JAY — For the first time since its regional championship season of 2004, Jay has the depth, momentum and confidence to be a factor in Mountain Valley Conference boys’ basketball.

Mt. Abram witnessed each element in abundance Monday night, when the Tigers rallied from a slow start to rout the Roadrunners, 66-30, at the Tigerdome.

Jay bookended the second quarter by summoning separate, double-digit runs without a Mt. Abram response, turning a 13-12 deficit into a 37-20 halftime lead.

“We just had more depth,” said senior Austin Clark, who amassed 10 points and eight rebounds in relatively limited time. “Their first five competed with us for the first half, but we stepped it up.”

Three of Mt. Abram’s five starters acquired their third personal foul before the end of the half.

The Roadrunners (0-3) stayed as close as 26-20 on back-to-back buckets by Jim Barker before the Tigers (2-1) dominated the final three minutes of the half.

Zach Bonnevie scored seven of his game-high 13 points, unanswered, in a 65-second span. Jordan DeMillo also added a bucket in the final minute, followed by two Clark free throws.

Jay (2-1) maintained its edge from Thursday night, when the Tigers battled back from a 12-point deficit to win 57-56 at Wiscasset.

“Last year we lost something like six games by eight points or less, so that was big for us. We hadn’t had a win like that in at least three years,” said DeMillo, who embellished his 10 points with five rebounds and three steals.

James Barker added nine points, Kyle Storer eight and Billy Calden seven for the Tigers. Jacob Bessey fueled the offense with six assists.

That was in stark contrast to Jay’s previous win, in which Clark scored 27 to account for nearly half his team’s offense.

“This is just the way I like it,” said Brian Kelly, Jay’s first-year coach. “They can’t key on any one person.”

The Tigers overcame a 1-for-10 start with four straight baskets by four different players — DeMillo, Storer, Bessey and Clark.

And that cold shooting percentage veered in the other direction for the remainder of the night. Mt. Abram wound up below 20 percent from the floor at 12-for-61.

Jim Barker led the Roadrunners with 11 points. Tyler Hupper had five points and 11 rebounds before fouling out in the third quarter.

“That win at Wiscasset set our morale for the season,” DeMillo said. “Now we’re going to be able to come out and have games like this.”

Clark and DeMillo are the lone seniors for Jay. Seven sophomores saw an abundance of playing time. Led by Bonnevie, Bessey, Calden and Barker, that group put up 36 points to outscore Mt. Abram by itself.

Bonnevie, Barker and Calden combined for 19 in the second quarter, alone. Nate Shink nailed a 3-pointer to help Jay punctuate a productive third period.

“People tell me we’re building for the future, and I tell them, no, the future is now. Those (sophomores) are doing it right now,” said Kelly. “The fact that they’ll be here two years from now is icing on the cake.”

“We’ve got a bunch of young studs coming off the bench,” Clark said. “They’re willing to work hard and give us everything they’ve got.”

[email protected]