FARMINGTON – Getting a good start is something every team hopes it can accomplish.

On Wednesday night, the Farmington High School boys basketball team forced 15 turnovers against rival Nute in the first quarter and built a 20-point lead after eight minutes. That lead was enough for the Tigers as it defeated its Route 75 rival, 60-24, in Division IV action.

Kyrs Demers led all scorers with 12 points for the Tigers, while Logan Ebare chipped in with 10 points and 16 rebounds. Keagan Adams had 11 points and eight steals.

Nute was paced by Colby Jenkins’ 13. Farmington forced 30 Nute turnovers, while the Rams shot 6-36 from the field.

“I thought our pressure was really good and we rotated well on defense,” said Farmington coach Adam Thurston on the first quarter. “We were able to force steals, we shared the ball and we got everyone involved in transition. We set the tone early on and never really looked back.”

Farmington picks up its first win of the season, improving to 1-2. Nute falls to 0-3.

″(The turnovers) have been the story of our season so far,” said Nute coach Sean Young. “We are young and didn’t have a single returning player entering the season. The big thing for us is trying to slow down and not panic.”

“I was happy with how aggressive we were compared to our last two games,” said Thurston. “We were much more aggressive and played smarter defensively.”

The Tigers shot lights out in the early and moved the ball well. Adams put Farmington up 2-0 on a layup 15 seconds in, off a Marcus Berko pass. Demers sent a pass to Brad Brooks on the inside less than a minute later that put Farmington up 4-0.

Brooks then picked up a steal, headed to the hoop and was fouled. He made the free throws to make it 6-0. Another Nute turnover led to a quick trey from Demers and it was 9-0 2:39 into the game.

“We played together and talked well on defense,” said Demers. “Everyone got involved and was in the game right from the start.”

Nute finally broke the run, exactly three minutes in, when Dyan LaFogg picked up an offensive rebound and put it home cutting the deficit to 9-2.

Farmington kept taking advantage of the Ram mistakes and scored the next 13 points in the quarter, as it took a 22-2 edge.

“We were finding their passing lanes, we were playing great team defense, it was a nice effort and it was all around good work,” said Adams.

The Tigers also had a big advantage in the paint, as it took in 52 rebounds with 24 of them being offensive. Ebare was particularly good at getting position with his 16 boards, while Berko had seven and Gage Noel had six.

The second quarter saw Nute stem the tide, a bit, as it forced the Tigers into sloppy play. Sam Davis cut the deficit to 24-4 with a layup and Jenkins made six free throws in the quarter. Farmington, however, still led at the half 32-12.

And then added to their lead from there.

“We have a lot of work (to do),” said Young. “I feel confident we will have the guys ready come the end of the season and we will have the Christmas-time to really work on getting these guys confident with the ball. Our biggest issue right now is we lack confidence with the ball.”

Farmington will host the Mike Lee Holiday Bash next week, beginning on Tuesday.

FARMINGTON 60, NUTE 24

NUTE (24)

Jenkins 2-9-13, LaFogg 2-0-4, Dionne 1-0-2, Lob 0-3-3, Davis 1-0-2. Totals: 6-12-24.

FARMINGTON (60)

Tufts 3-1-8, Demers 4-2-12, Adams 4-3-11, Berko 4-0-8, Long 1-2-4, Ebare 3-4-10, Williams 1-0-3, Brooks 1-2-4. Totals: 21-14-60.

Nute 2 10 11 1 – 24

Farmington 22 10 15 13 – 60

3-Point goals: Nute 0; Farmington 4 (Demers 2, Tufts, Williams).