Norway’s Connor Ortman (35) and Kingsford’s Jake Henes (33) battle for the ball Tuesday. (Burt Angeli/The Daily News)

KINGSFORD — Norway blanketed Kingsford’s scoring threats and posted a 48-37 non-conference win Tuesday to open the boys basketball season.

The Knights, trailing 23-22 at halftime, held the Flivvers to just three field goals in the second half.

“We handled some situations well but it comes down to putting the ball in the basket,” said Flivvers coach Dan Olkkonen. “We weren’t as sharp as we wanted to be on offense.”

Justin Bal scored 13 points and Connor Ortman chipped in 12 for the Knights. Norway coach Ben Leiker was impressed with Josh Plante’s defense on Tyler Beauchamp.

“Josh Plante was incredible on defense,” said Leiker, noting the junior guard never tired. “I know the Beauchamp kid made some shots but they were incredible. He never had an easy look. He was hitting fade-away threes that we’re not allowed to take.”

Beauchamp scored a game-high 20 points, hitting three treys in each half. Kingsford had four other two-point field goals in the game. Fellow sophomore Luke Terrian tacked on 11 points, converting 9 of 14 free throws.

“We had a little better start than last year,” said Leiker, referring to Kingsford pressing his Knights out of the game early. “It was over after the first quarter. We played pretty hard.”

Norway took charge with a 10-1 run to begin the second half. Ortman had seven points. A Beauchamp triple to close the third quarter brought the difference to 32-27.

The Knights started the fourth quarter with eight straight points and a 39-27 cushion. They converted 12 of 18 fourth-quarter free throws.

“Going down the stretch without being able to score was difficult,” Olkkonen said. “We didn’t have a ton of easy shots. It really wasn’t about our defense.”

While Kingsford shot 27 percent from the floor, Norway didn’t find it smooth sailing against the Flivver zone that yielded 36 percent marksmanship.

“We didn’t shoot terrible but we should shoot the ball a little better,” said Leiker, expecting a Kingsford zone. “We had a couple kids seeing their first time on the floor and didn’t shoot with a lot of confidence. I think as we progress we’ll get better.”

Olkkonen praised Norway’s Bal and Plante.

“Justin Bal did his job as a senior,” Olkkonen said. “He really led that team. He was strong handling the ball and had some big points for them in the fourth quarter (with eight). Plante did a good job of hounding Tyler and making it difficult.”

Twenty-five turnovers, to Norway’s 16, also subdued Kingsford’s offense. Bryce Broden had five of Norway’s 12 steals. Plante tallied four steals and four assists. Ortman blocked four shots.

“We’re trying to figure out where we’re at,” said Olkkonen, showing no starters back from last season. “We have to shore up what we’re doing and get better at running our offense. That takes a commitment from each individual person. The kids do work hard and we’ll see how they respond.”

On Friday, Kingsford travels to Escanaba and Norway visits Manistique.

Norway defeated Kingsford in the junior varsity (40-34) and freshmen (48-39) games. Parker Lasater scored 18 points and Nathan Pavlitch had 16 for the Knights freshmen.

Norway 12 10 10 16 — 48

Kingsford 12 11 4 10 — 37

NORWAY: Wilson 1, Plante 6, Broden 7, Boulden 3, VanDenHeuvel 4, Bal 13, Evosevich 2, Ortman 12. FT: 14-23. F: 15.

KINGSFORD: Terrian 11, Beauchamp 20, Petschar 2, Alberson 2, Gayan 2. FT: 11-16. F: 21.

3-point FG: Norway, Plante 2, Bal, Ortman; Kingsford, Beauchamp 6. FG shooting: Norway 15-39, Kingsford 10-36. Rebounding: Norway 20 (Ortman 6, Bal 5), Kingsford 30.