The Hall boys basketball team started strong in its season opener against Newark in the Huskers Hardwood Tip-Off Tournament at Serena High School on Tuesday night.

The Red Devils (1-0) held a double-digit lead for much of the opening half and extended it to as many as 17 with just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The Norsemen (0-1) then caught fire and eventually sliced that lead to three with under four minutes to go, but Hall responded with a 10-0 run on the way to a 54-40 triumph.

“I was most happy with how we handled Newark’s fourth-quarter run,” Hall coach Mike Filippini said. “I felt like we were in control for most of the game, and then they knocked down three straight 3s to cut our lead to three. But instead of losing composure, taking a bad shot or trying to do something out of character, we played calm and scored 13 of the last 15 points of the game.

“Newark is and is going to be a tough team to defend this year. We made some mistakes, but to give up only 40 points in a varsity game, season opener or not, is a good start for us defensively.”

Hall led 17-8 after the first period and 26-20 at halftime before opening the second half on a 13-2 burst — keyed by a pair of 3-pointers from junior Noah Plym and another from senior Braden Curran — to push its advantage to 39-22 with 1 minutes, 42 seconds left in the third.

Then, over the next six minutes, Newark senior Reggie Chapman scored 11 of his game-best 17 points, including a trio of 3s, to help slice the Red Devils lead to 41-38 with 3:44 showing on the clock.

“Braden really played smart in the second half. Once [Newark’s 6-foot-5 senior Cody Kulbartz], who is a big, strong kid that has tight end written all over him, picked up his third foul, we wanted to take the ball right at him, and Braden did just that,” Filippini said. “Chase [Burkart] was huge as well taking two charges on him to give him his fifth foul right after they cut it to three.”

From there, four points from Curran, a floater by senior Greyson Bickett and a triple from senior Chase Burkhart helped Hall pull away down the stretch.

Curran led Hall with 15 points and six rebounds. Plym and sophomore Chace Sterling (seven rebounds, two blocks) each added 11 points, while Bickett netted nine points.

Hall shot 19-of-50 (38%) from the field and won the rebound (31-27) and turnover (6-20) battles.

Newark — which meshed 16-of-39 (41%) of its attempts from the floor — received six points, eight rebounds and three blocks from Kulbartz, with Kellen Westerfield chipping in five points and four rebounds. Chapman also had six rebounds and four assists.

“You play this game to win. I’m mad we lost, but there’s a bigger picture, especially the first game of any season,” Newark coach Kyle Anderson said. “I was happy with how we played defensively. Did we have breakdowns? Sure, but that’s to be expected. We played hard, and we have some guys in different roles this season, and you could see them figure things out as the game went along.

“I thought we looked just fine on the offensive end. The one thing we can’t replicate in practice is the physicality, and we saw we are going to have to adjust to that moving forward.

“We faced some foul trouble tonight, but the guys really stepped up and kept us within striking distance there with four minutes to go. We just couldn’t get that next stop or next basket in those final few minutes.”

Hall is back on the floor Wednesday at 1 p.m. against Somonauk (0-1), while Newark will take on Seneca (1-0) at 4 p.m.