The Blue Ridge Knights raced out to a 13-0 advantage and led 28-9 after the first period and then held on late to beat Heyworth 74-62 Tuesday night in the Blue Ridge home opener and the Heart of Illinois Conference opener.
Trailing by 19 late in the game then went on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 9 with 1:21 to play but that was as close as the Hornets would get after their first big bucket.
Isaac Trotter led four Blue Ridge seniors in double figures with 20. Dylan Lytel had 15, Chase Zimmerman had 14 and Lindi Balazi added 10.
Heyworth sophomore Tate Eller had 16 points in the second quarter and finished with 22. Sophomore Jeremy Witten added 12.
Blue Ridge is 4-2 and 1-0 in the Heart of Illinois.
Heyworth drops to 2-4 and 0-1 in HOI play.
