HAMILTON – Chris Raba says this is the most inexperienced team he has ever had in over 20 years as a head coach. But the opening-game outcome sure looked a lot like those experienced teams of the past. After letting a third-quarter lead slip away, the Baron’s Nottingham High basketball team rallied convincingly for a 46-35 victory at Steinert Saturday. “It’s a huge win to start the season,” said guard Mike Rocco, who hit some big baskets in the comeback. “We follow coach Raba’s plan. All week it’s been about execution.” Junior guard Chris Dormevil, a Hamilton West transfer who scored 15 first-half points, said, “It’s exciting. It’s a new start, we can grow off of this and play great during the season.” Raba dedicated the win to ailing Nottingham principal Frank Ragazzo. “He hasn’t been in school for a couple weeks,” the coach said. “He means a lot to our program. He’s always been a huge supporter for us. This one’s for him.” Now in his 13th year at Nottingham, the Baron realizes that one win isn’t indicative of how the season will go, but there were bright spots. Aside from Dormevil’s ability to score and then make plays to teammates when Steinert applied second-half pressure, Rocco had eight points and eight rebounds, junior Liam Cox had eight second-half points and six boards and senior guard Jayden Williams had eight points and hit two 3-pointers. What may have been most promising is that after Steinert scored 10 straight to turn a six-point deficit into a 28-24 advantage, the young Stars did not fold. Instead, they responded with a 16-1 run to bridge the third and fourth quarters to take a 40-29 advantage. The Spartans got no closer than nine the rest of the game and did not score a fourth-quarter basket until 1:09 remained. “Coach Raba told us to keep our composure,” Rocco said of the comeback. “We kept our composure and we executed.” The biggest play in the run came to end the third quarter. With the game tied, Dormevil drove to the basket. As the defense collapsed, he kicked it left corner to Rocco, who drained a 3-pointer to give Nottingham the lead for good. “That was huge for the team but we all did our jobs out there,” Rocco said. “We practice that stuff every day in practice,” Raba said. “We put a minute on the clock, try to hold the ball and take it at the right time.” Which is exactly what Dormevil did. “That was a big momentum boost,” he said. “We built off of that in the fourth quarter. It was fun.” Both teams came out in deliberate offenses in the first half. Steinert had a 9-6 lead before Nottingham closed the half on a 20-7 run. The Spartans hung in behind the play of Zaquan Cullers-Boyd (8 points, 7 rebounds), Mason Grant (8 rebounds, 4 blocks), who returned after missing last year, and Anthony Santucci (9 points). Sandovil was nearly unstoppable in the first half, making his first six shots and hitting both his free throws. He only took three shots in the second half, but made his presence felt. “He facilitated for the other guys,” Raba said. “They adjusted a little bit, kind of jumped him when he got the ball, and he made the right moves.” Asked what the transfer means to his young squad, Raba said, “Everything. You can tell during that second quarter he put the team on his shoulders and carried us the whole quarter. He did a little bit of everything. Shot threes, he got to the basket, made great passes. He’s a very, very good player.” A player Rocco is happy to see on board. “Chris is gonna add a lot,” the senior said. “He drives, he kicks, he scores. He does everything.” Dormevil said he feels right at home with his new team. “I’m used to them because everyone plays off me,” he said. “I facilitate, I pass to everybody, they know how to play with me. In the second half my teammates were hitting shots. I thought I’d keep feeding them.” After Rocco’s 3-pointer to end the third quarter, he scored quickly to start the fourth as Nottingham used a 9-1 spurt to put it away. In discussing his team’s ability not to panic after Steinert took its lead, Raba said “They responded well. We executed. Some games we’re gonna execute, some games we’re not.” That’s how it goes with young teams, and everyone on Nottingham realizes that while beating Steinert was a good starting point, that’s all it was – a start. “We can always do better,” Rocco said. “We have to improve day by day. One brick at a time.” Nottingham will not be the pressing, running team it has been in the past. Scoring will be an issue, at least in the early going. The Stars will have to succeed on halfcourt defense, which they played well against Steinert. The Spartans shot just 12-for-45 and committed 16 turnovers. “Everybody plays hard,” Raba said. “It’s been a pleasure to coach them. Because they’re so coachable they’re gonna get better game by game. These kids just have to get experience playing with each other.” For one game, at least, they got the same result as a lot of other experienced Northstar teams. NOTTINGHAM (46) Williams 2-2-8, Vazquez 2-1-5, Dormevil 6-2-15, Rocco 3-1-8, Cox 4-0-8, Coleman 1-0-2, Bisset 0-0-0, Kastrat 0-0-0. Totals: 18-6-46. STEINERT (35) Ditta 0-4-4, Santucci 3-0-9, Cullers-Boyd 3-2-8, Grant 1-0-2, Weaver 3-0-6, Popso 2-0-4, Leder 0-2-2. Totals: 12-8-35. Nottingham (1-0) 13 9 9 15 – 46 Steinert (0-1) 9 7 12 7 – 35 3-point goals: Williams 2, Dormevil, Rocco, Santucci 3.