CORTLAND — No high school basketball team in Trumbull County was able practice for the majority of December, and in the early going, the rust has been as evident as a 1982 Ford Pinto that sat outside for the last 38 years.

Girard, missing one of its best players, is still shaking that rust off as the Indians piece together their rotations and find a rhythm on offense over the first two games of the season.

That was a difficult process to endure against a Lakeview team that brought back all five starters from last year and looked to be running on all cylinders in a 62-26 rout of Girard on Friday.

The Indians (0-2) got off to a decent start, tying the game at 11 late in the first quarter by playing solid defense against a vastly talented Bulldogs team (2-0). The offense went into a rut at that point, and it couldn’t find its way out as the Bulldogs finished the half on a 16-2 run.

A lack of execution stuck out most to Girard coach Craig Hannon.

“It’s a problem for us right now,” he said. “It was a problem for us the other night (against Champion). Lakeview took advantage. We need to be much better offensively.”

No one scored in double figures for Girard, which scored just two points in the second quarter after the solid start.

With 6-foot-2 junior guard Nick Malito out with an injury, the offense was without its most aggressive attacker. The offensive struggles forced the Indians into a press defense early in the third quarter, and that resulted in some open looks for sharp-shooting Brendon Kilpatrick.

The Lakeview senior quickly put the game out of reach in the third quarter, scoring 16 of his game-high 27 points — including three of his five 3-pointers. The Bulldogs’ 14-point halftime lead quickly swelled to 20 and then 30 points by the start of the fourth quarter. Kilpatrick was one of three players in double figures, with Ryan Carnahan adding 13 and Nate Fox contributing 10 points.

Lakeview shot 23-of-41 from the field, making 8-of-15 3-pointers. Kilpatrick was the offensive catalyst from the start, but it was the team unity that stuck out to him.

“We’ve got all five starters back,” Kilpatrick said. “We’re all tight friends, just a good group of guys. We’ve been ready to go for a long time, waiting for this season. We’re pumped up and ready to go, for sure.”

Despite the lopsided score, Girard’s defense had its moments.

The Indians forced 12 turnovers and only had nine of its own. Kilpatrick started out making just 3-of-9 shots in the first half. Girard just couldn’t find any offense. Sophomore Thomas Cardiero led the Indians with eight points, and guard Nick Cario made some nice plays early on, but the Indians failed to execute their offensive sets and were deferring to others to make plays throughout the game. That led to a lot of back-and-forth passing and no rhythm for a young team trying to find an identity without it’s top scorer.

“We just need to do things a little better,” Hannon said. “Easy things — cut harder, screen harder, get guys open, hit the right guy — and we will.

“They’ll work hard, they’ll get better,” he added. “(Lakeview) makes you really work hard defensively. So, a lot of times you might come down and you’re pretty exhausted. Our guys got tired.”

Lakeview’s ball movement made the Indians work.

The familiarity that comes from returning five starters was evident on defense and offense. Bulldogs coach Ryan Fitch said the emphasis was to stop Girard’s penetration, and the defense executed the game plan, holding the Indians to 8-of-45 shooting, 6-of-24 from 3-point land.

“We talked about it for the last two days,” Fitch said. “I said, ‘We came out on top if we defend the dribble-drive.’ (Girard) broke Champion down a little bit, even though they lost the game, they broke them down with the dribble drive, and we talked about how we had to stop the dribble-drive and then check them out, limit them to one shot. They had 13 points in each half, and you can’t do much better than that. … I’ve got to credit our kids, they didn’t break down and stayed fundamental, so (it was) great defensive position.”

Girard travels to Jefferson on Tuesday, while Lakeview is at South Range on the same day.