LAKE HUNTINGTON — The Sullivan West Bulldogs hosted the O’Neill Raiders on Thursday night and earned a wire-to-wire victory over their new Class B opponent.

Sullivan West made the jump from C to B this year, and while there are sure to be growing pains amidst the new division rivals, the Bulldogs didn’t seem to have much trouble against the Raiders as they led the entire game en route to a 45-33 victory.

The Bulldogs started the first quarter on an 11-3 run, ultimately ending the frame with an 11-5 lead after their offense cooled off in the final five minutes of the quarter.

O’Neill’s stingy defense that held the Bulldogs scoreless for more than five minutes continued as the Raiders conceded just five points to Sullivan West in the second quarter. The Raiders, on the other hand, scored nine points to bring the Sullivan West lead down to just two points at the half, with the Bulldogs in front 16-14.

Sullivan West came out of the locker room refreshed in the third quarter, more than doubling their score offensively and holding the Raiders to 11 points to increase their lead to nine going into the final quarter, 34-25.

The Bulldogs started the third quarter on a 15-4 run, getting their lead up to as many as 13 before the Raiders cut it down to nine.

In the final quarter, the two teams exchanged blows but O’Neill was unable to close the gap and Sullivan West held on to win 45-33.

Evan Ebert led all scorers with 13 points for Sullivan West, with Jacob Hubert adding 10 and Matt Dubois scoring nine.

The Bulldogs have a new Head Coach this season, with Ronj Padu taking the reigns.

“Everything is new,” Padu explained. “I’ve been talking to former coaches a lot to get some ideas.”

When asked about the game Padu said, “We had to execute. Nothing was going in during the second quarter, but our defense and rotations helped a lot, and changed the momentum in the third quarter.”