Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Grant Galles of St. Edmond drives to the basket in the Gael gym.

The fourth-ranked (Class 1A) St. Edmond boys will now have to leave the comforts of the Gael gym as they continue their quest for a state tournament appearance.

Fortunately, they won’t have to travel far.

St. Edmond (20-3 overall) secured a spot in the district final here Thursday night with a convincing 59-16 victory over North Butler. The Gaels will now head to Webster City on Tuesday night to meet Mason City Newman, who topped Janesville by a score of 67-44 on Thursday.

Hunter Horn scored a game-high 22 points, finishing with a double-double courtesy of his 11 rebounds. Jakob Koopman also had a double-double, scoring 10 points while collecting 10 rebounds. Carson Bargfrede scored 11, with three made 3-pointers.

St. Edmond scored the first 11 points of the night and led 29-3 after an 18-0 run that started in the first and finished in the second. During that time, the Bearkats (8-15) went through scoreless drought that spanned over 10 minutes, as they shot just 1-for-19 from the field in the opening half.

“It’s great that we don’t have to get on a bus and travel very far now,” SEHS head coach Adolph Kochendorfer said. “These kids deserve it because they’ve had a great season. We came out (Thursday) and took care of business from the start.

“Hunter did a nice job, and we hit some shots from the outside early. We were able to move the ball and find the open man when we needed to.”

The Gaels were 7 of 14 with three made triples — all courtesy of Bargfrede and Horn — to begin the evening. They struggled through a difficult second period, though, that saw them commit eight turnovers and shoot just 4-for-10 from the floor.

“When you get a lead like we did, it can be hard to keep your focus,” Kochendorfer said. “I saw plenty of things we need to work on and correct as we prepare for next week.”

North Butler never took advantage of the mistakes, however, as the Bearkats only scored twice from the charity stripe before the break while missing all 14 field goal attempts.

Kamdon Boss led North Butler with five points. The team’s leading scorer on the season, Ryan Austin, was held to just three.

“Our defense did a really nice job of switching when we needed to and always getting back in transition,” Kochendorfer said. “We made it difficult for their shooters to get any open looks.”

Horn moved into a tie with Tom Peterson for seventh on the school’s career scoring list, as he now has 1,044 points. He is just the 11th Gael to surpass 1,000 career points.

Koopman started Friday as just one of 10 players in all of 1A to have over 250 points, 150 rebounds, 50 steals and 50 assists.

Mason City Newman (17-4) has won 10 in a row since a loss to Bishop Garrigan in mid-January. They swept North Butler, as those are the only common opponents they share with the Gaels.

Tip in the District 4 championship is scheduled for 7 p.m. The substate final will be played next Saturday night in Humboldt.

ST. EDMOND 59, NORTH BUTLER 16

St. Edmond — Andrew Clavey 1-2 0-0 2, Jakob Koopman 5-10 0-0 10, Jack McElroy 1-3 0-0 2, Grant Galles 3-5 0-0 6, Hunter Horn 7-16 6-7 22, Carson Bargfrede 4-7 11, Ty Mericle 2-4 0-0 6, Jacob Nieland 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas Ehn 0-1 0-0 0, Thomas Knobbe 0-1 0-0 0, Griffin Laufersweiler 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 23-50 6-7 59.

North Butler — Kamdon Boos 2-6 0-0 5, Jax Thorne 0-3 0-0 0, Trager Pecha 0-2 0-0 0, Brody Wangness 0-3 2-4 2, Ryan Austin 1-10 1-8 3, Jarrett Shear 0-0 0-2 0, Tucker Pecha 1-5 0-0 3, Wrigley Endelman 0-4 0-0 0, Ezra Almelien 0-2 0-0 0, Wade Wangness 1-3 0-0 3, Bryce Schroeder 0-1 0-0 0, Maddox Boos 0-0 0-0 0, Walker Buss 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 5-39 2-19 16.

Quarter scores: St. Edmond led 19-3, 29-5, 48-10. Three-point goals: St. Edmond 7-18 (Clavey 0-1, McElroy 0-1, Galles 0-2, Horn 2-4, Bargfrede 3-5, Mericle 2-4, Laufersweiler 0-1), North Butler 3-20 (K. Boos 1-2, Thorne 0-2, Tr. Pecha 0-2, B. Wangsness 0-2, Austin 0-1, Tu. Pecha 1-4, Endelman 0-3, Almelien 0-1, W. Wangsness 1-2). Total rebounds: St. Edmond 36, North Butler 30. Steals: St. Edmond 10, North Butler 4. Blocked shots: St. Edmond 3, North Butler 0. Turnovers: St. Edmond 13, North Butler 21. Team fouls: St. Edmond 13, North Butler 8.