Freeman bucked a trend during the opening day of the State Boys’ Basketball Tournament on Thursday at Wachs Arena.

The second-seeded Flyers were the only higher-seeded team to record a victory during the opening round, a 63-55 hard-fought win over Sully Buttes.

The Flyers’ eight-point decision was the largest margin of victory in the first round.

“Even,” is how Freeman coach Lance Friesen described the teams. “It’s a great year for Class B basketball. I said that in early January. You go 15 deep in the field and you’re like, who could make it to Aberdeen? Who could win it?”

The Flyers shot 12-for-30 from deep in the game, with sophomore Tayden Kerrigan contributing five of those 3-pointers.

When asked how big those dozen 3-pointers were, Kerrigan replied, “Huge. We do a lot of shooting practice so it paid off.”

The Flyers needed those outside shots because the defense was focused on David Walter inside.

“They had to go in,” Friesen said. “They were packing it in guarding David. That’s a smart game plan against us and everybody’s a really good shooter. Just a matter of time for this to happen.”

Early in the first quarter, a Tate Sorensen 3-pointer gave Freeman an early 8-2 lead, but after a 5-0 surge from Sully Buttes, it was just a one-point game at 8-7.

Just as Chargers closed in, the Flyers got hot behind the arc, hitting four shots from deep after the Chargers’ run, closing the quarter with a 24-11 lead.

Sully Buttes ended up scoring the last basket before the end of the first quarter and then scored six unanswered points to start the second quarter to chop the lead down to 24-17.

Kerrigan responded, hitting his third three-pointer of the game, and Tannen Auch followed that by hitting another one for the Flyers, ballooning their lead to 13 points at 30-17.

Freeman owned a 32-21 lead at the half, before the Chargers once again went on a run to cut the lead in the third quarter. This time it was an 8-2 surge to slice the margin to 34-29.

The Flyers pushed the lead back out to 38-29, but Wesley Wittler then went on a 6-1 run by himself to close the gap to 39-35.

Freeman took a four-point edge into the final quarter and then hit back-to-back 3s, the first one coming from Kerrigan and the second from Luke Miller, extending the lead to 49-39.

Wittler and the Chargers wouldn’t go away, though, as the team went on a 9-2 run, including seven points from Wittler.

Sully Buttes coach Brian White said his team showed pride in the way it clawed its way back into the game.

“They’re a group that really has a lot of pride in what they’ve done this year,” said White. “They play really hard. They compete at an elite level. We might not always be able to match everybody physically, but we’re able to compete at an elite level.”

With Freeman still clinging to a four-point lead with less than two minutes remaining, Kerrigan made his fifth 3-pointer of the game to all but ice the win.

Jett Yackley got fouled on a three-point shot with just under a minute remaining and made all three free throws, but the Chargers could get no closer.

Kerrigan finished with 17 points to lead the Flyers. Walter followed with 15, and Luke Miller added 10.

Wittler finished with a game-high 28 points to lead the Chargers, and also grabbed eight rebounds.

“We’re always looking at it as there’s only eight teams that make it to this thing,” Wittler said following the setback. ““It’s a pretty cool accomplishment to make it here, so were going to keep our heads high.”

Freeman, 22-2 on the season, will face Wall in the semifinals around 6:45 tonight.

Sully Buttes, 18-5 on the year, takes on De Smet in consolation round action at 12:45 this afternoon.

SULLY BUTTES (18-5): Easton Moore 1 0-0 2, Jett Yackley 5 3-3 15, Wesley Wittler 11 4-6 28, Gavin Colson 3 2-2 10. Totals 20-44 9-11 55.

FREEMAN (22-2): Tayden Kerrigan 6 0-0 17, Luke Miller 3 2-3 10, Luke Peters 2 2-2 7, David Walter 4 7-10 15, Tate Sorenson 3 0-0 8, Tannen Auch 2 0-0 6. Totals 20-53 11-20 63.

Sully Buttes 11 21 39 55

Freeman 24 32 43 63

3-point field goals – Yackley 2, Wittler 2, Colson 2; Kerrigan 5, Miller 2, Auch 2, Tate 2, Peters 1. Fouled out – Moore; Kerrigan. Total fouls – Sully Buttes 13; Freeman 13; Rebounds – Sully Buttes 25 (Wittler 8); Freeman 35 (Tate 10). Turnovers – Sully Buttes 4; Freeman 12. Assists – Sully Buttes 7 (Yackley 3); Freeman 13 (Walter 4). Blocked shots – Freeman 2 (Walter, Sorensen); Steals – Freeman Sully Buttes 5 (Yackley 2, Wittler 2); Freeman 1 (Sorensen).