George Rogers Clark’s boys basketball team hosted their first district game of the season Friday night when the Paris Greyhounds came to town.

The Hounds came into the matchup with only one win to five losses, but that didn’t stop them from matching one of the state’s top-ranked teams early.

The Cardinals had a 14-12 lead when head coach Josh Cook decided they needed a change. Cook subbed out four starters for four reserves, and the change worked wonders for the Cards.

A quick six points gave the Cardinals an eight-point lead, and from then on they wouldn’t look back.

“They’re coming along the way I want them to. I want to continue to build confidence, I want them to find roles and be prepared to do their job on any given night,” Cook said. “I really like our bench. I like what they bring to our team. They’re very unselfish. When they play can come in and play the way they’re playing it makes us a better basketball team.”

Another player who makes the team better when he’s hot is Jared Wellman, and he got hot against the Greyhounds in the second quarter. Wellman scored 14 points in the second quarter alone, 12 of them coming from 3-pointers. Wellman (17) and Lincoln Bush (12) had as many points at halftime as Paris did as a team.

“[Jared] helps open up the floor. It was good for him to get some open looks. We’ve got to continue to work to find him and he’s got to continue to work to move without the basketball, learn to read screens. Because people are going to guard him tight,” Cook said. “He definitely spreads the floor for us. Hopefully people will see that and they’ll have to adjust and have to guard us.”

The Cardinals continued their domination into the second half, extending their 21-point halftime lead into a 31-point victory in their first district game.

“It’s good to get off to a great start to district play. Especially here at home, we want to come out and play. It was a really good crowd for a Friday night,” Cook said. “Paris has been on a pretty good run for so many years. It was good for us to get off to a good start in the district.”

The Cardinals have a tough stretch of games coming up, including a 6 p.m. game against Louisville Butler today that Cook said could turn into a track meet. They follow that with a holiday tournament next weekend at LCA that features seven good teams with some really good players.

“I’m looking forward to it. I’m open to see what happens,” Cook said. “I’m not trying to put too much pressure in my head with it. Obviously I want to see our kids win, I want to see our kids play well. But I also want to see our kids grow and see how they handle some different situations. For us, the next four basketball games will be really good for us either way.”

Jared Wellman –— 23 points

Lincoln Bush — 16 points

Jerone Morton — 13 points

KJ Rucker — 8 points

Trent Edwards — 8 points

Jeremiah Mundy-Lloyd — 7 points

Branson Webb — 3 points

Chester Abbot — 2 points

Stanley Smothers — 1 point