PIERRE - Win-hungry Pierre feasted on Rapid City Central on Friday with Governor senior guard Michael Gardner setting the table with a school record-tying seven three-pointers in the 63-41 win.

Gardner finished with a career-best 24 points. His seven threes came in the first three quarters of the game. That tied the team mark set by All-Staters D.J. Prue in 2002 and tied twice by Nic Hogan in 2003.

"Michael's a guy we look to for leadership," said Pierre coach Terry Becker.

"He's not afraid to make those kind of plays. It was nice to see all our kids click on all cylinders."

Gardner's offense was matched by the Pierre defense that held the Cobblers to just one field goal attempt in the second quarter. The Govs outscored Central 17-4 in the second frame to take a commanding lead.

"The difference between tonight and the first five games of the season was we got the ball in the paint," said Becker.

"We got some post touches and some baskets. (The Cobblers) collapsed on us and that freed up Michael to shoot the ball."

Pierre never trailed in the contest with Gardner hitting three long-range bombs in the first quarter alone. The Govs would score the first 11 points of the second quarter to open a 26-9 lead. Rapid City Central was guilty of seven turnovers in the quarter, most of them on passes batted away inside.

"That's what sprung our run," said Becker.

Gardner hit three more three-pointers in the first 90 seconds of the second half to build the lead to an insurmountable 41-17. Pierre had 10 total three pointers, one short of the team record single game record of 11 set in 2001 and tied 2002.

"You watch him shoot and it looks like it's going in every time," said Becker.

Pierre got some major contributions from its bench with a combined 12 points and eight rebounds.

"Everybody down the line gave us quality minutes," said Becker. "If we're going to be a good team, we're going to need that. We don't have anyone who is head-and-shoulders above anyone else. If everyone can figure out their roles, that's going to be a big difference."

The Cobblers, who drop to 2-4 on the season, had only one double-figure scorer in Caleb Granz with 13. Rapid City Central was guilty of 15 turnovers, only four coming after halftime.

"It just seemed we were out of sync right away," said Cobbler coach Mike Purcell. "We got some good looks in the first couple of minutes. But we didn't finish and Pierre did. Gardner was really hard for us to handle. Pierre just wanted it more. We took a week to get ready for this but we didn't run anything that we had prepared for. And then frustration set in.

Pierre will host Rapid City Stevens Saturday afternoon with a 12:30 p.m. (Mountain) tipoff.

"They're a different type of team," said Becker. "They can shoot from the perimeter."