Mowafak and Gabriel Sularski dropped 18 points apiece in leading the Eagles by the Knights 66-58 to open the season 1-0 in Casey Stanley’s third year as head coach.

Crew Fotheringham led Lone Peak (0-1) with his own tally of 18 points; Jayden Hughes (11 points) and Saxon Young (10 points) created enough to keep themselves in the conversation late after trailing by as much as 15 at halftime.

Inside two minutes, a layup by Young brought the Knights within five of LCA, but late free-throw shooting by Mowafak (10 of 10 from the line) and Sularski outweighed Lone Peak at the stripe.

“I thought we were in control, but I think we took the air out of the ball a little bit,” Stanley said. “I think just making sure we execute in late-game situations and handling pressure — those little things, that’s gotta clean up. But I thought we honestly took the foot off the pedal a little bit.”

Still, Lone Peak’s 23 fourth-quarter points — including three separate 3-point baskets between Hughes, Young, and Fotheringham — brought the Knights back within reach late, which served as a reminder that late-game storms can brew just about any time, even in Game 1.

“We were ready for that,” Mowafak said. “We were always calm on the court. If we repeated some mistakes, we’d talk with each other and then we’d make it up. That’s what we did, we made every mistake up.”

LCA held Lone Peak to just two made field goals in the first quarter but led just 12-4. Sularski tallied 10 bench points, and junior forward Osaigbovo Aguebor grabbed all eight of his points to go up 31-16 at the break.

Defensively, Stanley came away relieved by his team’s first performance still just a few months into the school year, and with much of his roster being international students. He’d praise Serbia native Matija Moravcevic (12 points) and Denmark’s Joost Dalgaard for meeting their assignments Tuesday.

“It’s kind of our first game for many of our guys in America,” Stanley said. “They don’t really know what to expect, but I thought it was great to challenge ourselves with one of the best and come out with a good win.”

He continued:

“I thought we passed the ball really well, which is a sign of a well-connected, together team,” Stanley said. “I thought it wasn’t just good individual defense, it was good, team defense as well, so I came away very impressed… It’s kind of a unique deal where most of these kids come and they have a very short runway before we get ready for the season and they have to get ready for American basketball but I thought they did a good job.”

LCA hits the road for two contests at the “5 For the Fight National Hoopfest” on Nov. 24 and 26 at Pleasant Grove, then returns home to play another 6A power, Corner Canyon, on Tuesday, Dec. 2.

Lone Peak will also hit the floor in the Pleasant Grove showcase, facing the hosts on Nov. 24, before hosting Springville for a home game on Nov. 25.