Phoenix's Brayden Decker shoots for three points during the second quarter against North Valley Thursday evening in Phoenix.

As far as season debuts go, Phoenix boys basketball coach Troy McNichols saw plenty of things to be pleased with Thursday night against North Valley.

You want a good start? The Pirates scored the first 12 points of the contest.

You want to carry a good lead into halftime? Phoenix ushered itself into the home locker room up 30-14 at the break.

Even the downside to the opener came with a bit of a silver lining after the Knights twice closed the gap to a two-possession game in the third and fourth quarters but the Pirates immediately responded to lay claim to an eventual 62-53 triumph.

“I’m really, really pleased with the effort,” said McNichols. “We just need to clean some things up and we need to be a little bit more patient on offense.”

“I’m liking the makeup of this group,” he added. “We didn’t shoot the ball well but we have capable shooters, and then to shoot as bad as we did from the free-throw line (9-for-23), that’s not going to happen many times for us. So we have a lot to be looking at as a positive.”

Junior forward Tobias Akpan, who contributed a year ago among the South Medford rotation, was a force on both ends of the court. The 6-foot-4 Akpan posted a game-high 24 points to go with 10 rebounds and five blocked shots to pace Phoenix (1-0).

When North Valley (0-1) was able to trim its deficit to 55-51 with two minutes to play, it was Akpan who drove to the rim for baskets on three straight trips down the court for the Pirates to stave off the comeback bid.

“He was just all over the place,” said McNichols of Akpan. “I think what makes him so special is he’s just a great kid.”

“When we needed something, he definitely came through for us,” added the coach.

In similar fashion, Robin Trenbeath came up with key plays when the Pirates needed it most in the third quarter after North Valley stormed out of the locker room and outscored Phoenix 19-8 by the midway point of the frame.

Clutching a 38-33 lead, Phoenix was able to gain a key basket when Trenbeath drove the lane and kicked out to Brayden Decker for a corner 3-pointer. After a defensive stop, the Pirates went up 43-33 on an up-and-under effort by Trenbeath to regain momentum.

“Our kids definitely responded, so I’m pretty pleased with that,” said McNichols.

Decker finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three blocks in what McNichols said was his best outing as a Pirate, while Dylan Harper scored 12 points and Trenbeath finished with seven points and seven assists.

Cooper McCord scored 12 of his 20 points for North Valley in the second half, when the Knights were able to capitalize after the Pirates lost a little focus following a dominant first half. Stephen Lauby also scored 12 of his 16 points in the final 16 minutes for North Valley.

“We were pushing the ball down and we got caught up in the excitement,” said McNichols. “We’ve got some new faces and we’re just trying to feel it all out.”

“I just felt like it became an issue of just not running our stuff,” he added of the stage set for North Valley’s rally. “I think our guys were trying to compete a little bit too much with who gets to shoot. We had some kids go rogue just trying to do a little bit too much on their own and not seeing the next pass to make for an easier shot. Those are things that will get ironed out as we go.”

NORTH VALLEY (53): Snodgrass 0, McCord 20, Kissel 2, Lauby 16, Gareau 6, Duran 4, Rubey 0, Crosier 0, Caballero 0, Smith 0, Dubowsky 5. Totals: 24 2-3 53.

PHOENIX (62): Trenbeath 7, Ponce 4, Decker 13, Dobbins 2, Williams 0, Garcia 0, Harper 12, Akpan 24. Totals: 25 9-22 62.

North Valley 8 6 21 18 — 53

Phoenix 16 14 15 17 — 62

3-point goals — North Valley 3 (Lauby 3), Phoenix 3 (Decker 2, Akpan 1). Fouled out — Smith.

JV score — North Valley 70, Phoenix 35

CRATER 71, RED BLUFF 48: At Yreka, Calif., Crater senior Cody Dutkiewicz produced 23 points and six rebounds to spur a runaway win at the Yreka Tournament.

Kyle Bittle had 15 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks, three steals and three assists for the Comets (1-0), who used a 23-12 advantage in the third quarter to pull away from Red Bluff of California.

Ashton Acrey added 16 points and six assists for Crater.

CRATER (71): Rodriguez 0, Dutkiewicz 23, Acrey 16, Higginson 6, Pham 6, Bittle 15, Grant 1, Barlow 0, Bryant 4, Cole 0. Totals: 21 18-24 71.

RED BLUFF (48): Leaf 5, Holtenberger 10, Dewsup 0, Ross 2, Harris 0, Bonham 1, Hall 6, Ortiz 2, Snyder 0, Owens 9, Stephens 4, Browning 2, Torres 7, Sides. Totals: 19 4-17 48.

Crater 14 19 23 15 — 71

Red Bluff 8 18 12 10 — 48

3-point goals — Crater 11 (Dutkiewicz 4, Acrey 2, Higginson 2, Pham 2, Bittle 1), Red Bluff 4 (Hall 2, Holtenberger 1, Sides 1).

Girls Basketball

NORTH VALLEY 34, PHOENIX 30: At Phoenix, host Phoenix was able to dig itself out of an early 8-0 hole but fatigue set in for the six-deep Pirates in the fourth quarter to open the door for a North Valley rally in the coaching debut with the Knights of former Ashland boys basketball coach Sam Osofsky.

Alissa Alvarez paved the way for Phoenix (0-1) with 12 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Her driving basket allowed the Pirates to pull even at 11-all early in the second quarter, while Anabell Delgado followed with a 3-pointer a bit later to help the Pirates enter halftime ahead 16-13.

Delgado finished with six steals, while Mira Jacobs Grigsby pulled in 11 rebounds and Mae Woodward added seven boards.

Colbie Estes knocked down five 3-pointers to lead North Valley (1-0), while Lainie Wheeler and Shaylyn Godfrey each added nine points.

NORTH VALLEY (34): Estes 15, Wheeler 9, Kilborn 1, N. Godfrey 0, S. Godfrey 9, Gasperson 0. Totals: 13 1-2 34.

PHOENIX (30): Quintero 0, Woodward 5, Delgado 8, Alvarez 12, Jacobs Grigsby 5, Ponce 0. Totals: 12 3-4 30.

North Valley 11 2 9 12 — 34

Phoenix 9 7 7 7 — 30

3-point goals — North Valley 7 (Estes 5, Wheeler 1, S. Godfrey 1), Phoenix 3 (Woodward 1, Delgado 2).

JV result — North Valley won.