Thickly built AJ Cohen, the biggest man on the basketball court, extended his arms wide, stretched his 6-foot-4 frame and let out a primal roar as he stood near Woodstock North’s bench.

And while other Thunder players raised their arms in celebration of their elusive first win, coach Tim Paddock became emotional.

“There were some tears coming from the old coach,” a smiling Paddock said. “I tear up easily.”

Achieving its first win under Paddock – the former McHenry coach who’s in his first year at North – was anything but easy for the Thunder.

On Tuesday night, however, a hot-shooting North team scored 18 unanswered points in the first quarter and never let up en route to a 53-33 win over visiting Harvard in a Kishwaukee River Conference game.

The Thunder improved to 1-14 and 1-4 in the KRC, while dropping Harvard to 2-11 and 0-4.

“These kids deserve some success,” Paddock said of his players. “Coming in and starting off, putting in a new program, it takes time. We didn’t shortcut anything, and these guys have showed up every single day, worked and worked, and hadn’t had anything to show for it. It would have been so easy for them to quit or not play as hard, but they didn’t.”

Zaiden Vess knocked down four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Thunder. Sophomore Curtis Czeslawski (two 3s) scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half and grabbed eight rebounds, while Cohen (nine points, 11 rebounds) just missed a double-double.

After the game, North’s players, including the coaches, hustled to the locker room and celebrated. The “old coach” showed off some fancy footwork behind closed doors.

“This man’s got some moves,” Thunder assistant coach Will Courter said of Paddock.

“There was a little dancing going on in there,” Paddock said, laughing.

The Hornets, who were led by Damian Vazquez’s 10 points, knew a hungry team would be waiting for them, anxious to try again for its first win.

“We were very aware [that North hadn’t won a game],” Harvard guard Julian Acosta said. “We should have came out with more energy, but we got our next game [Friday against Marengo at Harvard in the annual Castle Challenge], and I think we’ll come out with more energy.”

Acosta scored the game’s first basket when he grabbed a long rebound and finished at the other end with a driving layup. But North scored the next 18 points, getting 3-pointers from Czeslawski (two), Ben Hendershot and Vess against Harvard’s zone.

“They did a good job against us in the zone,” Hornets coach Brian Heidtke said. “They hit those outside shots, and we started to extend out a little bit, and then they started to beat us up in the middle.”

Cohen and his sophomore brother, Frank, a recent call-up, each hit a 3-pointer in the second quarter in helping North take a 33-22 lead into halftime. Harvard twice cut its gap to eight points early in the third quarter, but that was as close as the Hornets got.

“We were rushing our shots, rushing everything,” Acosta said. “Later on, we started working as a team and started coming back. We just need to work on our chemistry, rebounding, the hustle plays.”

The Thunder even played shorthanded. While junior guard Luke Bigler (knee) has been out the last month, junior guard Ethan Richardson (personal reasons) missed his first game.

“That forced some other sophomores to step up and play in different situations, and they did,” said Paddock, who played four sophomores. “Hopefully that helps us down the stretch.”

Acosta, Cristian Pagles and Pablo Muralles (two 3-pointers) each scored six points for the Hornets, who shot only 29% (12 of 41) from the floor.

“It doesn’t matter how many wins they have, we have,” Heidtke said. “You got to be ready to play every night. You got to go out and play your best game to give yourself a chance to win.”