North Central senior Abram Eichorn (54) attempts a shot against Carney-Nadeau on Dec. 12, 2024 at Carney-Nadeau School. (Adam Hinch/Daily Press)

CARNEY — A powerful first half led North Central boys basketball to a 67-45 win over Carney-Nadeau here Thursday, improving to 4-0 on the season.

“I thought we played really well tonight,” Jets coach Tyler Mercier said. “We executed our gameplan to a tee and came away with the win.”

Kaden Malone knocked down a 3-pointer to open the game. Lane Gorzinski drove through the lane off a C-N turnover and Jordan Walters hit a three to give the Jets an 8-0 lead.

The Wolves answered with a pair of three’s by sophomore Cullen Kasbohm to cut the deficit to 8-6.

“Cullen is a good shooter,” Wolves coach Mike Polfus said. “He’s got that shooter’s mentality. A miss does not really affect him at all.”

The Jets responded with a layup by senior Spencer Willa and Ben Stage followed it up with a pair of triples to extend the Jets lead to 16-6 after one quarter.

“I’ve been saying Ben Stage was a great player since he was in seventh grade,” Mercier said. “I’ll continue to say that. He’s all-conference worthy and he proved that for the third time this season.”

The Jets outscored C-N 21-7 in the second quarter. Lane Gorzinski had eight of his 14 points in the second quarter and Abram Eichorn added six points in the quarter.

“Lane hasn’t had a Lane style game yet,” Mercier said. “Tonight he was aggressive going to the basket, rebounding and played well defensively.”

The second half tightened as the Wolves got their offense going. Sam Salo had 11 of his 16 points in the third quarter.

“Second half felt a lot better,” Salo said. “We tightened up, started playing harder and got some rebounds, which we didn’t do in the first half.”

Kasbohm had 11 of his 20 points in the second half including a pair of three’s, but the Wolves could not cut into the Jets’ lead.

North Central returns to action Tuesday as it hosts Bark River-Harris. Carney Nadeau will host Superior Central Monday.

Box score

North Central 16 21 17 13 — 67

Carney-Nadeau 6 7 16 16 — 45

North Central — Stage 16, Walters 13, Malone 3, Burton 6, Gorzinski 14, Castle 4, Willa 3, Eichorn 8. FT: 5-10; F: 16; Fouled Out: None; 3-point field goals: Stage 4, Walters 3, Burton 2, Malone 1

Carney-Nadeau — Salo 16, Maule 1, Thoune 1, Kasbohm 20, K. Wilson 2, Mellen 5. FT: 11-16; F: 8; Fouled Out: None; 3-point field goals: Kasbohm 4, Salo 3, Mellen 1