BELCHERTOWN — In each of the second, third and fourth quarters, the South Hadley boys basketball team put together runs that had Belchertown in the danger zone. Several times the Orioles found themselves in a double-digit hole, teetering closer toward defeat each instance.

But Belchertown continued to battle back. The Orioles were down 11 points in the second frame before cutting it to six, and went down 13 early in the third until an extended 14-5 run got them within two possessions. South Hadley again built the lead to 10 thanks to back-to-back Jack Loughrey buckets, but the Os responded with six unanswered.

Despite staying in it the whole way, Belchertown never climbed within one possession, and 29 big points from Loughrey were enough to propel the visiting Tigers to a 59-52 season-opening win on Thursday – the first night of the high school winter sports season.

“I want the ball in my hands at all times,” Loughrey, who averaged 20 points per game as a junior a year ago, said. “But I know that when I do give it up, I got guys around me that can score. We just go out there and hoop, that’s really it.”

South Hadley head coach Chris Gerber admitted Belchertown was in better shape than his team on Thursday. Loughrey and point guard Noah Hambley played the entire 32 minutes of action, and come the fourth quarter, they were gassed. The Tigers entered the final frame with a 51-45 advantage after a third quarter that featured 46 combined points. In the fourth, the teams combined for only 15 – South Hadley edging out Belchertown 8-7.

The Orioles’ length and activity on the defensive end forced South Hadley into a handful of turnovers late in the game, giving Belchertown possession down 55-51 on several occasions. But the Os, too, had the turnover bug, and careless passing gave the ball right back to the Tigers.

Loughrey and Hambley made free throws in the final minute to seal the deal.

“That was lack of experience,” Belchertown head coach Jim Hart, who coached his first game with the program, said of the late-game miscues. “They worked hard on the defensive end to be able to get all the way back in the game, and we had [South Hadley] on the ropes in the conditioning part of it. We saw them turn the ball over three straight times… We had our chances. We missed some bunnies, some easy ones underneath. Transition offense, turning the ball over, that made it hard to win.”

Shea MacLean led the hosts with a team-high 18 points, Brice Letendre added 16 and Ian McDonald had a dozen including nine in the second half for Belchertown.

Aside from Loughrey’s massive day, South Hadley’s Isiah James poured in four 3s en route to 16 points while Hambley added nine points – seven coming in the second half. Tim Loughrey had six points to round out the Tigers’ scoring.

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” Gerber said following the win. “Belchertown is going to be really good. They’re well-coached and they’re going to win a ton of games. We knew coming up here we had our hands full… We started last Monday. The kids are exhausted. We’re fortunate that we snuck ahead by 12, 13 points a couple of times, because every time we did they answered right away. We needed that breathing room.”