By Rob Kiser

Miami Valley Today

CASSTOWN — Miami East boys basketball coach Justin Roeth understands it was just one game.

But, he couldn’t have asked for a much better start to the season as the Vikings rolled to a 64-24 win over Northwestern in a game that was played with a running clock for most of the second half.

“I thought we shot the ball really well,” Roeth said. “You know we are a young team. We start five sophomores and have two freshman playing.”

But, you wouldn’t have known it.

Wes Enis and Jacob Roeth were an unstoppable tandem from the start.

It took just six seconds for Enis to score off a Roeth assist, then Enis returned the favor to Roeth on the Vikings next possession.

East jumped out to a quick 12-0 lead and was up 21-3 after one quarter.

“We came out ready to go,” Justin Roeth said.

The Viking jumped the lead to 46-17 at halftime, with Enis and Roeth combined for 42 points in the opening half.

Enis had 23 and Roeth added 19.

The duo played sparingly in the second half, finishing with 25 points each.

Enis hit 10 of 17 shots from the floor, including three of six from long range.

Roeth was nine of 14 from the floor, including four of nine from long range.

And both filled out the stat sheet.

Enis had six rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots and six steals, while Roeth had five rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

Despite doing the bulk of the ball handling, both player had just two turnovers each.

In the second half, East focused on getting the other players involved in the offense.

And the running clock kicked in midway through the third quarter, so the time went quickly.

It comes into play when a team takes a 35-point lead and remains on until the deficit gets under 30 points. The only time the clock stops are for timeouts or injuries.

“The running clock is an interesting thing,” Justin Roeth said. “I looked up and there were only three minutes left in the game. We are going to have to look at how we handle that (getting other players in the game) a little differently, but it is good to on this side of the running clock.”

Jacob Shaffer had five points and five rebounds for Northwestern.

“We only gave up seven points in the second half,” Justin Roeth said. “I would say that’s pretty good defense.”

East was 24 of 45 from the floor for 53 percent, including eight of 21 from 3-point range for 38 percent. The Vikings made eight of 12 free throws for 67 percent, had 25 rebounds and just 10 turnovers.

East will be right back in action Saturday, traveling to West Liberty-Salem.

“We know that is going to be a tough, physical game,” Justin Roeth said.

After a season opener that couldn’t have gone much better.