SPEARFISH - Justin Kemp knocked down four first-half 3-pointers on his way to 16 points at the half to help Spearfish to a 74-35 win over Douglas in the final game of the Perkins Classic at the Young Center on Thursday night.

The win was the first of the season for Spearfish (1-4).

"We needed a win like this for our confidence," Spearfish head coach Dan Martin said. "Our kids have worked hard all year. We just need to start getting into a rhythm and getting some consistency on offense and defense together."

The Spartans didn't take long to find some offensive consistency as Kemp was on fire in the first half, just his second game back after suffering a concussion in the season opener against Sioux Falls Lincoln.

"He's a heck of a shooter, and once we continue to get the team offense and team defense going as far as team chemistry we should only get better and better," Martin said.

The Patriots on the other hand struggled through their third straight loss to start the season, with a high-quarter output of 10 points, which came in the final stanza against mostly Spartan reserves.

"We're an extremely young team," Douglas head coach Chris Wieman said. "This is to be expected every now and then for us to grow and develop, you've got to go through the bumps. But we'll bounce back, we'll get better and I think this group has a chance in the future to obviously compete a lot better than we did tonight."

The Patriots (0-3) will wait a week for a chance at their first win of the season when they host winless Hot Springs on Parent's Night next Friday at Whitehead Auditorium.

The Spartans, on the other hand, will go back to playing Greater Dakota Conference foes after two straight games against Black Hills Conference teams.

The Spartans lost to Lead-Deadwood 59-54 on Dec. 19 in Spearfish. Spearfish will host two of its conferences best teams when Sioux Falls Roosevelt and Sioux Falls O'Gorman come to town next weekend.

"We've got to patch some things up and continue to improve," Martin said.

"The kids are definitely moving in the right direction and a game like this was definitely something that we needed. On the same token Douglas' coach has done a nice job, and he'll get them pointed in the right direction. They're a bunch of hardworking kids and they'll definitely improve throughout the year as well."

Sophomore Blake Pirkl provided most of the bright spots for Douglas on the night, scoring 11 points - all in the second half - including three 3-pointers.