LAKEWOOD — Lakewood senior Paul Coleman is the product of hard work and selflessness.

Coleman practiced diligently over the summer, lifting weights and improving his ball-handling before the start of his final year.

“I surrounded myself with basketball,” Coleman said.

It showed in Lakewood’s debut game against the Mornington Breakers from Australia Dec. 3, a team Lakewood hosts every four years.

The Cougars took apart their guests from down-under 72-43 with much of the damage dealt by Coleman, who scored 25 points.

Lakewood executed what they worked on in practice, Coach Anthony Wiederkehr said. They moved the ball around, forced turnovers and scored lots of points.

Teammate senior Chance Schueller was second in scoring with 17 points and led with 10 rebounds.

There were some miscues on offense that need to be worked on, he admitted, but Coleman was on fire in the second half. He was all over place, shooting from afar and laying up from under the hoop.

With his improved ball-handling and his ability to score from inside and behind the paint, Coleman also has the unique ability to have the offense “come to him,” Wiederkehr said.

As a result Coleman wasn’t able to warm up and do most of his scoring until the third period.

“I feed off my teammates’ energy and let the ball come to me,” he said.

While it was a momentous start for Coleman, Wiederkehr said it’s only just the beginning.

“We’re expecting big games out of him,” Wiederkehr said.

Mornington: 13 5 14 11 — 43

Lakewood (1-0): 21 13 23 15 — 72

Lakewood plays at La Conner today, at 7 p.m. Lakewood’s next games are away Wednesday, Dec. 10, at Granite Falls and Friday, Dec. 12 at Archbishop Murphy.