Rarely does a coach get to put every member of his squad in the opening game of the season. Coach Gordon Cushing had that luxury on Tuesday night in Duxbury, as his Dragons romped to a 64-35 win over Silver Lake in Patriot League action. Led by Brian Grossman’s 26 points, Duxbury saw 12 players get in the scoring column, as they built a 31-20 halftime lead before shutting down the Lakers in the second half.

Opening night jitters made for some sloppy play in the first quarter, as Duxbury went on a 10-0 run early to wipe out a 3-0 Laker lead. The visitors would battle back and close to within two at 15-13, only to see Grossman hit his 13th point of the quarter for a 17-13 lead at the buzzer.

The Lakers started the second quarter by matching every Dragon point, but they eventually started to fade, as senior captain Mike Sullivan, Grossman, and junior Billy Curley (7 pts.) stretched the Duxbury lead to 31-20 at halftime.

The Duxbury defense took hold in the third quarter, as neither team could get their offensive acts together. By the end of the third quarter, the Lakers had scored a paltry 24 points and trailed by 17.

Senior center Aaron Kramer opened the final quarter with an offensive rebound and put-back that had the crowd on its feet, igniting his teammates to a 23-11 fourth-quarter run that had everyone scoring.

While the Dragons won easily, they are well aware they have to bring their A-game on a nightly basis in order to beat teams such as Scituate and Hingham.

“We’ve got a long way to go offensively,” said Cushing. “It’s our first game and a lot of kids were playing their first varsity minutes. We just need to get some of the kinks out, but our defense was great in the second half. You can’t complain much about that, and we need to shoot our free throws better. Friday [Scituate] will be a huge challenge for us with their pressure. If we can get shots and avoid turnovers we’ve got a chance. We have to break their pressure and get the ball inside. We are way bigger then they are, but if we throw the ball all around the gym we’ll be in trouble.”

Cushing is well aware of his team’s strength and weaknesses.

“Grossman (6’1”) is our smallest starter, and with Kramer (6’7”), Sullivan (6’4”), Curley (6’3”), and CJ Cote (6’2”), there are hardly any teams out there that we won’t out-size.”

As Grossman showed on opening night, the offense goes though the senior captain. One of Cushing’s projects will be to find another capable ball handler who can keep the offense moving when Grossman takes a break.

“I think Curley and (sophomore) Curtis Owen (6’2”) will be able to handle that, along with seniors Pat McWilliams (6’1”) and Greg O’Neal (6’1”).”

With the loss of Mark Brust (Bates) and Sam Davidson in the backcourt, word around the league is that their absence and that of Ian Whitney may be too much for the Dragons to be considered serious contenders. But with many players seeing varsity action for the first time, and players like Cote and Kramer getting a late start due to the length of the football season, Cushing warns we might not see how good his team is until at least mid-season.

“There is no question it’s going to take a little time for those guys to get into basketball shape,” said Cushing. “Cote is tough as nails and is strong around the basket. He plays within his abilities and we’re counting on him for defense and rebounds, while there is no center in the league bigger than Aaron. He’s a mountain of a man and athletic. He’ll get better as the season rolls along.”

Sullivan will be counted on to be the Dragons’ scoring forward and Cushing thinks he can be dangerous in the 15ft. range.

“He’s a good shooter and maybe the best shot-blocker on the team. He came in this year stronger and more athletic after working out in the off-season. He just needs to be more consistent with his performances.”

While his name conjures up visions of Duxbury’s glory days in the 90s, this Billy Curley will star in the backcourt.

“Billy has a chance to be our #2 scorer and our #2 ball handler,” said Cushing. “But right now I see it as more of point guard-by-committee.”

With opponents eyeing the Dragons’ size, it’s really Grossman who they should be paying attention to.

“This is a kid who is going to play college ball somewhere,” said his coach. “He’s definitely our scorer and is in great condition. He’s a streak shooter and goes to the basket strong. The part people don’t realize is that he is a tremendous defender off the ball.”

Two underclassmen who have shown some promise early in the season and could see some playing time are junior Connor Kindregan (6’4”) and sophomore Justin Marino (6’3”), while seniors Steve Blout, Tom Guilfoile, Jon Frye, Tom Kazanowski and Kyle Dame add some depth up front and in the backcourt.

Tonight the Dragons will travel to Whitman-Hanson to take on the Panthers at 6:30 before returning home to host the ProSports Holiday Classic on Monday and Tuesday nights with Duxbury playing Dartmouth at 7 p.m. after Marshfield takes on Latin Academy.