-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Hunter Horn of St. Edmond puts up a shot over AGWSR during 1A Regional on Monday

The fourth-ranked (Class 1A) St. Edmond boys were all business here Monday night.

In just over an hour, the Gaels punched in and punched out, taking care of AGWSR in a 1A, District 2 opener, 69-36.

With the win, St. Edmond (19-3 overall) advances to host North Butler (8-14) back inside the Gael gym on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Bearcats knocked off Nashua-Plainfield, 38-36.

Hunter Horn scored a game-high 26 points, including 20 in the opening half, while Jakob Koopman added 13 with eight rebounds and three steals.

Horn officially surpassed 1,000 in a St. Edmond uniform, as the junior now eighth on the career scoring chart with 1,022 points, moving ahead of Jack Brownlee, Robby Burke and Jim Collins.

“We came out a little tight and that’s probably my fault,” SEHS head coach Adolph Kochendorfer said. “I kind of got them that way before the tip, but to the credit of the kids, they remained patient and we started hitting shots in the second quarter.”

Leading 22-13 after one, the Gaels caught fire from deep, sinking five 3-pointers from five different players. St. Edmond took a 24-point cushion into the break thanks to a 16-2 closing half run.

“Hunter was able to get in deep and finish,” Kochendorfer said. “When he gets that close to the rim, he’s really hard to defense. We were able to hit some shots when we got good looks by moving the basketball. Those kids are all capable shooters and they showed it.”

Senior Andrew Clavey sank three triples while Carson Bargfrede hit two. Koopman, Horn, Jack McElroy, Grant Galles and Ty Mericle each added one.

That was more than enough to put AGWSR (4-19) away, as this marked the first meeting between the two programs since an epic 2006 2A substate final inside a packed Ames High gym that saw the Gaels win on their way to a state runner-up trophy.

For the Cougars, Bo Starr scored 16 points, as he was the only player to reach double figures.

“I thought Jakob did a great job on him,” Kochendorfer said. “He’s a pretty good player and Jakob made him earn everything he got. We did a nice job on defense in closing out and getting a hand in the face of the shooters most of the night.”

Horn added eight rebounds while McElroy and Galles each grabbed five. Clavey finished with nine points, four boards and two blocked shots.

St. Edmond will have the opportunity to host one final time, as the district and substate finals in 1A are set to be played at a neutral site.

“It’s great to get these games here at home,” Kochendorfer said. “We have a great crowd and they were incredible (Monday night).”

ST. EDMOND 69, AGWSR 36

St. Edmond — Andrew Clavey 3-7 0-0 9, Jakob Koopman 5-7 2-2 13, Jack McElroy 2-6 0-0 5, Grant Galles 1-7 0-0 3, Hunter Horn 12-16 1-3 26, Carson Bargfrede 3-8 0-0 8, Ty Mericle 1-4 0-0 3, Jackson Calvert 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Nieland 0-1 0-0 0, Thomas Knobbe 1-3 0-0 2, Thomas Ehn 0-0 0-0 0, Griffin Laufersweiler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-59 3-5 69.

AGWSR — Ryne Pickering 1-3 0-0 2, Carter Roder 1-6 0-0 3, Bo Starr 7-17 1-2 16, Blake Willems 1-6 0-0 2, Chayton Smith 3-6 2-3 8, Trace Eiten 0-2 0-0 0, William Hofmeister 0-0 0-0 0, Tristen Dennis 1-1 0-0 3, Kingston Holman 1-1 0-0 2, Tyler Nederhoff 0-0 0-0 0, Colton Diamond 0-0 0-0 0, Owen Penning 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-42 3-5 36.

Quarter scores: St. Edmond led 22-13, 43-19, 61-27. Three-point goals: St. Edmond 10-34 (Clavey 3-7, Koopman 1-2, McElroy 1-3, Galles 1-7, Horn 1-2, Bargfrede 2-7, Mericle 1-4, Knobbe 0-2), AGWSR 3-13 (Pickering 0-2, Roder 1-4, Starr 1-3, Willems 0-2, Eiten 0-1, Dennis 1-1). Total rebounds: St. Edmond 37, AGWSR 22. Steals: St. Edmond 7, AGWSR 2. Blocked shots: St. Edmond 3, AGWSR 1. Turnovers: St. Edmond 7, AGWSR 13. Team fouls: St. Edmond 6, AGWSR 10.