The South Dakota Boys State Basketball Tournament kicked off on Thursday as several buzzer-beaters and upsets highlighted the action heading into Friday’s semifinals.

CLASS AA

• No. 1 Sioux Falls Jefferson 53, No. 8 Harrisburg 41

Harrisburg took an early 10-4 lead before Sioux Falls Jefferson out-scored the Tigers 18-7 in the second quarter. Up 22-17 at halftime, the Cavaliers pulled away in the second half, extending their lead to 36-27 at the end of the third quarter and winning the fourth quarter 17-14.

Griffin Wilde led the Cavaliers with 18 points and eight rebounds while Jacoby Mehrman led Harrisburg with 17 points.

• No. 4 Yankton 58, No. 5 Sioux Falls Washington 51

Yankton led 13-12 after the first quarter and went into halftime with a 28-19 lead. Sioux Falls Washington cut the lead down to 39-33 at the end of the third quarter but Yankton went 15-for-17 from the free throw line to put the game away.

Gage Gasca led the Warriors with 17 points and five rebounds while Mac Ryken led the Bucks with 29 points and five rebounds.

• No. 2 Sioux Falls Lincoln 56, No. 7 Sioux Falls Roosevelt 48

No stats were received for this game.

• No. 3 Mitchell 60, No. 6 Pierre 51

The Kernels jumped out to a 15-10 lead after the first quarter and expanded the lead to 28-22 at halftime. The Governors made it a 37-33 game at the end of the third quarter but Mitchell out-scored Pierre 23-18 in the fourth quarter to advance to the semifinals.

Steele Morgan led Mitchell with 18 points while Lincoln Kienholz had 19 points for the Governors.

CLASS A

• No. 1 Dakota Valley 80, No. 8 Hot Springs 47

Dakota Valley raced out to a 21-14 lead in the first quarter and extended its lead to 41-21 at halftime. The Panthers jumped ahead 68-28 at the end of the third quarter before Hot Springs out-scored Dakota Valley 19-12 in the fourth quarter.

Isaac Bruns led the Panthers with 24 points while Camron Maciejewski had 11 points for the Bison.

• No. 7 Elk Point-Jefferson 53, No. 2 St. Thomas More 50

EPJ led for most of the game, taking a 14-13 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 26-21 lead at halftime. The Cavaliers made it a 36-32 game heading into the fourth quarter and tied the game on Caleb Hollenbeck’s jumper with four seconds to go, but Devon Schmitz got the ball just beyond the arc and sank a buzzer-beater to send the Huskies into the semifinals.

Schmitz had a team-high 18 points for the Huskies while Hollenbeck had a game-high 32 points to go with six rebounds for the Cavaliers.

• No. 3 Sioux Falls Christian 83, No. 6 Mount Vernon/Plankinton 55

The Chargers took an 18-8 lead in the first quarter and were up 36-19 at halftime. Sioux Falls Christian led 64-41 at the end of a fast-paced third quarter before out-scoring MVP 19-14 in the fourth quarter.

Sioux Falls Christian had four players in double figures including Cole Snyder, who led the team with 19 points. Reed Rus had a game-high 30 points and nine rebounds for the Titans.

CLASS B

• No. 1 Lower Brule 67, No. 8 Castlewood 55

Lower Brule took a 21-12 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 39-21 lead at halftime before out-scoring the Warriors 16-6 in the third quarter. Castlewood out-scored the Sioux 18-12 in the fourth quarter, but it was too big of a hole to dig out of.

Gavin Thigh led the way for Lower Brule with a game-high 34 points while Byron Laue led Castlewood with 25 points and 14 rebounds.

• No. 4 White River 72, No. 5 Faith 56

White River was in front for a majority of the game, leading 22-14 after the first quarter, 36-24 at halftime and 54-40 at the end of the third quarter before out-scoring the Longhorns 18-16 in the fourth quarter.

Joe Sayler had a game-high 24 points to go with six rebounds and Caden Selby and Jackson Schauer had 15 points each for the Longhorns.

• No. 2 Aberdeen Christian 57, No. 7 Ethan 47

Aberdeen Christian took a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and was up 25-15 at halftime. The Knights extended their lead to 44-30 at the end of the third quarter before Ethan won the fourth quarter 17-13.

Malek Wieker led Aberdeen Central with 15 points and six rebounds while Riley Endres had a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds for Ethan.

• No. 3 De Smet 51, No. 6 Viborg-Hurley 47

The Cougars took a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 27-17 lead into halftime but De Smet made it a 37-36 game at the end of the third quarter and won the fourth quarter 15-10 to pick up the victory.

Damon Wilkinson had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds while Nick Hanson had 16 points and seven assists for the Cougars.