Gwynn Park High School senior Curtis Hardy has no problem being the most annoying player on the basketball court. As a matter of fact, he likes to be compared to gnats at a barbecue because he is always bugging the person he defends.

Hardy did more than just defend in Tuesday night's game against Old Mill. He scored 13 points and pulled down 13 rebounds as the Yellow Jackets beat the Patriots, 74-59. He also put the clamps on Old Mill's Mike Holley, a three-year varsity starter, who scored just six points in the second half as Gwynn Park pulled away.

Hardy did all of this in his first varsity basketball game. But he is used to the spotlight after starting at cornerback and wide receiver for the Gwynn Park football team.

"Really this was just another game for me," he said. "I've played in bigger games than this, so this was just another season opener."

The Yellow Jackets were slow out of the gate, allowing Old Mill to grab an early lead. Gwynn Park didn't take its first lead until the end of the first quarter when Tion Barnes dunked the ball off an offensive rebound to give the Yellow Jackets a 20-19 advantage.

The teams were tied at halftime, and Gwynn Park held a 50-47 advantage entering the fourth quarter. But the Yellow Jackets' relentless attacking of the glass began to wear down the smaller Old Mill lineup. Gwynn Park enjoyed a 39-22 advantage on the boards, including a 20-7 advantage on the offensive glass.

Gwynn Park's aggressiveness also gave it an advantage from the free-throw line, as the Yellow Jackets finished 16 of 31, while Old Mill was just 9 of 13.

Yellow Jackets' coach Mike Glick said his players' aggressiveness in the paint is nothing new and that he expects them to dominate the boards. He added that Gwynn Park's rebounding and low-post presence will get even better once 6-foot-4 senior forward Mike Hemsley returns from his one-game suspension for violating team rules. He said Hemsley should be back for Friday's game at County 3A/2A/1A League rival Potomac.

"I am very happy with how resilient the players were, especially in the second half," Glick said. "I thought that we played better on defense and were more patient on offense. We started playing from the inside out instead of the outside in."

Barnes scored a game-high 22 points and pulled down eight rebounds, while Brandon Ford added 19 points, including 7 of 9 from the foul line.

E-mail Joshua Hudson at jhudson@gazette.net.