CLAYSBURG — The Claysburg-Kimmel boys basketball team has made no secret about how high its expectations are this season by returning all players who saw significant playing time a season ago.

It’s also no secret to anyone who will be playing the Bulldogs this season who the main focus is on the scouting report as C-K returns the school’s all-time leading scorer in Brayden Haney.

The key that will drive Claysburg obviously lies in Haney’s ability, but probably even more importantly, how well everyone else contributes by playing their roles and are able to make teams afraid of not having enough of their own players to keep them all in check throughout a 32-minute game.

On Saturday in the championship game of the Claysburg-Kimmel Tipoff Tournament, Bucktail didn’t do anything to keep Haney down but the rest of the team responded by picking up the scoring when shots weren’t falling for the senior guard.

The Bulldogs flexed their muscle on the boards (34-20 edge) starting in the second quarter and combined that with a balanced scoring attack to hand the Bucks a 67-37 lopsided victory of the first tournament.

“That’s what we want — we want balanced scoring,” Claysburg-Kimmel coach Mike Harris said. “We told them (Claysburg team) that we can’t have all the scoring by one guy. We’ve got to spread it out — you’ve got to get better. We did better (tonight).”

While C-K’s first two opponents — Portage and Bucktail — certainly lacked for experience with much younger squads, Claysburg showed the capability in the title game that many others posses the ability to pick up the scoring load needed to keep defenses from focusing only on Haney.

With the game well under control in the third, Haney got a driving layup around the midway point to account for his first points of the night, and then converted four more relatively easy layups in transition to quickly reach double figures for the night. The senior ended tied for team-high honors with 14 points as his last bucket at 4:38 of the fourth gave the Bulldogs a 30-point edge (61-30) to kick the running clock into effect.

“Today we (Bucktail) were a little slow, a little lackadaisical on defense,” Bucktail coach Travis Fantaskey said. “We are a young team — I expect that. We’ll go home, get the kinks out and see what happens the rest of the season.”

In addition to Haney, fellow senior Christian Treon also accounted for 14 points, including 10 in the game-changing second frame.

Leading just 15-11 after one quarter of play, the Bucks’ Aidan Ditty delivered a floater to make it a one-score contest.

Treon was the catalyst of a 10-0 C-K run as he made a floater of his own, then brother Gavin Treon hit a layup before Christian hit a pair of 3-pointers on back-to-back trips down the floor to give the Bulldogs a 25-13 advantage.

“Christian didn’t play very well yesterday and he was upset with himself,” Harris said. “He came ready to go today, and he had a really, really good game.”

After being outrebounded by a 9-8 difference in the first stanza, Claysburg-Kimmel attacked the glass with a 9-3 edge in the second that helped swing momentum in its favor and stretch the lead to 29-16 at the half.

Following a Cory Walter inside basket, Bucktail freshman Corbin Pentz, who led his team with 12 points, went on a 7-3 run of his own to try to offer the Bucks a glimpse of hope with the score at 34-23.

The lead ballooned to 18 points at 41-23 as Paydden Knisely made a layup in transition, then Blake Kulick, who recorded 13 points, buried his second 3-pointers off the dribble before Walter, who finished with 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds, powered in another bucket.

“Rebounding killed us,” Fantaskey said. “You can tell them (players) until you’re blue in the face to get a body on somebody, but for them to actually do it — good luck with that.”

When the third quarter ended, which included Haney making the final 11 points for C-K, the Bulldogs lead expanded to 52-30.

Claysburg-Kimmel used a 15-7 scoring edge in the fourth, while the Bucks’ Landon Charcalla made a shot two steps over halfcourt at the buzzer to set the final.

“This was a good tournament for us,” Harris said. “A lot of teams played hard. It was the first weekend of basketball, so we got a head start on everybody and that was good for us.”

Portage captured the consolation game with a 53-37 victory over Curwensville.

Tyson Burkett was the lone Mustang to reach double figures as he finished with 13 points.

Evan McCartney led all scorers with 14 points for the Tide.

Portage opened a 17-11 advantage after one quarter and pushed its lead to 35-19 at the half before taking a 20-point lead (45-25) when the third quarter buzzer sounded.

The all-tournament team was named with McCartney, Portage’s Llehson Walker, Bucktail’s Gavin Pick and C-K’s Gavin Treon were tabbed, and Haney was named the most valuable player.

CHAMPIONSHIP

BUCKTAIL (37): Pick 1 1-3 3, A. Ditty 4 1-2 10, Stone 1 0-2 2, Pentz 5 1-1 12, J. Ditty 0 0-0 0, Mansfield 0 0-0 0, Charcalla 3 0-2 8, Emerick 0 0-0 0, Barnes 0 0-0 0, Graw 0 0-0 0, Russell 1 0-0 2. Totals — 15 3-10 37.

CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL (67): Haney 6 2-3 14, Kulick 5 0-0 13, C. Treon 5 2-2 14, Cole Walter 1 0-0 2, Cory Walter 5 2-3 12, G. Treon 2 0-0 4, Knisely 2 0-0 4, Mock 1 0-0 2, Fee 0 0-0 0, Strayer 0 0-0 0, Claar 1 0-0 2. Totals — 28 6-8 67.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bucktail 11 5 14 7 — 37

Claysburg-Kimmel 15 14 23 15 — 67

3-point field goals: Bucktail 4 (Charcalla 2, A. Ditty, Pentz); Claysburg-Kimmel 5 (Kulick 3, C. Treon 2).

Records: Bucktail (1-1); Claysburg-Kimmel (2-0).

CONSOLATION

CURWENSVILLE (37): O. Dimmick 1 1-2 4, L. Tkacik 2 2-4 6, McCartney 4 3-3 14, Finn 0 0-0 0, T. Tkacik 0 6-10 6, Lezzer 2 2-2 7, Proud 0 0-0 0, Larson 0 0-0 0. Totals — 9 14-21 37.

PORTAGE (53): L. Walker 3 2-4 8, Burkett 6 1-3 13, B. Walker 3 0-0 9, Caldwell 1 1-2 4, Bobolsky 1 2-5 4, Kick 2 0-0 5, Gathers 1 0-2 3, O. Slanoc 2 0-0 5, Papcun 1 0-1 2, Mitchuk 0 0-0 0, Allison 0 0-0 0. Totals — 19 6-16 53.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Curwensville 11 8 6 12 — 37

Portage 17 18 10 8 — 53

3-point field goals: Curwensville 5 (McCartney 3, O. Dimmick, Lezzer); Portage 7 (B. Walker 3, Caldwell, Kick, Gathers, O. Slanoc).

Records: Curwensville (0-2); Portage (1-1).