GLENDALE — The Tremper boys basketball team’s start Saturday afternoon against Milwaukee Vincent went about 100 times better than Friday night’s season opener versus Nicolet.

Unfortunately for the Trojans, the final result was the same — another loss in the NY2LA Sports Classic at Nicolet High School.

Tremper led 15-9 after the first quarter and 25-23 at halftime Saturday only to see Vincent 6-foot-5 freshman Deonte Burton go wild in the second half of his first varsity game.

Attacking the rim with fearless abandon, Burton scored 16 of his game-high 18 points after intermission in carrying the Vikings to a 58-50 victory in their first meeting with the Trojans (0-2) since beating them 55-36 in the quarterfinals of the 2001 WIAA State Tournament.

Burton also grabbed 10 rebounds (eight offensive) to ignite a Vincent offense that settled for jump shots most of the first half. The Vikings (1-0) out-rebounded Tremper 43-25, including 17-10 on the offensive end.

“That’s exactly what turned it (around), when they had a mindset to attack the glass (in the second half),” Tremper interim coach Lou Rideaux said. “We overheard that they were going to go down and try to kick (the ball) out, and that may have suckered us in because they went down and stayed down in the trenches and got some easy buckets inside on us.

“They’re good leapers and that freshman (Burton), what an incredible talent that young man is.”

After falling behind 24-8 after the first quarter and 36-15 at halftime in Friday night’s loss to Nicolet, the Trojans came out firing offensively.

Sam Savaglio scored eight of his team-high 14 points in the first quarter, which Tremper’s Thaer Bitar capped by making a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Savaglio added another fastbreak layup to push the Tremper lead to 24-18 with 3:26 in the second quarter before Steve Durham’s 3 and Jamarice Thomas’ floater helped chip into the Trojans’ cushion.

A driving layup by Tremper’s Terrence Anderson tied it at 35-35 with 1:50 remaining in the third quarter, only to see the Vikings answer with a 19-4 run over the next 5:39 to take a 54-39 lead.

The game-clinching spurt included five layups or inside baskets by Burton, including a thunderous left-handed dunk.

Six-foot-10 sophomore Phillip Nolan also flushed a dunk during the run.

Tremper’s Anthony Olson hit two 3s and Jimmy Jones made one to bring Tremper within 54-48 with 1:26 left.

After two Burton free throws, Savaglio’s layup sliced the deficit to 56-50 with 51.9 seconds to go, but the Trojans couldn’t get any closer.

Despite the two losses, Rideaux said he was pleased with the way the Trojans bounced back from Friday’s sluggish first half.

“I don’t regret playing a good Nicolet and Vincent team,” he said.

“It’ll help us when we get to the tough teams in our conference — Case, Park — the high-flying, athletic teams.”