LANDIS — East Rowan hasn’t beaten South Rowan in boys basketball since the 1993 Christmas Tournament, Still, no one expected anything quite like this.

South bombed the Mustangs 87-65 in the season opener for both teams, blowing away East in a game that was decided by halftime.

Last season, South nipped East 57-55 on opening night and by 61-56 in the Christmas Tournament. The year before that, the Raiders managed to nip the Mustangs by three points and five points. But Tuesday night, in beating East for the ninth straight time, South asserted itself with a 31-11 second-quarter wipeout. The revved-up Raiders looked like coach John Davis has been feeding them nothing but spinach and nails since the first day of practice.

Senior Scott Beck, who led the Raiders with 23 points, scored nine of the quickest points in history to get the Raiders off to a roaring 9-2 start. The left-hander drove for two points on South’s first possession. Then he nailed a 3. Then he nailed a 4, connecting from behind the arc, even as he was crashing to the floor after a foul. Beck bounced up, punching the air and sending the home crowd into a tizzy.

“We talked about getting on them fast and not fooling around,” said Beck. “We wanted to put this game away in a hurry.”

It wasn’t quite that easy, though. Coach Mark Flynn’s East team, down 22-7 in a heartbeat, rallied to score the last eight points of the first quarter to trail just 22-15.

But then Beck and Maurice Torrence, who produced an 18-point, 13-rebound double-double, crashed the boards for four consecutive putbacks to start the second quarter. That made it 30-15.

“Torrence was a beast inside — a warrior,” said Davis, after the quick-leaping 6-foot-2 scrapper, established a new career-high for points.

“My offense came because I was working hard on defense,” said Torrence, whose previous best was 14 against West Rowan last year. “We’re not a team that’s blessed with height, but we battle on the boards. Then we run to get our points.”

Beck, who scored 20 early last season against Mooresville, also enjoyed a career night.

“I worked hard all summer, lifting and running, to be a more complete player,” said Beck, who had eight boards and looks much stronger and springier than last year. “I want to be more aggressive in all phases of the game — assists, steals, rebounds, everything.”

He’s off to a good start.

After the glass-eating spree by Beck and Torrence, Tore’ Girty and Gary Propst joined the fun with 3s. Smooth Doug Daugherty (14 points) scored from some tough angles and suddenly the Raiders had complete control. They led comfortably 53-26 at halftime.

“I was real disappointed in our play on the defensive end of the floor,” said Flynn, after the Raiders rained in six first-half 3s and wrecked East on the glass. “ South shot the lights out. They’ve got some people who can score from anywhere.”

So does East. But South’s defense, spearheaded by guard Marquette Diggs, did a good shot at running at the Mustangs’ veteran shooters, Justin Miller, Adam Cornelius and Taylor Weber. East connected on only two 3s. Both were fourth-quarter bombs by Miller that found the net long after matters were decided.

“We knew we had to challenge every shot and we did,” said Davis.

The second half was ragged, as both coaches used everyone and tried all sorts of combinations.

“We got spotty at times. We know we can do a lot better,” said Davis. “But I was pleased with the effort. We’ve got some seniors who have been in our system awhile. They’ve put in hard work in the offseason to improve and it showed.”

Flynn knows his team will improve in time, too. He said his squad didn’t execute very well on some of the new stuff he’s put in, but he did see positives. He liked the work of youngsters Matt Butler (15 points, six boards), who was playing football not long ago, and Matt Belk (seven points, six boards).

“Those kids got after it the way we talk about getting after it,” Flynn said.

But East made eight more turnovers than South, was outboarded by 10 and outshot (44-34 percent). Those statistical edges were way too much to overcome.

NOTES:Miller finished with 17 points, while Cornelius had 11. Weber had 10 rebounds. ... Former head coach Rick Roseman assisted Flynn. ... South’s Jarrell Mack had two crowd-pleasing blocks. ... East hosts West Iredell Friday, while South visits Salisbury.

Boys

EASTROWAN (65) — Miller 17, Butler 15, Cornelius 11, Belk 7, Weber 6, Brady 5, Misenheimer 3, Talbert 1, Ledbetter, Cooke, Jones, Whitley.

SOUTHROWAN (87) — Beck 23, Torrence 18, Daugherty 14, Girty 9, Propst 7, Kennedy 5, Diggs 4, Patterson 4, Childers 3, Hornbeak, Biles, Mack, Willett.

East Rowan 15 11 18 21 — 65 South Rowan 22 31 20 14 — 87