OBSERVER Photo by Lisa Monacelli Dunkirk’s Darnell Butts (1) goes in for a layup during the Marauders’ win over Falconer Tuesday at Dunkirk High School.

Dunkirk started off the new year in impressive fashion Tuesday. The Marauders defeated the visiting Falconer Golden Falcons, 70-30, in a CCAA West 1 boys high school basketball matchup.

Dunkirk (6-4, 3-0) began the game on an 8-0 run, despite using a starting lineup with four of its usual starting five coming off the bench.

“There’s 12 guys that are there every day that are working, and they deserve their time too,” said Dunkirk coach Andrew Krenzer.

Senior guard Andre Lockett started off the game with two three-pointers for Dunkirk, as the Marauders got out to a 21-8 lead after the first quarter.

Krenzer played his usual starting unit — Tyrese Kristan-Johnson, Darnell Butts, DeVaun Farnham, Issiah Velez, and Felix Garcia — together in short stretches, while giving playing time to many other players who are typically out of the rotation. When the usual starting unit was on the court, Dunkirk featured long outlet passes and lobs at the rim for alley-oops to Kristan-Johnson and Farnham. Dunkirk held a comfortable 36-15 lead at halftime.

“Overall, (Dunkirk) hustled after every loose ball,” said Falconer coach Jamie Glatz. “They got many second-chance opportunities.”

The Marauders continued to pull away in the third quarter, highlighted by a 20-4 run spanning the first five minutes of the quarter. Dunkirk led 59-27 after the third quarter, and kept its regular starting five out for the remainder of the game.

Dunkirk finished the game on an 11-3 run over the final period of play, en route to the 40-point victory.

Despite the large margin of victory, Krenzer was even more pleased with his team’s defensive effort.

“Right now, we’re giving up more points than (our opponents) are averaging,” said Krenzer. “We really tried to shore that up.”

Dunkirk’s balanced scoring was led by Lockett with 14 points, along with five rebounds. Noah Sobilo had 10 points, while Butts had nine in limited action.

“Andre (Lockett) does a lot of really nice things for us,” said Krenzer. “He is a really good three-point shooter, but what he is really known for, is he really slashes the zone. We’re going to need that against Olean.”

Jaziah Rivera and Sabien Smith each had eight rebounds to lead the Marauders, who had 48 rebounds as a team.

“Sabien Smith did a really nice job rebounding for us,” said Krenzer.

Ethan Yannie (eight points, six rebounds) and Kayin Odebralski (seven points, five rebounds) were also singled out by Krenzer for their performances.

“I was proud of the kids who were in there, with their ability to finish,” said Krenzer.

Dunkirk heads to Olean on Thursday, in what will likely be one of the Marauders’ toughest opponents this season. Falconer hosts Maple Grove on Thursday.

Twitter: @bradencarmen