The Cornwall Dragons saw an opening late in the third quarter, and they exploded through the door.

In what had been an even Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association Division II boys’ basketball matchup, the Dragons went on a 10-point run over the course of two minutes, opening up an eight-point lead on their way to a 64-51 win over the Valley Central Vikings on January 2 at Valley Central High School in Montgomery.

“In the first half we were 11 of 13 in the paint and in the second half, we were 7 of 17,” Valley Central coach Frank Nutt said.

“We got a bunch of easy baskets in the first half. They shot the ball really well. I thought they made some contested shots. They banked in three 3s. It’s tough, especially when you allow them to get second and third chances. We did a good job in the first half containing, but we didn’t finish as well in the second half.”

The bleeding started about a minute after the Vikings’ Donovan Davis gave the Vikings a 35-33 lead with a dunk. Jack Demetriow answered with a jump shot to tie the game at 35.

Then with 2:37 left in the third quarter, Gavin McWherter knocked down a 3-point basket to give the Dragons the lead for good. Demetriow followed with a 3 of his own with 1:59 to go in the third. Then a basket by Damien Sajous gave them a 43-35 lead, which buried the Vikings.

Demetriow led the Dragons with a game-high 23 points and McWherter finished with 15 points, including three 3-pointers.

“(Demetriow) really hurt us,” Nutt said. “It wasn’t just his initial. It was him getting into the paint, missing, getting his round rebound, and getting a second chance. He got two ‘and ones’ that I felt were kind of soft, but if the kid’s fighting that hard for the ball, he clearly wants it.”

Davis and Shawn Magby scored 13 points each to lead the Vikings.

It was Davis who stopped the Dragons’ scoring run when he scored on a putback to pull the Vikings to within six points.

However, Cornwall’s Casey Clemente converted a three-point play to send the game into the third quarter with the Dragons leading, 46-37.

McWherter gave the Dragons a 12-point lead with a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter.

“They did a great job,” Nutt said. “They had a game plan and they executed it. I thought we got the shots that we wanted. We got close to 30 points in the paint, and we just didn’t make a bunch.”

It was only the Vikings’ second loss of the season. They opened the season with a 59-46 loss to the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders before winning five straight. They have a 3-1 divisional record with games against the Washingtonville Wizards and Warwick Wildcats remaining before making their second run through the division. They also suffered a 55-39 loss to the Kingston Tigers on Wednesday.

They’ll see the Dragons again on January 29.

“That’s a league game for us,” Nutt said.

“We get a chance to play them there, and we get a chance to watch the film and see what we can improve on.”