A total of 21 basketball teams, spread across four different classifications and both genders, won their opening round District Three playoff games on Tuesday night. It's highly doubtful any of those teams was happier with their win than the New Covenant boys were with theirs. And why not? The Flames were making their first district playoff appearance since becoming a PIAA member school in 2011 when they took on High Point Baptist in a Class A first rounder at Lebanon Catholic on Tuesday. First district hoops appearance, first district hoops win, all in one night. Buoyed by a supportive and boisterous cheering section, New Covenant raced to a 19-8 first quarter lead that set the tone for a historic 52-40 triumph on Assumption Hill. The quick start, combined with balanced scoring that included 16 points from Cody Snyder, 15 from Dawson Copenhaver and 14 more from 1,000-point club member CJ Kornhaus, sends the Flames (12-8) into Friday's quarterfinal round at top-seeded West Shore Christian (21-3) at 7 p.m. But that's Friday. First, New Covenant has a very special victory to savor. "It's awesome," said Kornhaus, who hit a pair of 3s in the first three minutes to send the Flames on their way. "We were really bad (the past few years), but this year we picked it up a little and after our first win (in the season opener) over Mount Calvary, I said to everyone that we were going to districts. They didn't believe me, but it ended up happening." Tuesday night was the icing on the cake. Not simply happy to be there, New Covenant played with a fire and a purpose, especially early on, that delighted its supporters and ensured that their postseason experience will last at least a few more days. "It's a great feeling," said New Covenant coach Jon Klohr. "When you have that many people come out for the team yelling and screaming for our New Covenant Flames, it's exciting. It makes it even more exciting, having people supporting us like that." The backcourt duo of Snyder and Kornhaus, in particular, seemed to feed off the crowd's energy, combining for three 3-pointers in the first four minutes that staked the Flames to an 11-2 lead that would grow to 19-8 by the end of the first and to 33-17 by halftime. "They're both excellent ballplayers," Klohr said of Snyder and Kornhaus. "Both of them can shoot the ball very well, and Cody handles the ball very well for us. He has a keen eye for finding the open guy, and CJ always seems to find a hole somewhere. Those two guys are the keys to our team and excellent ballplayers." Not to be outdone was Copenhaver, who helped New Covenant absorb a brief High Point charge in the third. A 3-pointer from Tim Arcuri, who hit four treys and finished with a team-high 13 points, sparked a 7-2 High Point spurt to start the period that shaved the deficit to 35-24 with 5:04 left in the third. But Snyder stopped the bleeding with a '3' a minute later and Copenhaver closed the period with two buckets and an assist to send the Flames into the fourth up 18. "I didn't have any doubt we were gonna finish this game out after halftime," Kornhaus said. "I knew we could handle them and we did." And in doing so, the Flames continued to exceed the expectations of even their biggest believers, Klohr and assistant coach James Schaetzle. Weprobably did not expect to get to this (point)," Klohr said. "We thought about a .500 team, but these guys played hard, played well together and fought all season long and carried us into the playoffs. It's a great feeling to win the game tonight." High Point Baptist (40) Kauffman 2 0-2 4, Rumer 1 0-0 2, Dougherty 6 0-0 12, Dupee 3 1-2 7, Stoltzfus 1 0-0 2, Arcuri 4 1-2 13, Totals — 17 2-6 40. New Covenant (52) CJ Kornhaus 3 6-6 14, Snyder 6 1-1 16, Ralph 2 0-0 4, Copenhaver 5 5-9 15, Schaetzle 0 0-0 0, Dubble 0 1-2 1, Good 0 1-2 1, T.Kornhaus 0 1-2 1, Burns 0 0-0 0. Totals — 16 15-22 52. High Point 8 9 9 14 — 40 New Covenant 19 14 11 8 — 52 3-point goals — HP: Arcuri 4 NC: Snyder 3, CJ Kornhaus 2. Total fouls — HP 20, NC 16; Fouled out — None.