SILVERDALE — Experience is one of the most valuable intangibles on the hardwood, and in their first game of the year, the Poulsbo Junior High Panthers found that inexperience can equal ineffectiveness.

In the opening game of the junior high season, turnovers and CK’s Brandon Durham dominated the court at the Central Kitsap Junior High gym, as the Cubs hosted the Panthers Nov. 22.

Durham was a force on offense; he was also the center-point of a solid wall of low-post defense and led the Cubs attack until the fourth quarter.

Durham exploded down low from the get-go, muscling through the Poulsbo defense for 13 points in the first and helping CK to a 20-point opening quarter. The 20-7 first-frame burst forced the Panthers to play catch-up without much help from their bread-and-butter post game.

Despite a stingy CK zone defense, Poulsbo rallied to a 14-point second quarter, but remained down by 10 at the half, 31-21.

“Our inexperience working together showed,” said Panthers coach Clary Carlsen. “That’s a good ball club we played. You’re going to make mistakes when you are inexperienced and they took advantage of ours.”

Turnovers were a prevalent theme between the glimpses of a grooving Panther offense. Numerous passes got lost in the web of CK defenders, and Poulsbo’s big man Taylor Hoffer was usually double and sometimes triple-teamed when he got the ball down low. The Panthers were stuck trying to make up the difference with a shaky outside game.

Kevin Stringer scored seven points with a couple of 3-pointers to help pick up some slack, and point guard Cody Thurmond found some success dissecting the zone with his quickness; but the turnovers and missed shots widened the Panthers’ deficit.

Steals continued to create fast breaks for CK throughout the game, which led to easy buckets. One such fast break sealed the 20-point Cubs’ lead to end the third quarter 48-27.

“They all worked hard,” Carlsen said of his team. “I told the guys after the game, ‘It wasn’t for lack of heart.’”

Even with a 20-point deficit looming with a quarter to play, the Panthers played scrappy and hustled for improvement. Thurmond led a late-game charge by getting people involved against a less-solid CK defense and blue shots started to fall.

But it was to little too late.

CK’s Pat Triggs snuck in three break-away buckets in the last two minutes to cap the 61-38 win.

“I was pleased with our starters; they showed glimpses of what they can do,” Carlsen said, noting that the team had some nice passes and some good shots. “But there just weren’t enough of them.”

And with single-digit Panther point totals in the first and third quarters — 7 and 6 respectively — there just wasn’t enough time for Poulsbo to make up ground.

Durham led CK with 23 points; Drew Nettleson popped two triples and chipped in nine for the Cubs. In Poulsbo’s book, Hoffer led with 12 points, and Stringer added seven.

Poulsbo hosted last year’s heavyweight Oak Bay Nov. 29; results weren’t available at press time.