St. Thomas More overcame a hot shooting night from Lakota Tech to defeat the Tatanka in the first round of the South Dakota boys Class A state tournament on Thursday.
The Cavaliers advance to play the winner of Sioux Valley and Winner in today’s semifinals.
Lakota Tech will face the loser of the two teams in the consolation semi’s.
White River is the only team west of the river in either the Class B or AA tourney and opened with a 75-70 win over Freeman Academy/Marion.
White River’s Joe Sayler set a new Class B state tournament record with 43 points on 13-of-25 shooting and 14-of-15 from the free throw line.
The Class AA field was dominated by the Sioux Falls metro area with six of the eight teams coming from Lincoln County. Four of them advanced to the semifinals.