Stephen Jelks was not pleased with North Cobb Christian’s season-opener at the Jared Cook Tip-Off Classic. So much so, the senior forward was determined to make sure his team would have a different outcome.

The Eagles beat a Sequoyah 81-54 on Monday at North Gwinnett.

Jelks finished with a double-double 15 points and 13 rebounds. Kendall Crute finished with a game-high 27 points.

“This morning I woke up this morning knowing we were going to win,” said Jelks, who was upset about the teams opening defeat. “Against Tucker I was not as aggressive. I needed to come out a little bit better and play my game.”

NCC (1-1) took that approach as a team from the opening tip. The Eagles clamped down defensively and really keyed on disrupting the Chiefs offense. They forced turnovers, which set up NCC’s offense.

This is where the Eagles opened up the game. It would start with penetration into the paint before someone would kick out to an open shooter. Jelks knocked down a three. Crute found the bottom of the net. Swish.

It didn’t matter which of these two guys were shooting the ball they were knocking down their shots.

“They shot it well,” Chiefs coach Jeremy Adams said. “You have to pick your poison. If we are going to get beat it’s going to be from 22-feet away. It just wasn’t one guy.”

Adams’ plan of getting beat from deep was the right call but it is difficult with multiple players hitting the three-pointer.

The Eagles finished the game knocking down 15 three-pointers. Keyshawn Butts had the most dramatic three nailing a shot to end the first quarter. NCC just shared the ball and moved things around and made Sequoyah work on the other end of the floor.

“We look for the open man,” said Jelks a Mercer signee. “We don’t care who gets the shots. It helps open up the court.”

Crute got into a rhythm. The Ohio University signee scored at will shooting 50 percent from three-point range and was perfect from the field.

“All the props goes to coach in practice,” Crute said. “We shoot the ball a lot in practice.”

Eagles reserve Jonathan Twine finished with 14 points. Hunter Ware had seven rebounds and seven assists.

Dalton Satterfield tried to keep Sequoyah in the game with his own shooting. The unsigned senior was 4-for-6 from three-point range and finished with a team high 20 points.