The size and experience of Dell Rapids St. Mary put away a young Aberdeen Christian squad Thursday night.

On the opening day of the Class B State Boys’ Basketball Tournament at Wach Arena, second-seeded St. Mary got up early and defeated the hometown Knights 66-45. The Cardinals set the tone early, bolting out to a 13-2 lead in slightly more than three minutes to start the contest.

“Definitely some championship pedigree for sure from Dell Rapids. I mean, really impressive. Both their guards hit I think two threes in the first quarter,” said Knights coach Matt Rohrbach. “Pretty soon it’s 13-2 and you’re calling your first timeout. So, obviously, they’re a really good team and we knew that coming in. And it’s just unfortunate that they kind of started hot like they did.”

While the Cardinals set the tone offensively, they also made a statement on the defensive side. Maverick LeBrun, a 6-foot-6 senior, blocked a shot early on from Brooks Jett, which led directly to fast-break points for the Cardinals.

“We knew we had to come out aggressive, make a statement because everyone else’s nerves are going. We were ready to go,” said LeBrun. “Big crowd, electric, so we had to cut down on defense and make a statement right away.”

Jett knew who was standing in the paint for the night, and the sophomore learned his lesson early on, which helped set him up for success for the rest of the night.

“Well, it started out I was not really pump-faking, so I got blocked a few times because he’s athletic,” said Jett of LeBrun. “But then we started running stuff, trying to get him switched off of me so I could get a little bit of mismatching and go to work a little bit.”

With St. Mary steadily growing its lead, Christian needed some sort of spark to get a little more juice on the court. Raymond Rodriguez-Martinez provided that.

The junior came in and made an impact right away. Jett was at the line shooting free throws and missed both, with the rebound going to DRSM. Rodriguez-Martinez stole the ball immediately after and drew a foul, making one of the two free throws. On the next offensive possession for the Knights, he drilled a 3-pointer to bring some life into a large Christian fan base.

“That’s his job. He knows that he’s got to bring the energy, and he does every single night. It’s easy when a crowd is this big,” said Rohrbach. “But we just love the kid and how much he likes the guys and wants to just make plays. Whether it’s diving on the floor or hitting the 3-pointer like he did.”

However, that spark did last long as the Knights found themselves trailing by 21 points going into halftime. The Cardinals got numerous second-chance points thanks to 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, a majority of them coming from LeBrun.

“He does a really good job positioning and kind of reading the ball on the rebounds, and kind of takes care of our misses,” said St. Mary coach Colby Fitzgerald. “So, it’s a blessing in disguise for him and he’s a really hard worker for us.”

Jett finished the game with a team-leading 17 points and took advantage of open looks when he had them.

“We weren’t getting shots and the last few games, they’ve been doubling me and Luke (Kaiser) and Dylan (Hofer) have been picking up and scoring like 15 points a game,” said Jett. “But they weren’t getting there, so I thought I had to go get mine and try to keep us in it.”

The chemistry for DRSM was evident from the opening tip and was on full display in the third quarter. A Christian miss led to a fast break alley-oop dunk from Trevan Beckman to LeBrun. The duo has been playing together for as long as they can remember.

“I watched it the whole time. I’m waiting for it every time. Me and Trevon, we got some really good chemistry that we’ve had our whole lives,” said LeBrun. “We play really well together. … Me and Trevon actually played together since we were little.”

Fitzgerald said that type of chemistry and experience helps to make his job a bit easier on the sideline.

“I really don’t talk to them too much before the game. We do a really good job scouting and I think the boys take care of it behind the scenes,” said Fitzgerald. “So, it makes our jobs as coaches really easy. We’ve had this core group of starters, three starters for sure, for the last three years.”

Beckman had 21 points to lead the Cardinals, while LeBrun added 18, and Trimmier Hanson contributed 11.

While the Knights trailed by double figures nearly the entire game, the young squad competed with high energy and will look to carry that over to its next two games.

“But I’m still proud of the way we battled. And I thought that, you know, for a young team, they really handled their nerves pretty well,” said Rohrbach. “We’re grateful to be here and we continue to love being around each other, and hey, we still got two more games to send our seniors out the right way.”

Jett Johnson and Grady Jett each finished with nine points for the Knights, who slipped to 18-6.

Dell Rapids St. Mary, 23-1 on the year, will face Viborg-Hurley in the semifinals at 7:45 tonight. Christian will take on Freeman in consolation action at 1:45 this afternoon.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (18-6): Jett Johnson 3 0-0 9, Dylan Hofer 1 2-2 4, Luke Kaiser 0 2-2 2, Brooks Jett 7 3-6 17, Raymond Rodriguez-Martinez 1 1-2 4, Grady Jett 3 2-2 9. Totals 15 10-14 45

DELL RAPIDS ST. MARY (23-1): Trimmier Hanson 6 1-1 15, Trevon Beckman 8 3-3 21, Jake Kopsas 3 0-0 6, Maverick LeBrun 7 4-5 18, Lincoln LeBrun 1 0-0 3, Jake Heinitz 0 1-2 1, Jaxon Baumberger 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 9-11 66.

Aberdeen Christian 9 17 31 45

Dell Rapids St. Mary 23 38 53 66

3-point field goals – Johnson 3, Rodriguez-Martinez; Hanson 2, Beckman 2, L. LeBrun. Total fouls – Aberdeen Christian 13; Dell Rapids St. Mary 15. Rebounds – Aberdeen Christian 28 (B. Jett 11); Dell Rapids St. Mary 37 (M. LeBrun 9). Turnovers – Aberdeen Christian 14; Dell Rapids St. Mary 9. Assists – Aberdeen Christian 7 (B. Jett 3); Dell Rapids St. Mary 11 (Beckman 5). Steals – Aberdeen Christian 3 (Johnson, Hofer, Rodriguez-Martinez); Dell Rapids St. Mary 6 (Beckman 3). Blocks – Aberdeen Christian 2 (B. Jett 2); Dell Rapids St. Mary 3 (M. LeBrun 2).