The Billies’ John Thomas Keffer takes a shot as two Irish players defend.

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MAN — The Man High School boys’ basketball team lost its home opener on Friday night to Huntington St. Joe, 51-35, to fall to 1-1 on the season.

It was one of those nights when nothing went right for the Hillbillies.

Man could not shoot or rebound as Man was only 16-for-65 from the floor for an ice cold 24.6 percent. Man was 0-for-6 from the free throw line and could not put the ball into the ocean.

“We played terrible. I don’t know,” Man coach Harvey Arms said. “We’re going to practice on Saturday morning and get ready to play Mount View on the road on Tuesday.”

St. Joe jumped out to an early 11-4 first quarter lead and never looked back. The Irish were led by Michael Mays, who took game high scoring honors with 25 points.

The youthful Billies had four freshmen and one sophomore on the hardwood at times.

Freshman John Thomas Keffer hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 11-6 with 2:32 to play in the first period.

Freshman Kenny Joe Adkins came off the bench and hit his only points on the game — a 3-pointer to make it 13-9 at the 1:33 mark.

St Joe took a 15-11 lead after the first period of play.

The Irish then went on a 5-0 run to open the second stanza as Mays scored all five points on two baskets and a free throw.

Man’s Gage Harvey got Man’s first points of the second quarter with just 3:22 on the clock to make it 20-13.

St. Joe went on to take a 10-point lead into the locker room as Man continued to miss shoots, giving St. Joe a 30-20 advantage at the intermission.

It didn’t get any better in the second half as the Billies shooting matched the cold weather outside as St. Joe would outscore the Billies 14-6 in the third period of play.

The Irish pushed their lead to 36-24 on inside-the-paint shots by Johnathan Amstead with 3:17 remaining in the third.

St. Joe expanded the lead to 15 points at 41-26 after a 3-ball by Armstead with 1:09 to go.

Mays added a 3-pointer with just three seconds left to give St. Joe a commanding 18-point lead at 44-26 heading into the final quarter of play.

The fourth period was a titanic struggle and was an ugly quarter for Man as the Billies were outscored 9-7.

Arms tried various player combinations, going 10 deep off the bench to see if anyone could provide the team with any kind of spark.

Man, though, just couldn’t buy a bucket as the Billies suffered their first loss of the season.

Man was led by Keffer’s 13 points. Freshman Jake Adkins had 10 and Harvey finished with four points. Chris Justice and Kenny Joe Adkins tallied three each. Freshman Erik Files had two.

The Billies play at Mount View on Tuesday night. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m.