Inside? Outside? It didn’t matter Tuesday night to Community R-6’s Gavin Allen.

The senior started his season well with a double-double of 32 points — four shy of his career-high — and 13 rebounds and led the Trojans to a 53-35 season-opening victory at home against Wellsville-Middletown, who is a reigning Class 1 fourth-place team. The length of Community R-6 (1-0) helped block six shots of the Tigers (0-1) and make a 26-7 run to close out the game a reality.

Allen finished with three 3-pointers, with all of them falling after a first quarter that saw him score five points and go 1-for-4 at the free throw line. Eli Johnson drained a couple 3-pointers that were vital to Community widening its lead in the third quarter, and he finished with 10 points. Mason Carroll followed with eight points and three blocks, and Tucker Robnett had six rebounds and a block.

Head coach Tad Shotten said Allen is one of the best players in the Central Activities Conference as he has the first-team all-conference selection last year to prove it. Tuesday’s performance was yet another reminder as Allen showed his range.

“We thought we had a favorable matchup with him. They didn’t have a lot of size,” Shotten said. “Gavin can score at all three levels. That’s what’s special about him. He can pop out and hit a 3 or he’s a beast down low. It’s kind of pick your poison with him.”

Both offenses were sluggish in the first half as the Trojans and the Tigers were engaged in a battle on the boards. Whoever put back a rebound on the offensive glass seemed to have the edge as Wellsville led 11-9 after one quarter. Community had four offensive putbacks, including two from Allen that drew fouls.

Eli Johnson cut through the lane to cut Wellsville’s lead to 13-11 with about six minutes left, but the Tigers weren’t letting loose of their lead as Dylan Alsop, who had 11 points and five rebounds, and Carson Huff, who had seven points and nine rebounds, each put back boards for a 17-15 advantage with more than three minutes left in the second quarter.

Allen started finding his stroke near the end of the second quarter as he swished two 3-pointers to help Community take a 21-19 halftime lead. Up until that point, Shotten said it was every Trojan on the defensive end that kept the game even until the offense could figure things out.

“We played a 2-3 (zone) against them and that kind of gave them quite a bit of trouble,” Shotten said. “They’re very patient so we told our guys to stick with it, secure the defensive rebound and we’ll worry about the rest. I think that’s where we’re going to hang our hat on here before we really start flowing offensively.”

The Trojans were no longer playing “tight” as Shotten described them in the first half as Johnson and Allen were letting the shots fly in the third quarter. Johnson split the Wellsville defense to lay in an offensive rebound to help Community go ahead 35-29 after three quarters and then Allen closed the game with an 11-point fourth quarter.

Wellsville was struggling to even have the ball touch the rim as Community blocked four shots in the final few minutes to end the game with authority. Carroll, after Shotten said he was limited because of Wellsville’s defense denying him touches, scored five points in the fourth quarter while sending two shots away.

“I think they started to get that sense of smelling blood in the water,” Shotten said. “Our defense was already playing well, and when the shots started to go, I think it just helped our confidence. When you knock down a few shots, it really does a lot for your defense as well.”

Shotten said he didn’t expect Wellsville to just key in on Carroll but thankfully didn’t try to take away Allen too. Even then, Shotten said he likes what he saw from Johnson and what he can potentially get out of his other players this year.

“The guys around (Allen), they’re going to follow him, but they’re ready to make that step and help him out,” Shotten said. “He’s just a great kid. He got it rolling, and his size and athleticism really bothered them.”

Community plays at Marion County (0-2) in a 7:30 p.m. Tuesday game.

Girls basketball

Community R-6 girls defense picks them up in 45-30 home win vs Wellsville

When the shots aren’t falling, the defense can’t falter.

The Community R-6 girls’ defense certainly didn’t falter on a Tuesday night that saw the Lady Trojans struggle to score in spurts and led them to a 45-30 victory at home against district foe Wellsville-Middletown (0-1). The Lady Trojans (1-0) were active on the glass, totaling 41 rebounds and picking up 22 offensive boards.

Community’s bench players Alyssa Beamer and Aaliyah Welch combined for 12 points, with Beamer scoring five of her game-high nine points in the fourth quarter to stave off a potential Lady Tiger comeback. Olivia Kuda grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to go with her eight points, Kylie Brooks and Sarah Angel were smothering on defense by coming away with eight combined steals, and Kayla Jett finished with eight points and knocked down two 3-pointers. Along with her five steals, Brooks also finished with eight rebounds.

Head coach Bob Curtis said Community needed to show “toughness” because the shooting aspect of their game just wasn’t working in the season opener. Effort definitely wasn’t a question as that effort on the offensive glass helped the Lady Trojans outscore Wellsville 20-10 in the second quarter after holding a 7-5 lead after the first quarter.

“We really, really struggled offensively from the field,” Curtis said. “On those kinds of nights, you’ve got to be good defensively and you’ve got to rebound the ball well. We had 22 offensive rebounds in that game, and to get to 45 points, we needed all of them because a lot of our first shots weren’t falling.”

Curtis said Welch gave Community some early offense after sinking 3-of-4 free throws so the team could carry a lead into the second quarter, which is where “the little things” turned into a big lead for the Lady Trojans.

Community opened up a 17-9 lead with about four minutes left in the second quarter thanks to the offensive rebounding and then some shots soon afterward didn’t need a rebound. Jett knocked down a couple of 3-pointers and Beamer floated in the air while her shot dropped through the net to help build a 27-15 halftime lead.

Having a few other Lady Trojans score beside reigning first-team Central Activities Conference point guard Sarah Angel was helpful, Curtis said, as the Lady Tigers understandably were focused on her.

“They put a lot of pressure on her, threw multiple girls at her and kept a lot of people in front of her and make her take tough shots,” Curtis said. “Peyton Beamer, when we were in foul trouble, as a freshman came in and handled the point really well so I thought our bench played really well. We needed them too because we were in foul trouble and offensively we were sputtering.”

Wellsville’s offense was also sputtering thanks to the defense play from Lady Trojans such as Brooks and Angel. The Lady Tigers didn’t score their first third quarter points until the three-minute mark after Meagan Cripe hit a couple of free throws and didn’t convert a field goal until the two-minute mark when Indica Scott came through on a 3-point play. Scott led Wellsville with eight points and Cripe tied Natalie Boeckelman for a team-high seven rebounds.

With one minute remaining in the third quarter, Wellsville committed 10 fouls against an aggressive cast of Lady Trojans. Being right on the ball helped Community force turnovers and reactionary fouls from the Lady Tigers and carry a 33-22 lead into the fourth quarter.

“Kylie and Sarah both had a lot of deflections and steals,” Curtis said. “They are real disruptive, Our half court defense was really good.”

With four minutes left in the second half, both teams had combined for seven field goals and Wellsville owned six of them. Two Lady Tiger 3-pointers cut the Community lead to 36-28, but then an Alyssa Beamer 3-pointer and rebounds from Brooks and Brooklynn Glasgow down the stretch sealed the win.

“We missed a lot of shots — good looks that normally fall,” Curtis said. “The first night, I think that had a little bit to do with it, just nerves and wanting to do well and maybe wanting it too much. Ugly wins, we’ll take them.”

Community plays its first road game at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Marion County (0-2).