Oak Creek — The Soroco High School boys basketball team entered the season with plenty unanswered, and it may have been impossible for all of it to be cleared up in just one game.

One thing was clear: Any team that stumbles across the Rams’ Thursday night season-opening game tape won’t let Soroco sophomore Matthew Regan go without a game day defender any time after breakfast.

Regan burst onto the scene with a red-hot, 3-point shot and helped his team to a booming 70-45 win against North Park.

The sophomore finished with five 3-pointers and 17 points, an effort that was matched by nearly equally on-fire teammates.

Junior Nic Paxton bombed in four 3-point shots and led all scorers with 27 points. Sophomore Charley Fitzhugh, meanwhile, hit three more and finished with nine points.

“We came out hot, and we didn’t lose it for a while,” Regan said. “We were hitting everything. That was fun.”

Despite running away with the win, the team was left with things to work on. For instance, the Rams weren’t pleased with their ability to get the ball inside. But the sharp shooting added a bit of sparkle to a big win, and it was made all the more sweet considering the team is coming back from a miserable four-win campaign a year ago.

“It was big for them to come out and see they can be a good basketball team,” McLeod said. “Last year, was a long one for these guys. It’s great for them to have an immediate and positive outcome, to prove last year is not who they are, but that this is who they are going to be.”

Game statistics

Soroco boys 70, North Park 45

Score by quarters

North Park 6-16-8-15 — 45

Soroco 25-20-15-10 — 70

Scoring summary

North Park — Dalton Edmonds 2 0-0 4, Bryan Lytle 4 0-0 8, Alex Anderson 2 0-0 4, Clay Russell 1 0-0 2, Zane Sanchez 7 3-6 18, Mark Blanton 1 0-0 3, Luke Pantle 3 0-2 6. Totals 20 3-8 45.

Soroco — Matthew Regan 6 0-0 17, AJ Anderson 4 0-0 8, Cody McCollum 2 2-2 6, Charley Fitzhugh 3 0-0 9, Nic Paxton 11 1-2 27, Carl Rossi 0 1-2 1, Ryan Jeep 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 4-4 70.

3-pointers — North Park: Blanton, Sanchez. Soroco: Regan 5, Paxton 4, Fitzhugh 3.