RANCHO CUCAMONGA — Thursday night’s clash against Etiwanda marked the 1,397th game in the legendary career of Damien boys basketball coach Mike LeDuc.

LeDuc has witnessed a lot during his 46 seasons as a head coach, but even he was impressed with what his team accomplished in the first six minutes of this game.

Damien landed an opening blow for the ages, making nine straight shots and scoring the first 24 points of the game. Despite the sizzling start, the Spartans had to work down the stretch and hold off a determined Etiwanda squad. Damien managed to stick the landing and held on for a 56-43 victory in a key Baseline League showdown.

“That’s probably the best start that we’ve ever had,” LeDuc said. “At least I can’t remember playing against a really good team and getting off to a start close to that.”

Damien (17-4 overall, 2-0 in league) made five 3-pointers during the opening run, two from Kam Dodson and one apiece by JoJo Morales, Eli Garner and Zaire Rasshan.

“We haven’t played like that in a while, so it felt great,” said Garner, who scored 10 points in the opening quarter. “We came out with energy and played with a lot of fire.”

Etiwanda coach Danny Ryan said his team failed to match Damien’s energy at the beginning of Thursday’s game, a big reason the Eagles started 0-for-7 from the field.

Isaiah Benn ended Etiwanda’s scoring drought by making a 3-pointer with 1:20 left in the opening quarter, and the Eagles (18-2, 1-1) cut the deficit to 32-19 by halftime.

“We weren’t following the game plan. I can’t remember if I’ve ever called two timeouts in the first quarter,” Ryan said. “The message was stick to the plan and execute.”

Rasshan went to the bench after picking up his second foul late in the first period. Damien’s offense went scoreless during the 4 1/2 minutes Rasshan was on the sidelines. LeDuc decided to put Rasshan back on the floor midway through the second quarter, and Rasshan made a pair of 3-pointers for the Spartans’ only points that quarter.

“He’s a great shooter, and he’s proven that all year,” LeDuc said of Rasshan, who finished with a game-high 23 points for the Spartans.

Etiwanda continued to make pushes during the second half, but the Eagles’ comeback attempt was partially thwarted by a 14-for-27 performance at the free-throw line.

“That’s an area that hasn’t been great for us all year,” Ryan said. “We were getting defensive stops but then only coming away with one point or nothing at the other end.”

Etiwanda cut the deficit to 11 points (39-28) with 1:46 remaining in the third quarter, but Rasshan made two free throws and a 3-pointer to get the lead back to 16 points.

Rasshan and Garner helped fend off Etiwanda’s last-ditch comeback efforts, as the duo scored the final nine points for the Spartans. Garner scored 14 points.

“I’m really proud of the guys and the way we came together and played as a team,” Rasshan said. “At the end. we just focused on getting a basket anytime they scored.”

Benn scored 10 points to lead Etiwanda, while Achilles Orji and Samuel Funn added nine and eight points, respectively, for the Eagles.