St. Paul’s couldn’t buy a shot in the first quarter of its District 6-5A opener against Fontainebleau on Jan. 2.

The Wolves missed all 15 of their shot attempts in the opening quarter, but St. Paul’s recovered from that slow start to rally for a 67-59 home victory.

“We played terribly, only scoring that one first-quarter point. That was crazy. For whatever reason, we didn’t have any energy. I kind of took it upon myself to get involved offensively,” St. Paul’s senior Peyton Kilgore said.

“We knew we had to pick up our energy level and get our stuff together quickly starting the second quarter. It was far from pretty, but at the end of the day, a win is a win, and that’s what it’s all about. More importantly, it was an important district-opening win.”

Trailing 8-1 after the opening period, St. Paul’s upped its energy level and finally found an offensive rhythm with a 16-0 run to build a 19-10 lead with 3:28 left in the second period.

Kilgore, who was averaging 8.2 points per game, scored 11 of his 20 points in the second quarter. St. Paul’s scored 25 second-quarter points, sparked by Kilgore’s surge to take a 26-21 halftime advantage.

The Wolves (14-6, 1-0) recorded the first five points of the third quarter, with Michael Sarver hitting a basket and John Baricev draining a 3 to push the advantage to 31-21 less than a minute into the second half.

Sarver, who led St. Paul’s with 21 points, said the Wolves simply had to flush their dismal start.

“I’m not sure what caused our bad start. Maybe it was being off for three days, but it was a rough way to start the game. Once our shots weren’t falling, we began to press a bit, and we got frustrated,” Sarver said.

“We talked about needing to pick up our team energy. It was all about moving on to the next play, putting that terrible first quarter behind us. We didn’t want to dwell on any negative stuff. Thankfully, we put it behind us and were able to bounce back. We play with confidence, and I feel when the playoffs arrive, we’ll be able to make some noise.”

St. Paul’s held a 49-43 lead entering the fourth quarter as the gritty Bulldogs (8-8, 0-1) tried to battle back. Sarver put the game away with two critical back-to-back baskets, and his 3-point play with 64 seconds left gave St. Paul’s an insurmountable 10-point lead.

Both squads were plagued with turnovers. Fontainebleau gave the ball away 20 times, while St. Paul’s committed 14. The Bulldogs converted their free throws, hitting 17-of-21 attempts, while the Wolves struggled, going 14 of 23 from the line.

St. Paul’s coach Stephen Dale said his team did a good job of overcoming its slow start.

“We were able to finally pick up our intensity level early in the second quarter. We needed a spark, and Peyton (Kilgore) provided it for us. He got into a flow, which gave us a good offensive pace, helping us get into our style of play,” Dale said.

“We’re playing a lot better, but this team is not a full product yet. They haven’t hit their ceiling, and there’s another level. They’re playing hard and practicing the right way.”

Fontainebleau senior Matthew Kinzeler scored a game-high 22 points, including 10 first-half points. Austin Canale added 10 points.

“We gave them all we had. We competed and didn’t shy away from their usual tough ball pressure. St. Paul’s does a great job with their pressure defense. That’s all we worked on during our New Year’s Day practice, which everybody showed up for,” Bulldogs coach Randall Ginn said.

“We’ve struggled all year trying to find someone to step up as our second or third guy to add some much-needed scoring. Matthew (Kinzeler) is playing well, but we need to get him some scoring help so we can play more consistently.”

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Fontainebleau | 8 | 13 | 21 | 17 — 59

St. Paul’s | 1 | 25 | 23 | 18 — 67

BOX SCORE

Fontainebleau (8-8, 0-1): Matthew Kinzeler, 22; Austin Canale, 10; Semaj Wittne, 8; Que Sampson, 6; Conner Tyson, 6; Ian Burleson, 3; Logan Zoener, 2; Travis Green, 2.

St. Paul’s (14-6, 1-0): Michael Sarver, 21; Peyton Kilgore, 20; John Baricev, 8; Jacob Dupre, 8; Max Derbes, 6; Zach Dupre, 4.