The Pioneer High School boys basketball team got a scare in its season opener Tuesday night, a Southeastern Conference matchup against Tecumseh.

The Pioneers trailed 28-20 at halftime, but used a big third quarter and a stifling defense to propel themselves to a comeback victory in their home gym, 50-44.

Pioneer (1-0, 1-0 SEC) opened the second half with a 10-2 run to tie the game, and outscored Tecumseh 21-8 in the third quarter. The difference was in the defense.

"We came out a lot more intense, buckled down at halftime and put all our emphasis on defense," said Pioneer senior Aaron Schoenfeldt, who scored nine points while celebrating his 18th birthday Tuesday night.

Pioneer got burned in the first half by leaving shooters open on the perimeter, but in the second half Tecumseh's easy looks dried up, and Pioneer's extra defensive energy carried over to the offensive end as well.

"Turnovers led to their points (in the second half)," said Tecumseh coach Brandon Schmidt. "When they went on that run we really didn't have an answer."

Tecumseh's hot shooting early on surprised Pioneer. Tecumseh (0-1, 0-1 SEC) made four 3-pointers in the opening quarter, scoring 18 points without the aid of a single layup.

"They shot a high percentage from the (three-point) arc, particularly in the first half, and it got us on our heels a little bit," said Pioneer coach Rex Stanczak. "We let them run their stuff, which is what we don't want to do, and in the second half we came out defensively and took away their primary options, and that changed the game."

Pioneer also got a lift in the second half from point guard Jimmy Holman, who played limited minutes in the first half.

"We weren't really sure we wanted to play Holman tonight," Stanczak said. "But it got to the point where we really needed him out there."