The home opener for the Logan High School boys’ basketball team is like an unofficial holiday for the City of Logan and the rabid Logan Wildcat faithful.

Every season, fans pack Willie Akers Arena to get the first glimpse of the newest version of the tradition rich team.

Tuesday night, the Wildcats had something special for the fans as they unveiled a new-look team, which is being headlined by WVU signee and transfer Noah Cottrill, a 6-foot-2 guard.

With Cottrill, a former player at Mountain State Academy and Poca High School, returning all-state junior guard Paul Will-iamson and a host of other familiar faces, the Wildcats have a lot to look forward to this season.

The excitement level is high.

Many pundits feel Logan has a legitimate shot of capturing the Class AAA state championship in March.

The preseason No. 2-ranked Wildcats began their march to the school’s possible seventh state title with Tuesday’s 103-71 pounding of Class A county rival Man in the season opener for both teams.

Logan never trailed in the game and led by as many as 44 late.

Cottrill led the Wildcats with 29 points. He hit eight 3-pointers and was 3-of-3 from the free throw line. Cottrill didn’t play in the entire fourth quarter.

Williamson poured in 25 points with two 3s and a 7-for-8 performance from the foul line.

Starter Jordan Canada also reached double figures in scoring with 17 points. Deyonta Coleman just missed double digits with nine points.

Logan coach Mark Hatcher said it was nice to get the first win under their belts. His team is eager to improve on last year’s 15-7 record and first-round exit from the Class AAA sectional tournament.

“There was a lot of excitement and a lot of buzz tonight,” Hatcher said. “It was a great atmosphere and I thought that it was a lot of fun just to get out there and play a game that counted. We know that Man is just getting back from football and some of their kids are just getting back, so we knew that it was going to be tough for them, especially conditioning-wise. They probably feel that they aren’t where they need to be. But I’m real proud of our guys. I thought we played well and got up and down the floor real well. You saw a lot of unselfishness. We had a few turnovers and we’ll try to cut down on those but we’re letting them have some fun and we’re letting them try to create some things for each other.”

The Wildcats broke over the century mark for the first time in four years when Logan beat Chapmanville 101-50, also at Willie Akers Arena.

“We can score and we can run but we’ve got to keep working on our defense and our rebounding,” Hatcher said. “We had some good, balanced scoring. Canada added 17 and Deyonta had nine and had a great dunk and had some exciting steals. I’m real happy with their effort tonight.”

Logan’s fifth starter, Timmy Rein, had two points for the game.

Seven other Wildcats came off the bench to score, led by Stevie Browning’s six points and two 3-pointers. Michael Greene and Chris Kelly had four each. Jamall Hairston, Justin Sammons and Shakeil Cunningham had two apiece. Tom Neumann, a 6-5 junior and foreign exchange student from Hamburg, Germany, scored a point late in the game and quickly became the crowd favorite of the Logan student section.

Logan made 14 treys and was 17-of-23 from the foul line.

Man was 17-of-21 from the free throw line and was led by sophomore Jordan Simpson’s 18 points. He was a perfect 10-of-10 from the foul line.

Travis Hurley and T.J. Hoosier each had 14 and Tyler Browning had 12. Ryan Crum added six points, Adam Copley three and Cody Frye two. Crum and Browning each canned two 3-pointers on the evening.

Logan jumped out to a 17-6 lead against the Billies after two 3s by Cottrill, a 3 by Canada, an old-fashioned three-point play from Cottrill and another trey from Coleman.

LHS led 26-9 after the first quarter and continued to expand the lead in the second period.

Stevie Browning’s 3 later made it 34-15 Logan.

Then it was Coleman, who dunked one down, giving the Cats a 37-15 advantage.

Cottrill’s 3 with 3:15 left until the half pushed the lead to 44-19. Another trifecta by Cottrill and a nifty behind-the-back feed by Cottrill to Kelly made it 50-23 Logan with 1:35 left.

The Wildcats led 52-25 at the intermission and kept growing the lead in the third quarter.

Cottrill jump-started Logan with back-to-back 3s to open the third quarter as the Cats led 58-29.

Williamson’s lay-in with 13 ticks left gave Logan a 78-40 lead after three.

Early in the fourth, Kelly missed on a fast-break dunk attempt but the ball was rebounded by the Cats. A few seconds later the ball was passed to a wide-open Williamson, who drilled another 3-pointer to make it 89-47 Logan with 6:07 left in the game.

Logan’s lead continued to swell.

Greene’s layup with 3:22 left expanded the cushion to 98-54.

Hairston’s putback with 2:23 left put Logan at triple digits as the Cats led 100-56.

Cunningham added a bucket with 1:49 remaining to make it a 102-60 game.

Neumann then scored his first varsity point, first point as a Wildcat — and first official point in the United States — as he split from the free throw line with 43.5 seconds to go after he was hacked in the paint.

Logan doesn’t have time to enjoy its season opening victory over the Hillbillies as the Wildcats are set to play Wednesday night in the Hoops Classic against Mountain State Academy at the Charleston Civic Center. Game time is set for 8:15 p.m. The contest is the highlight of the 24-game tourney, which began on Tuesday.

MSA is led by Cottrill’s future WVU teammate, 7-foot-1 center David Nyarsuk, a native of Sudan.

Last season at Charleston’s Eddie King Gym, Logan was blown out by Cottrill and Mountain State Academy, 99-67.

Hatcher said the Falcons will give his Wildcats a good test. Logan faced a 7-footer last season — Deng Leek, also from the Sudan — in its own King Coal Classic as the Cats played Veritas Academy, N.C., and lost 57-36.

MSA’s lineup also features another 7-footer and a 6-8 player.

Logan hasn’t played in the Hoops Classic since 2005, the last year the Cats won the state title.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” Hatcher said of playing Mountain State. “I don’t think that we’re going to be as intimidated as we have been in the past. These guys have played against these kinds of athletes for the last couple of years. I’m sure Noah’s not going to be intimidated. The biggest thing tomorrow is for us to compete so we can have a chance to win. We’re going to go out, run, compete, have a good time and try to make ourselves better.”

Man, coached again by Harvey Arms, returns to action on Saturday at Wyoming East, the No. 2-ranked Class AA team in the state.

Arms assisted Jimmy Justice last season and is Man’s head coach for the first time since 2006.

Justice stepped down after three seasons as Man lost to Charleston Catholic in the Class A regional tournament last year and finished 10-15.

Logan also won last night’s JV game over Man, 73-29.

The Wildcats were without senior guard Bryce Dalton, a part-time starter from last year. Last week, Dalton had surgery for appendicitis and is expected to be out of the lineup for at least two weeks. Two seasons ago, Logan’s Jacob Long also missed some games after having an appendectomy.