The Argyle Eagles rode a dominating first-half performance to a 65-50 win over Denton on Saturday despite a comeback effort by the Broncos.

The Eagles (2-0) rolled in the first half, scoring 46 points to Denton’s 24. The Argyle team that entered the locker room at halftime only slightly resembled the team that could only muster 23 points in the entire second half.

“I talked to my players about the importance of playing for four quarters,” Argyle head coach John King said. “Against Guyer, I thought we played three solid quarters and here today, I thought we played two solid quarters. If you let up against a good team, they’ll come back on you, like Denton did.”

Argyle beat Guyer 87-56 in its first game of the year on Tuesday.

Denton’s biggest problem in the first half was the play of Argyle’s Erik Katzen, who played an excellent half on defense, smothering and frustrating Denton forward Fred Hunter, forcing him to pass the ball when he didn’t want to and take ill-advised shots.

Hunter was 2-of-10 for seven points, one rebound and one steal in the first half.

Denton (1-1) wasn’t able to overcome the 22-point deficit.

The Eagles were led by guard Caden Dickerson, who scored 16 points and Josh Drake, who added 12.

The Broncos came out strong, cutting the deficit in half early in the fourth quarter, but in the end, they just didn’t have enough time on the clock to complete the comeback.

Hunter finished the game with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.

The senior led the rally for Denton, firing the rest of the team up with a couple of explosive plays, including one play that ultimately counted against him.

With Argyle up 56-39 early in the third quarter, Hunter intercepted an Argyle pass on Denton’s end of the floor, drove the ball past half court to the lane and dunked the ball, sending the crowd into a frenzy. The two points didn’t count because the referee called him for the charge, but the play pumped Hunter up and sparked the rest of his team.

From there on out, Denton put a lot more pressure on the Eagles on both sides of the floor.

Desmond Taylor scored on the next two Denton possessions, then turned it back over to Hunter, who went back to work, scoring on back-to-back possessions, both times with three defenders on him.

“When you got a player the caliber of Fred, other teams are going to try to take him away, and what other guys gotta do is to step up and try to carry that load,” Denton head coach Harold Jackson said. “We just have to learn how to play hard and play with each other.”

With Katzen in foul trouble, Hunter seemed to have a lot more room to work.

The Broncos lost starting guard, sophomore Keyvin Moss to an injury early in the game, which changed the game plan, Jackson said, and it took the team a little while to adjust. Moss isn’t expected to miss any more time.

MONTY MILLER can be reached at 940-566-6869. His e-mail address is mwmiller@dentonrc.com.

Argyle 69, Denton 57

Denton             12            12            18            15            --            57

Argyle              20            26            10            13            --            69       

Denton (1-1) – Fred Hunter 17, Desmond Taylor 12, Aaron Smiley 10, Joey Triana 8, Spencer Stewart 8, Gary Robinson 2.

Argyle (2-0) – Caden Dickerson 16, Josh Drake 12, Cory Dixon 11, Zach Pearson 6, Erik Katzen 4, Carson York 4, Billy Bruce Carroll 5, Brandon Peck 4, Michael Mead 2, Brian Hommell 3.w