PLANTERSVILLE — The Dallas County High School Hornets began the season in resounding fashion, as they crushed the West Blocton Tigers 71-22 on Thursday at home.

Willie Moore, head boys basketball coach of Dallas County, said the game provided good experience for the Hornets, but added a different challenge awaits when his team travels to Montgomery to play Booker T. Washington on Friday at 6 p.m.

“I think we played alright. We did some good things, but we had the better team today,” Moore said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys who got an opportunity to have some game experience in front of their peers. It was a good experience for us, but we know tomorrow will be much different.”

The Hornets began the game on a 9-0 run and carried that momentum through the entirety of the first half, ending the first quarter with a 26-10 lead before taking a 48-12 lead into halftime.

The dominating first half was highlighted by crowd-pleasing dunks from Dallas County’s Chad Martin, Jerrod Moorer and William Lee.

It was a half that also saw the Tigers turn the ball over many times, as the Hornets literally swarmed their opponent with pressure defense.

The big lead enabled the Hornets to get experience for their younger players, as Dallas County’s starters rested in the second half.

Martin led the Hornets with 14 points, while Kendall Motley had 11 points, Lowell Furlow had 9 points, and Markell Harris had 8 points.