NORTH BEND — For a half Friday night, North Bend’s boys played visiting Brookings-Harbor even, even leading 27-25 at the break.

Then the Bruins dug deeper, scrambled harder, moved the ball better and hit several clutch outside shots and pulled away for a 58-49 win in the Far West League opener for both schools.

“Our intensity picked up a little bit,” said Brookings-Harbor coach Bryan Wood.

Evidence supported his conclusion as the Bruins got to several loose balls, forced more turnovers and came up with other big plays against the Bulldogs.

“There was a stretch there in the third quarter where they got every loose ball,” said North Bend coach John Olson.

That’s exactly when Brookings-Harbor pulled away.

The Bruins started the half on a 9-2 run and later scored eight straight near the end of the third quarter — capped by a big 3-pointer from Michael Wood — to take a 12-point lead.

Then Brookings-Harbor held off every North Bend run in the fourth.

“We started running our offense better,” said Brookings-Harbor’s Chase Bansemer. “We moved the ball way better.”

While the entire team contributed with defense, Brookings-Harbor’s offense came down to Bansemer, his brother, Kenton, and Wood.

They combined to score all but eight of the Bruins’ points, with Chase Bansemer pouring in 19, Kenton Bansemer 17 and Wood 14.

Wood and Chase Bansemer combined to hit seven 3-pointers — seven more than North Bend — while Kenton Bansemer did his damage inside, scoring 13 of his points after halftime.

“It seemed like they made a lot of 3-point shots,” said Elliot Adams, who led the Bulldogs with 16 points. “That hurt us.”

Bryan Wood said Michael Wood’s 3-pointers — four in all — were vital for the Bruins.

“The game’s a lot easier when the ball goes in,” he said.

That happened in the first half for North Bend, as well, but the Bulldogs struggled for stretches after halftime.

Still North Bend made one run at the Bruins.

Adams scored to end the third quarter. Then, on North Bend’s opening possession of the fourth, Luke Clark soared out of bounds to save a ball and Jake Lucero made it pay off with a jumper. Moments later, Andrew Slack blocked a Brookings-Harbor shot on one end and scored on a drive at the other to cut the deficit to 44-38.

The rally didn’t last.

Kenton Bansemer scored inside and Chase Bansemer followed with a 3-pointer, and North Bend never was closer than nine down again.

Adams said the Bruins appeared to want the ball more.

“They went after loose balls harder than we did,” he said.

The solution to that problem, Adams said, is working harder in practice.

“In practice, we’ve been going hard,” he said. “But some days they’re not as intense as they should be. Every day, we need to practice as hard as we can.”

The Bulldogs got eight points each from Lucero and Sam Lynass and seven from Clark.

“I thought we played extremely hard and did well on the boards,” Olson said. “The loose balls got us.”

Brookings-Harbor was every bit as impressive as he expected.

“They’re pretty athletic,” he said. “They do a good job.”

But, as North Bend learned last year, the end of the season is more important than the start. The Bruins beat the Bulldogs in the league playoffs and ended the year in the state tournament.

“I think we’re better now than we thought we would be,” Adams said. “We’re going to get better from here.”

Meanwhile, the Bruins knew the value of winning the league opener on the road.

“North Bend is a great team with great tradition,” Bryan Wood said. “Obviously, it’s a great win for us.”