JOHNSONBURG — The Johnsonburg boys basketball team found itself in unfamiliar territory a month into the season.

The Rams — one of District 9’s most successful teams over the past decade — were just 6-5 and had lost three games by two points or fewer.

But fast forward a week, and Jburg has now won three straight games and seemingly found its groove. And on Thursday night, they looked like their usual selves in a 86-44 rout over Port Allegany in a non-league contest at Johnsonburg High School.

The Rams (9-5) beat Brockway 48-45 on Tuesday when Austin Green sank a half-court shot as time expired. No such flare for the dramatic was needed against Port Allegany (5-8), though Green certainly didn’t cool off from his game-winning shot.

The senior sharpshooter had 29 points, including 19 in the first half, to help his Rams roll.

“I think in some of (the last few) games, our problem wasn’t the opponent. It was us not playing together,” Johnsonburg head coach Bill Shuey said. “And tonight I saw some chemistry and it was enjoyable to watch.”

Unofficially, the Rams had 29 assists in the game and moved the ball with ease around the court. Though Green was certainly the featured scorer offensively with his seven 3-pointers, Cameron Stelene had 19 points, Gabe Watts added 10 and Eric Christoff 8.

“Right from the get-go, I think they came out and hit a three and they had to shoot 80, 85 percent tonight, I’m guessing,” Port Allegany head coach Kyle Babcock said. “When they did miss, we didn’t box out. We gave them second chance opportunities and they didn’t miss the second shots.”

Stelene finished with a double-double, and the Rams outrebounded Port Allegany at nearly a 2-to-1 rate.

Port Allegany’s offense, meanwhile, ran through Howie Stuckey. The Gator senior entered Thursday with 87 points over the last three games (all Port A victories) and continued his hot stretch in the first half.

Stuckey made four 3-pointers and had 15 points over the first 16 minutes. His shots, which were closer to the Johnsonburg logo at mid-court than to the 3-point line, caught the Rams off-guard early on.

“Oh my God,” Shuey said with a laugh. “The adjustment (after halftime) was that we got out on him. We tried to keep him from spot shooting and our goal was to make him put the ball on the floor.

“I think he shocked our guys with what his range was. We’d say, ‘Why didn’t you get out on him?’ and they’d tell us ‘he was out by half court.’ I told them at halftime that if he starts shooting beyond half court, we’ll let him.”

Indeed, on the first possession out of the halftime break, the Rams had a defender on Stuckey as soon as he crossed half court. After the hot start, he was limited to just two made field goals in the second half.

Seven of his teammates combined for the other 22 points, with Jordan Card registering six.

Johnsonburg’s suffocating defense on Stuckey coincided with the game getting out of hand for the Gators in the second half. Port A was outscored 45-23 over the final 16 minutes, including 22-10 in the fourth quarter.

The struggles down the stretch were emblematic of many of Port’s games so far this season, according to Babcock.

“Howie hit a lot of deep 3’s and that seemed to be the only thing we had going for us was him hitting those,” the first-year head coach said. “We did a few times have a couple guys cutting to the basket. But early on, we missed a lot of layups. All year long we’ve been struggling with layups and if there’s any contact at all, we can never finish and get the and-one.”

Port Allegany travels to Cameron County Monday to begin a critical week with three North Tier League games.

Johnsonburg, meanwhile, will have the weekend off before a string of five consecutive Allegheny Mountain League games, beginning with Sheffield on Monday.

“It feels like we’ve turned the corner as far as working the ball and being more disciplined and patient on offense,” Shuey said.

AT JOHNSONBURG

Port Allegany (44)

Howie Stuckey 8 1-2 22, Card 3 0-0 6, Guilds 0 4-4 4, B. Moses 1 1-1 3, Amell 1 0-0 3, Evens 1 0-0 2, Edgell 1 0-0 2, C. Moses 1 0-0 2 Totals: 16 6-7 44

Johnsonburg (86)

Austin Green 11 0-0 29, Cameron Stelene 8 3-5 19, Gabe Watts 5 0-4 10, Christoff 3 0-0 8, Gi. Gregori 3 0-0 6, Zilkofski 2 0-0 5, Ga. Gregori 2 0-0 4, Douglass 1 0-0 3, Lobough 1 0-0 2 Totals: 36 3-9 86

Port A 12 21 34 44

JBurg 25 41 64 86

Three-point goals: Port A 6 (Stuckey 5, Amell 1), JBurg 11 (Green 7, Christoff 2, Zilkofski 1, Douglass 1); Total fouls: Port A 8, JBurg 5; fouled out: None

JV: Johnsonburg won 42-28