Brandywine boys’ basketball reserve Michael Schoenleber didn’t waste any time Tuesday to make a contribution in the Bobcats 51-34 win over Marcellus.

Schoenleber scored nine of his 15 points in the first quarter to ignite the Bobcats to a 16-5 lead in their season-opener. The Wildcats never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.

“Schoenleber came off the bench and gave us a spark,” said Brandywine coach Nathan Knapp. “He was hot and got us going.”

Brandywine scored the final nine points of the first quarter with all of those points coming from Schoenleber. Schoenleber’s first basket was a 3-pointer, which gave the Bobcats a 10-4 lead. Brandywine’s defense forced Marcellus into 10 first quarter turnovers.

“We’re working on a defensive pressure a lot,” Knapp said. “We want to get after it this year.”

Brandywine increased its lead to 27-11 in the second quarter after getting two free throws from Evan Hartman with 2:35 left in the quarter. Mykal Toxopeus scored seven of his 10 points in the second quarter for the Bobcats.

“Toxy got hot there for a little bit,” Knapp said.

Getting into an offensive rhythm was a struggle for Brandywine after getting off to a great start. The Bobcats had 18 turnovers over the final three quarters.

But Brandywine was able to make enough shots to hold off Marcellus. Schoenleber and Austin Searles hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Bobcats a 38-24 lead with 1:52 left in the third quarter. Searles finished with 13 points, including three 3-pointers.

“(Marcellus) went to a zone and we stopped doing the good things that we were doing,” Knapp said. “We didn’t attack (on offense) with purpose very well. We kind of got out of rhythm and then we started fouling quite a bit and stopping the clock. I also think we had 21 turnovers and you want to limit your turnovers.”

Marcellus didn’t take advantage of Brandywine’s fouling as the Wildcats were only 16-of-33 from the free throw line.

Mason Morales scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Marcellus. Michael Pompey added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Brandywine’s 6-foot-6 duo of Evan Hartman and Alex Erwin combined to score 11 points and grab 15 rebounds.

“The skies the limit for those two,” Knapp said.

MARCELLUS 34

Garett Collins 0 0-0 0, Todd Shelly 1 3-8 5, Michael Pompey 2 8-13 12, Mason Morales 5 2-5 14, Dustin Nielson 0 0-0 0, Dalton Brown 0 0-1 0, Connor Sonnevil 0 1-4 1, Ben Hostetler 0 2-2 2. TOTALS: 8 16-33 34

BRANDYWINE 51

Mykal Toxopeus 3 3-6 10, Alex Erwin 1 0-1 2, Evan Hartman 3 3-3 9, Austin Searles 5 0-0 13, Michael Shelton 0 0-0 0, Michael Schoenleber 5 3-4 15, Bradley Millin 0 0-1 0, Brian Kline 1 0-2 2, Alex Ulrickson 0 0-0 0, Courtlan Gordon 0 0-0 0, Alex Brooks 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18 9-17 51

Marcellus 5 15 29 34

Brandywine 16 27 40 51

3-point goals: Marcellus 2 (Morales), Brandywine 6 (Searles 3, Schoenleber 2, Toxopeus). Total fouls (fouled out): Marcellus 19 (Nielson), Brandywine 25 (Erwin). Shooting: Marcellus 8-of-33 for 24 percent, Brandywine 18-of-51 for 35 percent. Rebounding: Marcellus 26 (Morales 9), Brandywine 34 (Erwin 8). Turnovers: Marcellus 24, Brandywine 18. Varsity records: Marcellus 0-1, Brandywine 1-0. JV score: Brandywine 41, Marcellus 32