WINNER - Winner picked up an opening night win with a 68-28 win over Andes Central in Friday night basketball action.

"It was nice to get the first game win in," said Winner head coach Jim Drake.

"The kids worked really hard, but it'll get a lot tougher next week."

Seth Daughters dropped in 18 and Zach Horstman added 17 for the Warriors, who will face Stanley County and White River in upcoming games this week.

"Andes Central has a young team and we got after them early," said Drake.

Ryan Knudson scored seven points and Wamddie Zephier added five for Andes Central.

Winner held the Eagles to 26 percent shooting from the floor.

Kadoka Area 76, Rapid City Christian 40

KADOKA - Kadoka Area got a nice mix of old and new Friday night in a 76-40 Western Great Plains Conference win over Rapid City Christian.

Carter Uhlir, Royal Addison and Bryer Jones, all back from last year's squad, combined for 45 of Kougar's point total as Uhlir tossed in a game-high 22.

"We have a good core of returning players," said Kadoka Area head coach Mark Reiman. "We play 11 deep and everybody got involved in the game and made some nice contributions."

Kadoka opened up a 17-4 lead eight minutes into the game.

Justin Dibona led the Comets with 19 points before fouling out.

The Kougars held a 46-32 rebounding advantage as Jordan Stout had 11.

Richard Stecher led Christian with 12 caroms while contributing 8 points.

"I really liked our effort on the boards," said Reiman. "Last year we didn't rebound very well, so it was nice to see them attack the glass."

Kadoka will host Faith while Christian will entertain Hay Springs, Neb. in non-conference games tonight.

Newell 62, Douglas 46

NEWELL - Tyler Mutchler and Sterling Boylan carried Newell to a 62-46 win over Douglas during a Black Hills Conference high school boys basketball tilt Friday.

Mutchler hit four three pointer and scored a game-high 24 points, while Sterling Boylan notched a double-double with 18 points and 18 boards.

"It was a very good game," Newell head coach Scott Wince said. "The two juniors - Tyler Mutchler and Sterling Boylan - played outstanding, and I was pleased with the guard play tonight."

Newell jumped out to a 19-7 lead after a quarter and led 36-14 at halftime.

Nate Koch led the Patriots with 17 points, and Kevin Alexander added 11.

Newell (1-0) plays at Belle Fourche, and Douglas (0-1) plays at Sturgis on Dec. 18.

Red Cloud 88, Bennett Co. 39

MARTIN - Red Cloud drilled Bennett County, 88-39, in a high school boys basketball game Friday.

The Crusaders led 17-1 after a quarter, before the Warriors got withing 29-17 at halftime. However, a 32-12 run in the third put Red Cloud up 61-29 entering the fourth quarter.

Christian McGhee had a game-high 19 points for Red Cloud. Billy Scott (16 points), Carl Swallow, Mike Cuney (11) and Dave Giago also reached double figures.

Orin Three Stars led Bennett County with 14 markers.

Bennett County (0-1) plays at Stanley County today, while Red Cloud (1-0) is off until the Lakota Nation Invitational, which is held Dec. 19-22 in Rapid City.

Little Wound 90, St. Francis 52

KYLE - Brice Hornbeck dropped a game-high 28 points as Little Wound rolled past St. Francis, 90-52, to open up the high school boys basketball season on Friday.

Casey Montileaux added 19 points for the Mustangs, who had 11 different players score.

Tim Little Shield paced St. Francis with 26 points, and Richard Spotted Tail added 12.

Little Wound shot a sizzling 60.7 percent (37-for-61) from the field and also forced 33 Warrior turnovers.

Little Wound (1-0) plays Crow Creek today, and St. Francis (0-1) hosts Pine Ridge on Tuesday.

St. Thomas More 79, Hill City 46

HILL CITY - Tanner Wince and Nate Jacobson scored 17 points apiece and two-time defending Class A state champion St. Thomas More opened the high school boys basketball season with a 79-46 win over Hill City on Friday.

Wince hit four 3-pointers and Jacobson added three for STM, which hit 12 3s in the contest.

Brendan Duffy added 15 points, 12 of which came from downtown, and Stevie Statz had 10 markers.

Hudson Koel poured in a game-high 21 points and also had eight rebounds for the Rangers. Any Coy added 11 points.

St. Thomas More (1-0) hosts Hot Springs, and Hill City (0-1) plays at Custer on Friday.

Todd Co. 72, Valentine, Neb. 53

VALENTINE, Neb. - Jordan His Law, Gunner Krogman and Alex Prue combined for 49 points as Todd County stopped Valentine 72-53 in a boys basketball game on Friday night.

His Law led all scorers with 21 points as Todd County picked up the season opening win.

Krogman added 15 and Prue hit for 13 for the Falcons who will host Pine Ridge on Thursday.

"I can't fault our effort for a first game," said Todd County head coach Mike Hammer. "We rebounded well. I would like to see us run our offense a little more rather then looking to shoot first."

The Badgers got 12 points from Jacob Arendt and 10 from Adam Dredge.

Wall 72, Philip 39

PHILIP - Joe Besson scored 16 points as Wall defeated Philip 72-39 in Western Great Plains boys basketball action on Friday night.

Darick Eisenbraun added 12 points for the Eagles. The team shot 45 percent from the field (27-of-60) and went 14-of-35 from the line.

The Scotties were led by Caleb Clements who had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Wall travels to Bennett County and Philip goes on the road to face Stanley County on Thursday.

White River 90, Jones Co. 66

WHITE RIVER - Louie Krogman scored 33 points as White River toppled Jones County 90-66 in a season opening basketball game for both schools on Friday night.

Krogman, the state's second leading scorer coming into his senior year, moved 139 points closer to overtaking Lake Norden's Don Jacobsen for the all-time mark.

"I thought we played real hard," said White River head coach Eldon Marshall. "We are working on getting our younger players into the mix. Everybody did a nice job on defense and did the little things you need to win."

Frankie Waln added 18 points for the Tigers while Jake Krogman added 15. Matthew Bartlett added a double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds.

Andrew Bork led the Coyotes with 19 points while Kade Bryan had 16 and Scott Nix added 15 for Jones County.

White River will travel to Winner and Jones County will visit Wall in games on Friday.

GIRLS GAMES

Sioux Falls O'Gorman 58, Rapid City Stevens 36

SIOUX FALLS - Sioux Falls O'Gorman got off to a fast start as the Lady Knights downed Rapid City Stevens 58-36 in the opening game of the Greater Dakota Conference season for both schools.

The quick guards of O'Gorman were too much for the Raiders on both sides of the floor as they forced 22 steals and dished out 15 assists.

Melanie Peterson led the way with 15 points, seven steals and four assists.

Emily Schulte chipped in with 12, Makayla Grady added 11 and Jenna Stroup collected 10 for the winners.

O'Gorman led by 10 points at the first quarter stop and 29-13 at the intermission.

The Raiders were led by Kalli Bechtel's eight-point effort.

The Knights were co-GDC champions last year and will entertain Rapid City Central today while Stevens will play Sioux Falls Roosevelt in another GDC game.

Leola-Frederick Area 60, McLaughlin 34

MCLAUGHLIN - Leola-Frederick Area's Mikayla Barondeau and Jamie Hart combined to outscore the entire McLaughlin team in a 60-34 victory during high school girls basketball action Friday.

Barondeau led the Titans with 23 points and Jamie Hart added 14.

Summer Taken Alive buried a pair of three pointers and led the Midgets with 14 points.

Leola-Frederick Area improved to 2-0 with the win. McLaughlin (0-2) plays at Tiospaye Topa on Friday.

Newell 74, Douglas 42

NEWELL - Newell opened up an 18-2 lead after a quarter en route to a 74-42 win over Douglas during Black Hills Conference high school girls basketball action Friday.

Becky Deighton hit four three pointers and scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Irrigators. Mandy Durch added 13 points and Jessica Carney had 11.

"We got out to a hot start - up 18-0," Newell head coach Donovan DeBoer said. "We kind of let them back in it … we didn't defend as well as we would have liked (in the second quarter).

Monica Deighton added nine points and 11 boards for Newell.

Molly Muehl led the Patriots with 15 points, and Hannah Edwards added 14 points and nine rebounds.

Douglas (0-1) hosts Pine Ridge today, and Newell (1-1) hosts Lead-Deadwood on Tuesday.

New Underwood 68, Edgemont 34

NEW UNDERWOOD - Three players scored double figures as New Underwood earned a 68-34 victory over Edgemont in girls basketball action on Friday.

The Tigers held a 35-12 advantage at halftime and built that lead to 50-20 after three quarters.

"We started kinda slow," New Underwood coach Dallas Richter said. "Our defense got us going. We came out and had a big third quarter."

Candi Hall led the Tigers with 19 points. Chyla Koller paced Edgemont with 16.

New Underwood travels to Faith on Tuesday.

Hot Springs 37, Custer 36

CUSTER - Kara Powell and Randi Weiss combined for 24 points as Hot Springs edged Custer 37-36 in Black Hills Conference girls basketball action on Friday.

"Hot Springs built an early lead. They got 10 on us in the first half and I was proud how we fought back," Custer coach Paul Anderson said. "We played a much stronger second half. We were able to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but just couldn't hold on."

Weiss and Powell had 12 points a piece in the win.

"We did a nice job on Kara Powell defensively, but she still scored and provided opportunities for her teammates," Anderson said.

Claire Carson led Custer with 16 points.

Hot Springs (1-0 overall, 1-0 BHC) continues with BHC action against Lead-Deadwood tonight. Custer (0-1, 0-1 BHC) hosts Hill City on Friday.