen.

The defense for the Panthers was also very solid. &8220;Defensively we played pretty well, they shot below 30 percent and we won the battle on the boards.&8221; said Eppen.

The Panthers next game is at home versus Montgomery Lonsdale on Tuesday night.

NRHEG 61, Cedar Mountain 36

NRHEG &045; Justin Stieglbauer 16, Ben Waldhauser 9, Joe McGuire 9, Dakota Tracy 8, Phil Olson 8.