Grand Forks Red River boys basketball coaches say the key to Tyler Thompson's perimeter shooting is making that first shot.
Once that happens, there's often a domino effect.
Grand Forks Central found that true Thursday when Thompson caught fire for five 3-pointers -- including a few from well beyond the arc -- in an 86-55 victory over the Knights in the Red River gymnasium.
"When I make that first one, it gives me more confidence," said Thompson, who finished with 18 points.
The Roughriders improved to 7-5, while the Knights dropped to 1-12.
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"(Thompson's outside shooting) is important to us," Red River coach Jason Gregory said. "Things start to open up then for guys like Luke Schreiner, Braden Battle and Matt Hanson."
The Knights hung close for the first 10 minutes. Central post Kyle Lajimodeire completed a three-point play to cut Red River's lead to 23-19 with 8:45 left in the first half.
But Red River, behind accurate 3-point shooting, went on a 12-0 run to take a 35-19 edge. The run was highlighted by 3-pointers from Thompson and Hanson.
"(Thompson) was a big key," Central coach Dan Carlson said. "In the first game (between Red River and Central this season), Red River didn't shoot well. When Tyler Thompson is hitting like that, we can't play zone. But he was even hitting some of those when we were in man. That makes (the Roughriders) tough to stop."
The Riders didn't relinquish much of the 18-point halftime lead.
Red River really started to pull away over the game's final 10 minutes, building leads of 67-44 and 74-47. The Riders ended the game on a 10-0 run.
The Riders had three players finish in double figures. Schreiner had a team-high 20 points, followed by Thompson's 18 and Battle's 11. Hanson added nine points behind three 3-pointers. Red River had 12 players figure in the final scoring.
Central was led by Lajimodeire's 20 points. Derrick Yeager chipped in 13 points, while Brady Johnson finished with 10.
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The Knights were plagued by absence of post Ben Lofgren, who injured his ankle in practice this week. Lofgren was a bright spot in Central's loss to Red River earlier this season. He scored 19 points against the Riders.
A date for Lofgren's return is unknown.
Carlson didn't want to use the absence of his 6-foot-3 junior post as an excuse.
"We made too many mistakes," Carlson said. "I would have loved to have Ben in the game, but that's not why the game went as it did.
"We let Red River dictate the pace."
Gregory also said tempo was the key.
"The tempo was more to our liking," Gregory said. "We got some easy baskets in transition. And when the tempo is faster, our shots come in rhythm. We shoot in the flow."
