YORK — Zach Leal set an early tone for the York High School boys basketball team on Thursday night against Poland.

The senior guard stole the ball near midcourt and thrilled the crowd inside Robert E. Butler Gymnasium with a dunk. That ignited a 25-0 run to begin the game for the Wildcats, as York moved to 3-0 with a 72-39 Western Maine Class B victory.

“That was a lot of fun,” Leal said. “I saw that I had it wide open, so I tried to get the team going right off the bat.”

All five of York’s starters saw limited playing time due to the lopsided score. Senior center Aaron Todd scored a game-high 16 points, while Adam Bailey and Luke Claflin chipped in with 12 apiece. Leal scored all eight of his points in the first quarter.

“We just tried to come out hard and get in the right mindset,” Todd said. “We scored a lot of points and played good defense.”

York led 39-12 at halftime and 54-24 after three quarters. Poland coach Tyler Tracy, whose young team dropped to 0-3, said his players faced an opponent that is focused on winning a state championship.

“They are the bar for our conference,” Tracy said. “They’re tough and they do things the right way. They’re athletic, skilled and they want it. Those factors are pretty powerful.”

York coach Randy Small said his team followed Leal’s example from the start. Leal had a putback, an assist and a steal to help the Wildcats go up 10-0. Another Leal bucket made it 23-0 midway through the first quarter.

“Any time you start the game with a dunk, that sets a tremendous tone,” Small said. “He is a complete team player. He’ll score, but he’s just as happy when he gets an assist.”

Leal found Todd for a hoop to give York a 25-0 lead before Derek Michaud (15 points) drained a 3-pointer for Poland’s first points of the game with 3:07 left in the first quarter.

“Zach has worked extremely hard and is becoming one of the best players in the state,” Todd said. “Honestly, he could probably dunk it every play. He’s that athletic.”

The Wildcats forced 10 turnovers and shot 67 percent (14 for 21) from the floor in the first quarter in taking a 32-5 lead.

“We executed almost perfectly,” Small said. “That was one of the best quarters I’ve seen since I’ve been here. We played great defense and they worked well together as five.”

One of the biggest keys to York’s success is its depth. The Wildcat starters are always tested in practice by Claflin, Nicholas Darby, Ross Hogan and Thomas Kinton.

“The practices are competitive and the starters are pushed,” Small said. “The starters know they can’t slack off, because they’ll get beat up. They push each other, which is great.”

The Wildcats, who began the season with victories over Fryeburg Academy and Greely, will travel to Yarmouth on Saturday.