Lyman was up and at ‘em Saturday morning. 

Behind unselfish play and strong perimeter shooting, the Lyman boys basketball team picked up a 58-52 win over Bridgewater-Emery at the Hanson Classic. The Raiders shot 21 of 44 from the field, including 10 of 20 from the 3-point line and dished out 19 assists. 

The 19 assists on the 21 made field goals were all part of Lyman’s game plan. 

“That's what we call care and share and that’s what we preach,” Lyman coach Cooper Garnos said. “That’s what you hope happens and the guys really did a nice job of finding that open person.”

It sparked a 22-6 first-quarter advantage for the Raiders, who led by as many as 23 points early in the third quarter. Not bad for a 10 a.m. start. 

“We could not have asked for a better start,” Garnos said. “One of the things where we have struggled with at times during the season is our shooting and obviously we were lights out.”

They were also balanced. Sam McClanahan led the Raiders (6-2) with 20 points, six assists and six 3-pointers. Jacob Sazue logged nine points, five assists and four steals. Isaac Thomas added eight points, while Stockton McClanahan had seven points, six rebounds and five assists. Damian Abrahamson scored six points and Colton Collins added five points. 

“We moved the ball within our offense and a lot of times those (field goals) came after five or six passes,” Garnos said. “You can’t ask for much more in terms of high school basketball and against a very good team.”

Lyman's Jacob Sazue puts up a shot against Bridgewater-Emery at the Hanson Classic. (Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)

And Lyman was also playing short handed against the Huskies. Lyman’s 6-foot-7 senior center Toby Estes, an all-conference player, injured his knee at the Jones County Invitational on Jan. 13 in Murdo. On Saturday, Garnos didn’t know the extent of the injury and would know more after Estes’ MRI this week. 

But Garnos praised the Raiders for stepping up in Estes’ absence. 

“We’ve essentially played four games without Toby now and I thought (Saturday) was the best of the four games,” Garnos said. “We got some kids off the bench that don’t normally get a lot of minutes. Damian Abrahamson played a super smart game for us. Ryker Choal came in and played and that was outside of the five starters and the continuity and how well they played together.”

Up next, the Raiders will get into the meat of their Western Great Plains Conference schedule. They will also play Class A Rapid City Christian, Waubay/Summit at the DWU/Culver’s Classic and Class B No. 2 White River in the season finale. 

“We have a really tough schedule,” Garnos said. “But that’s what we want and you have to play that type of regular season to get us prepared for the postseason.”