ARGYLE — For new Argyle head coach John King, Tuesday’s season opener against Guyer had to be a welcomed sight.

The Eagles (1-0) blew the Wildcats (0-1) out, 87-56, thanks to a big run near the end of the first half that surely made King’s day, thanks to his treasured backups.

The Eagles went on a 14-0 run to close the first half with three bench players (Zach Pearson, Carson York and Michael Mead) on the floor, which drew some high praise from their new coach.

“If anything, that run shows how deep of a team we are,” King said. “For us to have those backups on the floor, I think that makes our team so much better when we have guys from the bench and continue, or even get a spark we didn’t have before.”

Guyer head coach Nathan Moses said his team was in good shape until the Eagles went on that run, which he said was likely the result of his team’s inexperience (one returning starter) compared to Argyle’s deep team with a load of experience.

“I think a lot of that was our lack of experience and they have that experience,” Moses said. “It [the end of the first half] was a key point in the game and they took it to us. You’ve gotta give them credit for that.”

The Argyle run started with just a little more than three minutes to go in the first half after the Wildcats had tied the game at 27 following a Melvin Fudge three-point play when he was fouled after beating the Argyle press on a layup.

After Fudge tied the score with his free throw, the Eagles proceeded to score the final 14 points of the half, led by four points each during the run from Mead and Caden Dickerson, who poured in nine second-quarter points. The run actually extended to 17-0 into the second half before Quinton Gary’s 3-pointer at the 6:30 mark of the third quarter.

Guyer seemed to be out of gas during that stretch when Argyle began picking up the tempo of the game, Moses said.

“They just took off and did a lot of things,” Moses said. “I thought we got a little tired there, and when we got tired we were mentally tired more than physically. We started letting them get shots that we prepared all week to not let them have. On the other end, we didn’t get good looks that we got early and started forcing some stuff.”

Argyle took a 14-point lead into the locker room at the half and the game was never close again.

“Once we get up 15-18 points we can have a lot of fun and kind of go into cruise control,” King said.

The Eagles, ranked No. 6 in the state in Class 3A by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, were led by Dickerson, who finished the night with a team-high 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

The junior guard started the night at point guard, moved to shooting guard at times and even played in the post late in the game and had some key rebounds.

“We expect that kind of night out of Caden every night,” King said. “He’s a special player and there’s no reason he can’t do that every night.”

Guyer got a solid performance from Gary, the team’s only returning starter. Gary led the Wildcats with 20 points, including five 3-pointers. Tallon Condiff added 16 points for the Wildcats.

“He shot the ball real well and he’ll continue to,” Moses said of Gary. “He’s shot the ball well for us for three years. It’ll be important that we get him good shots. When his feet are set there’s not anybody I’d rather have shooting.”

The Wildcats started the game behind after a Wildcat player was called for a technical foul for dunking during pre-game warmups. Argyle started the game with a 1-0 lead, and Guyer’s big men got in early foul trouble with two fouls each in the first quarter.

Moses said Tuesday’s game was an example of why he’s scheduled such tough nondistrict competition, regardless of their classification.

“That’s why we’re trying to play these high-ranked teams early in the year so we can figure out what we need to stop before we start playing the Ryans and Riders and Shermans and Denisons of the world,” Moses said. “I think it’ll be a real good learning experience for us.”

ADAM BOEDEKER can be reached at 940-566-6872. His e-mail address is aboedeker@dentonrc.com .

Argyle 87, Guyer 56

Guyer (0-1) — Tyler Crosek 5, Quinton Gary 20, Melvin Fudge 5, Tallon Condiff 16, Walter Phillips 3, Ryan Woodward 2, John Kornet 5.

Argyle (1-0) — Zach Pearson 4, Cory Dixon 5, Caden Dickerson 17, Carson York 10, Brandon Peck 5, Josh Drake 13, Michael Mead 8, Erik Katzen 11, Billy Bruce Carroll 10, Brian Hommel 4.