ELMA —Elma couldn’t get its offense off the ground until the game was already out of reach against Shelton on in non-league boys basketball.

The Highclimbers defeated the Eagles, 66-46, in a season opener Thursday night.

Shelton came out aggressively on defense and employed a lot of press that forced a lot of turnovers which helped the Highclimbers get their own easy transition points.

After getting some early buckets from Carter Jacobson, Killian Acuff and Cody Vollen, Elma’s ffense stalled for the final three minutes of the quarter while Shelton continued to pull away.

With the score at 17-6 heading into the second quarter, Shelton continued to pull away even further. Shelton put up another 22 points in the second frame while the Eagles only added five points to their total.

The turnover margin was as lopsided in the second quarter. The press proved to be even more affective in the second quarter as the defensive pressure wasn’t even allowing the Eagles to get comfortable in their half court offense.

Elma head coach Jeff Niemi said he was expecting an uptempo game and an aggressive strategy but the Highclimbers still found a way to surprise him by closing down passing lanes that he thought would be open.

“We expected more man press since that’s what they showed last year,” he said. “They were kind of giving us the reversal and not letting us hit the home run and we expected them to do the opposite. It was a good game plan for them.”

The game was out of hand but the second half saw a much-improved offensive approach from the Eagles.

Sam Schneider and Brady Johnston opened up the quarter with back to back 3-pointers that helped energize the Eagles after the halftime break.

The long-range shots that weren’t falling in the first half were falling which helped open the inside game where Schneider and Derique Richey got and converted on quality looks in the paint.

Niemi said a simplified approach helped jump start things for his shooters.

“The emphasis was to not make the home run play,” he said. “We just wanted them to get upcourt and run some stuff and once we did that it was good.”

Despite the loss, the Eagles came away with a moral victory and outscored the Highclimbers in the second half. The Eagles did a much better job of controlling the ball and only turned the ball over twice in the second half after giving the ball away 15 times in the first 16 minutes.

Vollen paced the Eagles with 15 points.

The Eagles (0-1) visit Seton Catholic tonight.

Shelton 17 22 16 8 — 66

Elma 6 5 18 15 — 46

Shelton (66) —Freeman 10, Auld 8, Colbenson 9, Thompson 10, Gonzales 2, Benson 3, Kenyon 8, Hitsman 9, Forsman 2, Badilio-Brown 2. FG — 26-58 (.448). FT — 6-12.

Elma (46) — Vollan 15, Johnston 5, Aho, Jacobson 8, Billerback, Schneider 8, Acuff 4, Swift 2, Richey 2, Torres. FG — 18-44 (.409). FT — 5-18.