BUCKFIELD — Kasey Robertson admits that he didn’t give everything he had in Buckfield’s most recent losses. He realized before Saturday’s matinee with Greenville that he needed to give a little more, especially on the boards, and that included making the most of his 6-foot-5 frame.

“I learned to use my butt,” he said with a laugh.

Buckfield’s junior center dominated the boards and the paint for 28 points and 21 rebounds to lead the Bucks to their first victory of the season, 77-53, over undermanned Greenville.

Trailing 26-24 at the half, Robertson led the charge as Buckfield (1-4) exploded for 53 points in the second half. When they weren’t giving him the ball inside, the Bucks were running and gunning with Altan Erdenechuluun  (17 points) and Austin Dooley (13 points, four rebounds, five assists) doing much of the damage as they blew the doors open in the fourth quarter.

“We came out in our 1-2-2 fullcourt zone trap, and I think that kind of sped everybody up,” Buckfield coach Doug Rines said. “Our goal was to speed the other team up, and I think it got our kids going, too.”

“They started running the floor a little better than they did in the first half and played good transition basketball,” Greenville coach Paul Breton said. “(Robertson) was a tough matchup. We’ve been at a height disadvantage pretty much all year. They were very patient on offense and played very good defense.”

The Lakers (1-3) were playing minus two frontcourt starters out with ankle injuries, Jeremy St. Louis and Tony DiAngelo, so Buckfield made it a point to pound the ball down low to Robertson early and often. Helped by 11 Greenville turnovers in the first quarter, the Bucks opened up a 17-7 lead less than a minute into the second period.

“They didn’t have any big, tall players, so we had to use our height,” Rines said. “(Robertson) is 6-5 and he’s a tough kid.”

The Bucks returned the favor with 11 turnovers of their own in the second quarter to help spark a Laker comeback. Emerson Sikes scored on a putback to give Greenville its first lead late in the half.

“We kind of slowed down. Our defense started to fade a little bit,” Robertson said. “Then we went into halftime and picked it right back up.”

Both teams picked it up for the start of the second half. Both took better care of the basketball, too, and a shootout briefly broke out. Greenville led by as much as four on two separate occasions, both times on hoops by Sikes. But the Bucks closed the third quarter with a 10-4 run, triggered by eight points in the paint by Robertson, to take a 46-40 lead.

“The first thing coach said at halftime was feed the ball to the post,” Robertson said. “I’m always looking to share the ball, but if the shot’s open, I’m going to take it.”

Greenville’s defense got a little preoccupied with Robertson, and the Bucks took advantage with good ball movement to make their first six shots of the fourth quarter. Nathan Corson fed Dooley on a nice back-door cut to spark a 10-2 run, with all the points coming on a layup except an Erdenechuluun jumper. Dooley found Devon Carlile and Erdenechuluun hooked up with Robertson for hoops that pushed the lead into double digits 88 seconds into the quarter.

The Lakers pulled back to within nine twice, but Robertson scored back-to-back hoops midway through the period to kick off a 19-4 game-ending run.

“We started off the year not working as a team, but we’re just now starting to pull it together,” said Robertson, whose team’s losses are a one-point heartbreaker to Gould and defeats against Class C Old Orchard Beach and undefeated Richmond. “I think we’ll finish the year out pretty good.”

Alex Jardine tallied 14 points and 12 rebounds and Sikes 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers.