Junior Austin Bankowski is Woods Cross' only starter returning from last year's team. But just because he is the player with the most varsity experience, doesn't mean he is assuming the role as the leading scorer.

He is leading the team, scoring an average of 15.8 points a game in the Wildcats' first four games but in a 57-44 win over Cyprus on Wednesday, the scoring was more balanced. And that's how Bankowski likes it.

"I'm proud that we had even scoring," Bankowski said. "There were a lot of assists. It was a complete team game."

Bankowski had 13 points but Mark Evans was not far behind with 11 and Jordan Jensen scored 10. Parker Rose and Ryan Anderson each finished with nine and seven different players scored.

"The kids are starting to grow with confidence," Woods Cross coach Todd Street said. "We're starting to see their hard work pay off."

The Wildcats got off to a bit of a slow start. Cyprus had a 9-7 lead in the first quarter but Woods Cross went on a 15-0 run that extended halfway into the second quarter. The Pirates scoring drought didn't stop until 3:12 left in the first half when they scored on a free throw.

By halftime the Wildcats had a 27-17 lead and that's the closest Cyprus would get the rest of the game.

Woods Cross went inside to Bankowski and Evans and the Wildcats won the rebounding battle.

By the time the Pirates implemented a press with about five minutes left in the game, Woods Cross had a 15-point lead.

The Pirates couldn't cut the lead down to fewer than 13 points and the Wildcats sealed the victory at the free throw line. Woods Cross made 16 of 20 free throws in the fourth quarter.

"We're not where we want to be but the kids are staying focused and working hard," Cyprus coach Robb Collins said. "We've scheduled a tough preseason With us making the jump from 4A to 5A, we know we've got a lot of tough games ahead of us."