Wheaton Warrenville South junior guard David Showman opened up Friday’s DuKane Conference game against St. Charles East with a 3-pointer.

Sophomore AJ Rogers followed with a 3-pointer of his own to set the tone for the Tigers.

With the Tigers set to play in their first league game, Showman and AJ Rogers made a big statement in front of a large crowd.

Meanwhile, Zach Rogers, who had four points at halftime, was doing all the little things, such as distributing the ball, taking a charge to nullify a layup, snagging loose balls and hitting free throws.

Led by a collective effort on both ends of the court, the Tigers rode a dominating first half to a 57-39 rout over the Saints in St. Charles.

Showman poured in a game-high 19 points and AJ Rogers scored 17 points, while Zach Rogers and Brady McClatchy both added six points for the Tigers.

The Tigers (3-2, 1-0), who finished 24-8 and won a regional title last season, returned just two starters – McClatchy and Zach Rogers – but relied on a strong group of seniors, a strong effort boxing out under the glass, good passing and a quality job on defense to overwhelm the Saints.

“We played well,” Wheaton Warrenville South coach Mike Healy said. “We had three really good practices. Our guys who don’t play a lot got after our guys and made it tough on them. That helped us a lot.

“David had a nice game. He’s a good offensive player. It was nice to see him and AJ do well. We haven’t shot it too well, but we talked a lot about the controllables and that’s our defense. It was good to see them come out and put both ends together.”

Maybe it was the late start to the game, or a combination of the Tigers’ defensive intensity, but the Saints (1-4, 0-1) came out sluggish and struggled hitting shots. The Saints made just two free throws, but hit seven 3s. Michael Hill and Cooper Jensen both scored nine points for the Saints.

“It was a tough start,” St. Charles East coach Rob Klemm said. “That’s a team that plays so hard. They came out and made a couple of threes at the beginning and had that big run in the first half. We fought to get back in the game.”

On the other hand, the Tigers blew the door open on a 12-11 game late in the first quarter with a 19-0 run that lasted almost seven minutes. McClatchy drained a 3-pointer to open the second quarter for a 20-11 lead, then Zach Rogers scored on a layup. AJ Rogers and Showman both made 3s to make the score 29-11.

Zach Rogers took a charge to keep the run alive and Showman ended the spurt by catching a long 3-point airball in the air, laying the ball in the basket while in mid-air with 2:20 remaining in the half.

Leading 31-14 at halftime, the Tigers withstood two early 3s by St. Charles East’s Hill to build their advantage back to 40-22 following a steal and three-point play by McClatchy.

The Saints were held under 20 points until the 6:04 mark of the third quarter, then fell into another drought for the next five-plus minutes. The Tigers took advantage of the drought, with Brady Robinson drilling a 3 and Showman connecting on a deep trey as the lead ballooned to 47-22.

“We had a good start and did good on defense, which was nice to see,” Healy said.