Justin Hojlo and Kevin LeBlond were in a shootout, but in the end it was Hojlo with more ammunition.

The two senior guards dueled during a Class I contest on Tuesday, Jan. 13, with Hojlo’s Pelham Pythons pulling away from LeBlond and the John Stark Generals, 88-71.

Hojlo poured in 35 points to help fight off LeBlond and his 27 points, as the Pythons improved to 5-1 in Class I play.

“They’re a very talented team,” said John Stark’s head coach, Michael Smith. “From what I’ve seen, they are one of the best, if not the best, team in Class I.”

Pelham opened up a 41-23 lead and appeared to have distanced itself from the home team. Moments later, LeBlond answered with back-to-back threes to cut the deficit to 10, and John Stark trailed by 12 at the half.

LeBlond, John Stark’s only returning starter from last season, scored six consecutive points to cut the lead to 66-61, but that was the closest approach for the 1-5 Generals.

According to Pelham’s mentor, Todd Kress, his crew’s response to Stark’s comeback was not surprising.

“It’s a matter of continuing the up-tempo style of play,” said Kress. “We want to make it so they may make a single run, but they aren’t able to sustain it. I think our team depth wore on them a little.”

Four players scored in double figures for Pelham, including Steve Spirou with 26 points. In the loss, John Stark’s Travis Matteuzzi notched his first double-double, scoring 16 points and adding 11 rebounds.

The game was fast-paced throughout, with both teams constantly running up and down the floor.

Kress said the way John Stark played while they were managing a second-half comeback looked familiar.

“They freed up their shooters and were basically beating us at our own game,” said Kress. “We had to keep pushing and hope to be the team standing at the end.”

Smith agreed the pace of the game was the key to his team’s comeback – and its prior and subsequent stumble.

“We got caught up a little in the speed of the game at the beginning,” said Smith. “We like to force the tempo, and did that for a while, but they are a little better at it than we are.”

Hojlo hit four three-pointers and was also successful on the interior.

“He has the ability at any time to get where he wants to be on the floor,” said Kress. “He’s included his teammates a lot more of late, especially early in the game. They can’t just key in on him. Then later in the game he is able to get out there and just do what he wants.”

Though Smith was happy with his team’s effort in cutting into a big lead, he said in the second half the Pythons left his group in the dust.

“Most teams like to play at about 50 mph,” said Smith. “We want to play at 70, and Pelham got to about 90.”