HOLMES TOWNSHIP — The Wynford Royals played their final game in the “House of Thrills” Friday night, W.R. Donnenwirth Gymnasium.

It was the Mohawk Warriors who had the thrill, however.

Mohawk guard Austin Tusing scored 21 of his 29 points in the first half as the Warriors blasted out to a 14-point lead at the half, and rolled past the Royals, 88-59, in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.

Wynford (13-6, 10-4 N10) will be playing in a new gymnasium in its new high school next season, and the Royals had a difficult time in their old haunts Friday night.

Tusing knocked down six of Mohawk’s 11 3-point shots as the Warriors dominated the game.

“Austin is one of the best players in the league, and he might not have received the accolades recently, but everyone knows what he can do,” Mohawk coach Paul Dunn said. “When he gets going, he’s hard to stop. I’m really proud of him. At times, we were out of sorts and he kept us in the game by hitting some tough shots.

“The first time we played those guys, we were shooting about 20 percent from the 3-point line,” Dunn added. “They didn’t give us any kind of credit from three. Our guys have really worked at it the last month and a half and, I think, since that game we’ve been shooting about 35 percent. That’s a testament to our kids in practice and being able to knock down the shots during a game.”

Wynford had its winter homecoming against the Warriors and queen Kim Tuck watched as Mohawk controlled the tempo with its press.

“They shot it exceptionally well and we didn’t do a whole lot to stop that,” Wynford coach Steve Mohr said. “Give them a lot of credit, they played an unbelievably great game. They were just quicker to the ball than us. We just got outplayed.

“We got outplayed, outcoached, everything,” Mohr added. “It was a total beatdown in every phase of the game. It’s unfortunate because I think it’s been since the Upper Sandusky game that we played like this. It’s just really disappointing.”

The Royals led in the game just once, 2-0, on a Gavin Burris basket. From that point, the Warriors scored 16 of the next 23 points and never trailed again.

Mohawk (12-7, 8-5) held a 23-16 lead after one period and jumped out to a 44-30 lead at the break.

Up 12, 52-40, midway through the third quarter, Mohawk outscored Wynford, 15-8, the rest of the way to take a 67-48 lead into the final frame.

Dunn said that Mohawk’s press was the difference in the game.

“It was an unbelievable effort by our kids,” Dunn said. “The key part of our press, Brock Brause, was in foul trouble and normally we don’t turn as many turnovers. I credit the rest of the guys for stepping into different spots and forcing those turnovers. It really helped us settle down and we were able to get out and get points in transition.”

Josh Crall paced the Royals with 19 points and Burris added 14.

“This team has always rebounded, we’ve bounced back from poor performances,” Mohr said. “We’re going to have to do that because we have a state-ranked team on Tuesday.”

Brause backed Tusing with 20 points and A.J. Hess dropped in 18 and Tyler Hayman scored 11.

Mohawk won the junior varsity game, 54-33. Bryce Lange led Mohawk with 14 points. Lucas Hackworth and Toby Butterfield led Wynford with nine points.

Box score

Mohawk      23    21    23   21 — 88

Wynford      12    18    18    11 — 59

Mohawk (12-7, 8-5 N10): Shots 29-62; 3-pt. shots 11 (Austin Tusing 6, A.J. Hess 3, Brock Brause, Trey Combs); Free throws 19-23; Rebounds 37; Turnovers 13. Scoring: Tyler Hayman 3 1 8, Austin Tusing 7 1 17, Landen Snyder 3 2 8, Jacob Coldiron 0 1 1, Brock Brause 11 0 25, Trey Combs 1 0 2, A.J. Hess 4 1 11, Bryce Lange 1 2 4, Troy Russell 1 0 2.

Wynford (12-5, 10-3 N10): Shots 25-58; 3-pt shots 0; Free throws 9-17; Rebounds 33; Turnovers 16. Scoring: Gunnar Coffman 2 0 4, Dustin Brady 2 3 7, Josh Crall 7 5 19, James Schiefer 1 0 2, Gavin Burris 7 0 14, Jaron Filliater 4 0 8, Gavin Leffler 2 1 5.

JV: Mohawk 54-33.