Park players and coaches didn’t like the outcome of their boys basketball season opener when visiting Stillwater came from way back to nip the Wolfpack at the buzzer. So, they got defensive about it Tuesday against visiting Woodbury.

The Wolfpack used a potent inside-outside offense and stellar defensive play to roll past the visiting Royals, winning 68-55.

“I was happiest with our defense,” said Park head coach Mike Weah. “The kids had set that as the identity this year. They’re just willing to get dirty and get after it on every single possession on defense. That’s what I am most proud of.

“The way those kids played tonight, they played fierce, they played like this was going to be their last game on this court and that’s the attitude that we’re taking in this year,” added Weah. “We never know when something — especially during these times right now – it could be over. So we just want to take advantage of every single opportunity we get.”

Park junior forward Evan Bearth was basically unstoppable Tuesday, leading the offense with 31 points, most of which came from behind the three-point line.

“After that first game we kind of got back into practice, we started taking things a little more seriously,” said Bearth. “Shots were falling.”

“We knocked down some shots,” agreed coach Weah. “Last game we had some really good shots but we were really, really cold at point. Today, of course, Evan Bearth had a wonderful game shooting from the outside but it wasn’t just him. Everybody was knocking down shots. Everybody was doing their part.”

Junior forward Pharrel Payne muscled his way inside the paint for 19 points and senior guard Jayden Lane added a dozen.

“The difference between the last game and this game – we played good defense the first game, but this game we flew around more and actually found our man and got help-side defense and took charges,” said Lane. Both Park and Woodbury came into Tuesday’s game with something to prove Both teams lost season openers. Park was edged by visiting Stillwater 54-51 in its first game Friday, while Woodbury dropped a 51-44 decision at Forest Lake.

Park jumped out in front and led 20-14 early, but Woodbury closed to 27-26 at the half. It was still a tight game early in the second half, with the two teams tied at 35-all with 14:35 to play.

Then Park’s outside shooting caught fire after the break with Bearth doing most of the damage. The Wolfpack ran out to a 55-39 lead with 5:34 left after draining six threepoint buckets during a 20-4 run. Park led comfortably down the last five minutes and Woodbury never got closer than the 13-point final margin.

Park (1-1) plays at White Bear Lake (1-0) Friday, starting at 7:15 p.m.