BATH — Coming off a 17-point loss to Leavitt in its last outing, coupling that with Morse taking Mt. Ararat to the final seconds on Saturday, the Brunswick boys basketball team knew it was important to come out of the opening whistle and set the tone early against the Shipbuilders.

The Dragons raced out to a 21-10 first-quarter lead behind Tony Cilea’s ball handling, Noah Cox’s hustle and Finn Mitchell’s nine points, cruising to a 68-34 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference victory over host Morse in boys high school basketball action at Bath Middle School Monday afternoon.

“We were all disappointed after our game with Leavitt,” Brunswick coach Todd Hanson said. “I know they (Morse) went right down to the wire with Ararat, so we knew we had to come in here with much more energy and hustle than we did on Saturday, and I think our kids did a nice job establishing that tone early.”

Finn Mitchell’s trey made it 5-0 early for Brunswick, but Tom Warren quickly answered with a 3 of this own just over two minutes into the frame for Morse.

A 10-0 run followed, as Cilea ran the offense in transition, feeding Sam Sharpe and Mitchell.

Cox was everywhere early on, grabbing a pair of offensive rebounds, including a putback late to extend Brunswick’s lead to double digits.

“He’s known as a scorer, but he can help us win games without scoring,” Hanson said. “And tonight he demonstrated that, an all-around game rebounding, assists and leadership.”

“We really wanted to bounce back from that big loss to Leavitt,” Cox said. “Morse is becoming a good rivalry, so we wanted to come out strong.”

Cilea kept the offense rolling, dishing out three first-quarter helpers, while generating a steal and converting it for two points. The senior is starting in place of injured Noah Goddard at point guard,

“He’s had a couple of good games in a row. He’s quick enough to turn that corner and make decisions to make things happen,” Hanson said.

The Dragons outrebounded the ’Builders, 10-4 in the first eight minutes.

“First few minutes, right at the beginning of the game, they had a lot of rebounds,” Morse coach Tom Maines said. “They wanted it more than we did.”

Cox’s hustle continued in the second frame. The senior netted a couple of more baskets, finishing with 10 points and a perfect 4-for-4 from the line in the half.

But it was Mitchell that was putting points up on the board. The senior added to his total with eight second-quarter points, including a pair from behind the arc to finish the half with 17 of his game-high 27 points.

“Today Finn stepped up big. My shots weren’t falling so I just tried to help the team best tonight by swinging the ball around, getting other people their shots and just try crashing the boards,” Cox said.

“We made some shots as they were falling early,” added Hanson.

The visitors took a 37-19 lead into the locker room after 16 minutes of play. Brunswick forced 10 first-half turnovers, while holding the advantage in rebounds (13-8) and 3-point baskets (3-1).

A 7-0 spurt to start the half for Brunswick all but put the game in hand early in the third quarter. Finn Mitchell added another five points, while his brother Aiden tallied five himself as the Dragons pulled away, outscoring the home team, 17-8 to take a commanding 54-27 lead into the final frame.

“I thought we played the whole game passively. We didn’t do things offensively that we should have,” Maines said. “I thought Brunswick played very well, but, on the other end of the spectrum, we played terrible, not even close to Saturday’s basketball.”

Both team were able to unload the benches in the final quarter, with 25 players entering the game at some point Monday afternoon. Morse flooded the floor with underclassmen, like freshman Jansen Morrison and sophomores Jordan Onorato, Josh Johnson and Boden Gould.

Like fellow freshmen Gabe Aucoin and Josh ter Mors, and sophomores Brogan Shaw and Dylan Orr, the younger players are learning on the job.

“They play like freshman, but talent-wise, they have lot, and that’s why they play.” Maines said. “A lot of our freshmen and sophomores are learning the game.”

Having the talented younger players around doesn’t go unnoticed, and they even push the upperclassmen.

“We have some really talented freshmen that come and work hard every day,” said senior Arius Eich. “That helps make all of us play better.”

Brunswick will look to continue its winning ways when the Dragons host Medomak Valley on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Morse does not hit the floor again until Jan. 29, when the Shipbuilders host Maranacook (6:30 p.m.).

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