The Cumberland Valley Christian Blazers shut out Grace Academy in the first quarter and then held off a late rush by the Knights to claim a 47-40 victory for Homecoming Friday night in a Mason-Dixon Christian Conference boys basketball game.

Sophomore Caleb Eckert opened the scoring with a thundering drive-dunk, and the Blazers went on to lead 12-0 at the end of the first quarter, thanks to five points each by Eckert and fellow sophomore Blaine Minnier. The Blazers (8-11, 5-5 MDCC) led 21-13 at halftime as Minnier scored seven of their nine points in the second period.

Grace trimmed the lead to four late in the game, but Minnier scored seven points in the final period to help nail down the victory, the Blazers’ third straight.

“It may not be pretty, but right now we are just finding ways to win,” said Blazers coach Austin Sanders. “We were able to control the game early with our defense, which allowed us to jump to an early lead. Caleb was a monster on the boards, and we were able to beat them down the court and score in transition.”

Eckert corralled 20 rebounds for the Blazers, including 15 on the defensive end. He also scored 15 points.

Minnier led the Blazers in scoring with 19 points, shooting 8-for-10 from the foul line. He also picked off the Blazers’ only three steals and handed out a pair of assists.

Also for the Blazers, Isaac Kauffeldt contributed eight points, including six in the third quarter. Nathan Statler scored five points, pulled down seven rebounds, dished off three assists and blocked two shots.

For Grace, Brayden Quirple scored 13 points and Todd Stocks had 11.