SULPHUR — It took one quarter for them to get started, but once the Sulphur Golden Tors came alive they never looked backed, beating the Vinton Lions 73-26 at home on Thursday night.

The win gave head coach Clint Lebato and the Tors a good dose of momentum to start the new season.

“Anytime you can get a win it’s a good thing,” Lebato said. “Our guys have been working really hard and we are looking forward to having a good year.”

After a sluggish first quarter that saw them take an 11-8 lead, the Tors used their size and dominance in the paint to extend their advantage.

“We had a nice size advantage and we did a good job of using it to execute our offense and get some good shots,” Lebato said.

Thanks to a strong defensive quarter and eight points from guard Taran Winston, the Tors took a 30-11 halftime lead.

“We had a bunch of guys under the lights for the first time tonight,” Lebato said. “They had some nerves early, but we got a timeout to calm them down and they played well after that.”

Vinton presented Sulphur with more of a challenge in the third quarter, but depth eventually became an issue for the Lions, who were missing a large number of payers who are still with the school’s playoff football team.

“We have some guys that aren’t ready to play, but have to, and they are doing a good job of stepping up,” said Vinton head coach Eric Heinen. “We kept it close in the first and third quarters when we were fresh, but we had trouble with our depth. That is one of the drawbacks of a small school, a lot of kids play multiple sports.”

The Tors outscored the Lions 26-0 in the final quarter.

Winston led the way for Sulphur with 12 points and four assists while being a force defensively.

“(Taran) is a very important player for us because he can play so many positions,” Lebato said. “He has to do well for us to be good this year, and he played very well tonight.”

Derrick Gallien added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Tors.

Leading the way for the Lions was guard E.J. Jack with a game-high 14 points and six rebounds.