Who said size matters?

Don’t try selling that to the Weatherly boys basketball team, for on opening night in its own house, the Wreckers found a way to scrap, claw and figure a way to overcome a rangy Lincoln Leadership Academy squad, 72-68.

If this is any indication of what’s in store in this newly renovated, sparkling and brightly lit gymnasium, Weatherly is going to be in the hunt for some postseason basketball.

Yes, it’s a long way off to February, but the way the Wreckers responded to adversity and found a way to stave off a late rally should infuse the team with a wow factor.

Head coach Corey Gerhart knows that the Wreckers need to fine tune some things, and there are 21 more games and practices to get that done.

“We want to rush things, we want to come down and shoot the three; I keep telling our kids that we need to be patient, work the ball and look for good shots,” said Gerhart.

However, there is an air of excitement.

The Wreckers don’t need junior swingman Scotty Zoscin to be the go-to guy. Gerhart knows this isn’t a one-man band.

“You see what some of the other kids can do,” said Gerhart. “We don’t need to have Scotty carry us; we have other players (not just role players) who can score.”

Lightning-quick Antonio Colecio poured in a game-high 23 points, two better than Zoscin’s 21. Trevor Lowman also rained down 11 points on Leadership, while Mason Gerhart added nine. Senior Elijah Derr only tallied six points, but played a superb overall game.

That balance was able to offset a tough Leadership squad, which was paced by 17 points from Michael DeLosSantos.

“They were a load,” said Gerhart. “We had to figure some things out, and once we got things rolling, it was a big lift off our backs … we did a very good job spreading the floor.”

That opened lanes for Colecio to drive or find himself free in the paint for easy buckets. The attack started to surface late in the first quarter with the Wreckers trailing 15-9, and led to a 12-2 run that gave the home team the lead after eight minutes.

Weatherly found things much to its liking midway through the second quarter, going on an 11-4 spurt that enabled it to take a 39-29 advantage to the intermission. In that rally, Zoscin had seven points and Colecio added five.

Though the Wreckers went in front 48-36 early in the third quarter, Leadership wasn’t melting away. The Lehigh Valley-based team made a late charge in the period, before coming up big in the fourth frame.

Trailing 65-58 with a little over three minutes to play, Lincoln got a second wind and crept within 69-66.

“You know that’s when you find out things about your team,” said Gerhart. “We didn’t fold; we just kept battling and battling.”

NEW DIGS … The gym looked terrific with the new additions, including a great scoreboard with numbers, fouls and points each player posted.

BY THE NUMBERS … Both teams tallied the same number of field goals with 26, with the Wreckers sinking one more triple (eight) than Leadership. Weatherly finished 26-of-53 from the floor.

SWEEP … The Wreckers won the JV game, 65-37. Frank Willis led the winners with 21 and Ian McLavrin added nine.

LINCOLN LA

DeLosSantos 6-3-4-17, Matos 6-2-2-16, Wynder 7-0-1-14, Gonzales 5-0-2-10, J. Pagan 1-2-4-5, Diaz 1-0-0-2, Driscoll 0-1-2-1, A. Pagan 0-1-2-1. TOTALS: 26-9-17-68.

WEATHERLY

Colecio 9-4-7-23, Zoscin 6-4-4-21, Lowman 4-1-1-11, Gerhart 4-1-3-9, Derr 2-2-7-6, Broskoskie 1-0-0-2, Willis 0-0-0-0, Obert 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 26-12-22-72.

Lincoln LA 17 12 16 20 - 68

Weatherly 21 18 16 17 - 72

Three-pointers: Lincoln Leadership Academy - DeLosSantos 2, Matos 2, Gonzalez 2, J. Pagan 1. Weatherly - Zoscin 5, Lowman 2, Colecio 1.