The Whitehall boys basketball made an early statement when they captured the Mifflin County High School tournament to open the season.

The statement came in three parts. They proved they could come from behind and beat a tough team as they did against Bishop Shanahan High School in the opener. They also proved they can play stifling defense, handcuffing a good perimeter team like Mifflin County in the finals.

Finally, they proved they can get scoring from a host of players, making them tough to defend.

It all added up to a tournament championship last weekend when the Zephs traveled to Lewistown, Pa. to begin the 2014-15 campaign.

Head coach Jeff Jones said that they came out strong in their first game against Bishop Shanahan. It led to a three-point edge over the Eagles after the first period.

"We started out real aggressive," said Jones. "We played really well."

However, Jones said that they couldn't sustain that momentum and therefore struggled a bit to gain some offensive consistency in the second quarter. That paved the way for a 12-2 run for the Eagles who took a 19-14 lead into halftime.

Facing that deficit, Jones employed some full-court pressure to begin the second half and that strategy paid off, helping them overcome the deficit early in the fourth quarter.

"They began to turn the ball over a little bit and we got some easy looks because of steals," said Jones.

He said that once they got up by a few points they were able to control the game.

"We were very patient and made some free throws down the stretch," said Jones.

Jones said the ability to close out a game is something they've been working on and it proved to be a valuable lesson as they wound up winning 49-40.

While a host of players contributed to the win, Jones said that Chad Rex, Saquon Barkley and Mikey Esquilin had a big impact on the game. They each played a key role, with Rex leading all scorers with 12 points. He said the senior guard played well throughout the contest, whether it was scoring or facilitating.

Barkley finished the game with 11 points and also played a strong game defensively.

Finally, Esquilin scored all of his eight points in the final period. Jones said he hit a couple of threes, helping the Zephs pull away from the Eagles. It was his first varsity game, and the frosh paid dividends in crunch time, a harbinger of things to come.

Jones said it was a good team effort over a quality opponent, something they can build on as the season progresses.

In the finals against Mifflin County, the Zephs got out to a really fast start and this time they didn't let up. They bolted out to a 17-6 lead after the first period, and then added onto that lead, opening a 15-point lead heading into intermission.

"We just got out to a really great start," said Jones.

A big contributing factor to that lead was their defensive intensity.

Jones said they used their signature match-up defense to stifle the Huskies perimeter game. They held Mifflin to under double digits in each quarter.

"Going into the locker room, we felt really good about our defense," said Jones.

The Huskies drained nine threes the night before, and it was a point of concern heading into the game. But the Zephs did an excellent job of defending the outside shot and rotating to the shooter.

"We really did a great job covering the perimeter," said Jones.

That was evident in the Huskies inability to muster any offensive rhythm, managing just nine field goals the entire game.

"That's a tribute to how hard the defense worked," said Jones.

In that win, Brett Radocha led the way, scoring 15 points. That was followed by Jake Meyers who dropped in nine, while Rex and Gianni Sinatore each added eight.

Both Rex and Radocha were named to the all-tournament team.

Jones said that another takeaway from their strong weekend was their ability to get scoring from a bunch of different players. In all, nine players hit the tally sheet.

"I feel very good about our first weekend tournament," said Jones. "Hopefully, it's something to build on."