Castlewood found its groove in the second half to help the Warriors advance to the semifinals of the Class B State Boys’ Basketball Tournament Thursday afternoon.

Top-seeded Castlewood pulled away from Lyman on the way to a 64-38 opening round win at Wachs Arena.

Leading eight points at the half, Castlewood outscored Lyman 18-3 in the third quarter to break the game open, starting with seven unanswered points to begin the period.

“Every game we play, we talk about the first three minutes of the second half. … If we go up 7-0 right now, we’re up to 15 and that’s exactly what turned out in the second half,” said Castlewood coach Paul Raasch. “And when we came to the huddle, (Bryon) Laue said let’s go do another 7-0 run and I think we made a 7-2 run, and that was pretty much ball game.”

The young Lyman squad held its own for the first 16 minutes, although it took the Raiders a couple of possessions to get started.

“I think right away, we matched the energy and matched the intensity … even though we started off with probably four turnovers in that first three minutes,” said Lyman coach Cooper Garnos. “We got through that first three minutes and then I think we found our feet a little bit.”

Nerves got to the Raiders, who have a starting lineup consisting of one senior, one junior, two sophomores and a freshman.

MJ Diehm, who was running point, could feel the nerves in his first state tournament appearance.

“I mean, it is my first time being here, but a little bit nervous to be honest,” he said. “Just coming in with a mindset that anyone’s beatable and that it’s just basketball.”

Even Castlewood, which is playing in its fourth straight state tournament, had nerves coming into the game. Senior Luke Baumberger, who scored the first five points of the game, had a few jitters coming into the game.

“Yeah, there’s always nerves playing in every single game. I mean, it’s the sport basketball,” said Baumberger. “You love the nerves, you want the nerves. So yeah, there’s always going to be nerves.”

For Lyman, it was Cole Kieffer who scored the team’s first basket, which didn’t happen until after three minutes into the game. The 6-foot-4 freshman had one of the toughest jobs on the court in the first round, having to guard the 6-foot-9 Laue.

“And actually, the Kieffer kid, when we went man-to-man, our ninth grader did a super job. For a freshman, he’s got some of the best footwork I’ve seen in a long time,” said Garnos. “His mentality, he’s got a fighter mentality, so I think that was part of it, too. He just did a flat out good job.”

He held Laue to just two points in the opening eight minutes as Castlewood held a 13-7 lead going into the second quarter. Lyman stayed within striking distance for a majority of the second quarter, led by Diehm who put up 10 of their 17 points.

“That was great. I was just getting into my spot and not being as nervous,” said Diehm. “Just playing like I would normally do when I’m by myself in the gym.”

The offensive success from the Raiders prompted a timeout from the Warriors. Following that timeout, Jamison Keszler hit a three, and Castlewood went on to outscore Lyman 13-6 to give them the eight-point lead going into halftime.

“They were getting to the rim on us. Number three (Diehm) was hurting us getting to the rim and creating things,” said Raasch. “They were staying within distance on us on that. It was more about our defense and we had to get stops, and make a run.”

In the locker room, Raasch told his players that they had to capitalize on their lead and they  with that decisive third-quarter surge.

Despite facing a 23-point deficit in the final quarter, the Raiders finished the game off strong.

“You just want the guys to play with big hearts. Man, just keep playing. Obviously, we played everybody,” said Garnos. “Just keep battling. It doesn’t matter about the score and you try to just get it done one possession at a time. Don’t worry about that clock.”

Castlewood, which improved to 22-2 on the season, placed four players in double-figure scoring, led by Baumberger with 15 points. Jamsion Keszler followed with 13, Laue finished with 12, and Kamden Keszler added 10.

“We’re comfortable with anybody shooting the ball and scoring the ball,” said Raasch. “We pose a lot of problems for other teams. We’ve got a lot of weapons, and if they want to take Bryon away, or try to, the other guys are up and do what they did today.”

With that many offensive weapons, Garnos said he knew his team had to play its absolute best to have a chance against the Warriors.

“I found over the years, just with a team like that, you have to play near perfectly,” Garnos said.

Castlewood takes on Wessington Springs in the semifinals at 6 tonight.

Lyman (17-7) will face Wall in consolation action at noon today. In a previous meeting during the regular season Lyman came away with a 72-69 win.

LYMAN (17-7): Conway Collins 1 0-0 3, MJ Diehm 5 2-2 12, Aksel Ehlers 1 0-0 2, Dawson Volmer 2 1-1 5, Cole Kieffer 4 1-2 9, Austin House 1 0-0 3, Chase Seaboy 2 0-0 4. Totals 16 4-5 38.

CASTLEWOOD (22-2): Kamden Keszler 4 1-2 10, Brody Bass 2 0-1 5, Jamison Keszler 5 2-2 13, Luke Baumberger 5 2-4 15, Bryon Laue 5 4-4 12, Kolby Davis 0 1-2 1, Tyson Manley 2 0-0 5, Jarin Eidson 0 1-2 1, Will Aderhold 0 2-2 2. Totals 23 11-21 64.

Lyman 7 24 27 38

Castlewood 13 32 50 64

3-point field goals – Collins, House; K. Keszler, Bass, J. Keszler, Baumberger 3, Manley. Total fouls – Lyman 17; Castlewood 7. Rebounds – Lyman 27 (Ehlers 9); Castlewood 40 (Laue 11). Turnovers – Lyman 12; Castlewood 16. Assists – Lyman 5 (Canyon Garnos 2); Castlewood 11 (J. Keszler 5). Steals – Lyman 6 (Diehm 3); Castlewood 5 (K. Keszler 2). Blocked shots – Lyman 1 (Volmer); Castlewood 5 (Laue 3).