Kenyon-Wanamingo forced LeRoy-Ostrander to play basketball at the Knights' pace, but the defending Section 1A runners-up were up to the challenge.

The Cardinals, returning all five starters from a 16-10 season that ended one game from the state tournament, came out of the gates with an impressive 39-26 win Tuesday night in Kenyon. The victory seemed impressive to Cardinal coach Russ Foster because his is not a team that typically starts the season well, and Kenyon-Wanamingo tested L-O's patience by holding the ball.

"It's a game that's not a lot of fun to watch, but I though we played well," Foster said. "We were patient offensively and we played very well defensively."

Kenyon-Wanamingo graduated the last of its players remaining from its Class AA state championship team of two years ago, but the Knights are still relying on defense. K-W kept Cardinal center Chad Orum at bay as best as they could, but Orum's supporting cast played a strong game to get the win.

"We led by 18 after the third quarter and we played pretty well considering that's not an easy style of basketball to play against," Foster said. "I just hope we can build on that and continue to improve."

The Cardinals shot 16-of-34 from the field and committed only five turnovers in the first game of the year. Orum and Dustin Thorson led L-O's limited scoring with 12 points apiece. Orum led all players with 13 rebounds.

LeRoy-Ostrander plays Saturday at Riceville, Iowa, before hosting Grand Meadow for both team's Southeast Conference opener Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in LeRoy.

LEROY-OSTRANDER -- Brett Mensink 0, Andrew Knight 4, Kirk Olson 2, Ben Adams 6, Jake Rowe 3, Chris Newton 0, Dustin Thorson 12, Chad Orum 12.

GM wins opener

Grand Meadow knocked off Medford in both team's season-opener, 50-41, Tuesday night in Grand Meadow. The Superlarks led Medford launch from three-point range all night long, and the visiting Tigers killed themselves in doing so.

Medford went 6-for-32 from beyond the arc and 15-of-63 overall from the floor, shooting just 24 percent for the game. Grand Meadow was 21-of-54 for 39 percent but controlled the rebounding at a 42-31 clip and committed just six turnovers.

"The boys did a nice job of running the offense and getting the ball inside," said GM coach Bruce Klaehn. "I was very pleased with (six turnovers) for the first game."

Anthony Stejskal scored 16 points to lead Grand Meadow in his first varsity game. Aaron Holst chipped in 14 points and Kyle Breitbarth added nine points and nine rebounds.

Eric Holst and Stejskal added to the rebounding effort with eight apiece.

Chad Fierst led free-shooting Medford with 17 points, and Matt Gedicke added 10.

"We just felt that we were going to live with them shooting the three because we didn't think they would live by that," Klaehn said.

GRAND MEADOW -- Justin Olson 6, Kyle Breitbarth 9, Aaron Holst 14, Eric Holst 2, Anthony Stejskal 16, Ian Hanson 1, Ryan Ament 2.

L/P still winless

Lyle/Pacelli fell to 0-3 after its first Southeast Conference loss of the season, a 72-43 defeat handed down by Spring Grove Tuesday night in Lyle.

The visiting Lions lept to a 17-4 first-quarter lead and never looked back. Eleven different Spring Grove players taillied points in the one-sided win.

L/P was led by nine points apiece from Mark Van Winter and Nels Nelson.

Lyle/Pacelli plays its first of five consecutive road games at Glenville-Emmons next Tuesday night. L/P is again entered in Southland's Rebel Classic the following weekend.

LYLE/PACELLI -- Shawn Pfeil 3, Alex Halbach 4, Jake Burzinksi 2, Nels Nelson 9, Alex Schilling 0, Kellen Blaser 0, Nick Ehret 5, David Judd 0, Joey Greibrok 6, Mark Van Winter 9, Chris Bergstrom 0, Chris Schmidt 5.

Blossoms triumph

Blooming Prairie opened the season with a win, stumping Kasson-Mantorville 55-43 Tuesday night in non-conference action at Kasson.

The Blossoms made enough free-throws down the stretch to open up a two-point lead after three quarters. BPHS went into the fourt with a 27-25 lead before doubling its score in the final eight minutes. The Blossoms were 11-of-20 from the charity stripe in the fourth.

David Kramer led the Blossoms with 15 points and six rebounds, while Jon Peterson chipped in 11 points. Peterson and Kraig Olson both fouled out before the final buzzer but BPHS had enough balance for the win.

Blooming plays its second of three road games to start the season Friday night at Montgomery-Lonsdale.

BPHS -- David Kramer 15, Blake Symes 5, Lynn Chheang 2, Kraig Olson 9, Doug Wencl 6, Derek Ingvalson 3, Jon Peterson 11, Ryan Goette 4.