Dain Dainja scored 28 points and grabbed 21 rebounds as Park Center held off Hopkins 85-70 in boys' basketball at the Big 12 Classic on Saturday at Champlin Park High School.
The Class 4A, No. 2 Pirates started the game on an 8-0 run before runs of 15-5 and 9-5 led to a 21-point lead at halftime.
The Royals got back in the game with a 17-10 run to open the second half and got to within seven, but Pirates forward John Grigsby made a three-point shot with 5:42 left to get the lead back to double-digits.
Josh Brown added 18 points for Park Center. Kerwin Walton led the Royals with 32 points.
Prior Lake 76, East Ridge 60: Dawson Garcia scored 30 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Class 4A, No. 4 Lakers past the No. 5 Raptors in the Big 12 Classic. Malcolm Jones had 17 points for the Lakers. Ben Carlson and Kendall Blue both had 19 points for East Ridge. Carlson also had 12 rebounds.
Buffalo 79, Orono 74: The Bison built a 16-point lead at halftime and held off the host Spartans. Matthew Willert led the Bison with 32 points and Brandon Maatz and Antonio Bluiett had 17 points each. Connor Chappell led the Spartans with 18 points, Graham Beltrand had 14, Jake Farrell 13 and Reese Clifford and Sebastian Loder 11 each.
Delano 62, Willmar 57: Keagen Smith scored 28 points to lead the Tigers past the host Cardinals. Trey Longstreet had 18 points and Jack Balsiger had 11 for the Tigers. Jacob Rosendahl led the Cardinals with 14 points and Samuel Fraser had 13.
Girls' basketball
Winona Cotter 50, Visitation 23: The Ramblers jumped on the Blazers at the Twin Cities Thanksgiving Tip-Off at the University of St. Thomas to give head coach Pat Bowlin his 600th victory. Jordan Rubie scored 12 points to lead the Ramblers. Caroline Fenlon led the Blazers with 11 points.