-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Angelo Winkel of Bishop Garrigan goes up for a slam dunk against St. Edmond on Monday

Angelo Winkel and Cade Winkel combined for 37 points and 21 rebounds as the Bishop Garrigan boys opened the season with a 66-35 victory over St. Edmond here Monday night.

A year after reaching the state tournament, the Golden Bears (1-0 overall) return three starters from that squad. However, head coach Mark Meister knows he’ll need more than the Winkel brothers and senior John Joyce to get back to Des Moines.

“We are experienced, but inexperienced at the same time,” Meister said. “I was a little bit nervous about that. We have those three guys that have played a ton and everybody else kind of let them get going.”

Cade Winkel, a senior who has committed to Briar Cliff University, scored 17 points on 8 of 14 shooting. Angelo Winkel, a junior, had a game-high 20 points with three power dunks and three blocked shots.

Joyce added 15 points, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers.

“We knew this would be a tough game,” SEHS head coach Adolph Kochendorfer said. “They will be really good. They are big and athletic, and when Joyce hits shots, that makes them even tougher to defend.”

For the Gaels, who graduated their three leading scorers from a year ago, senior Connor Bocken had 15 points including three triples. Drew Schaeffer and Hayden Mayer added five each, with Jed Tracy and Cael Kolacia chipping in four points.

Garrigan built a quick lead on the heels of two of Joyce’s 3-pointers, pushing the advantage to 17 in the first half. After a quick 5-0 run by St. Edmond out of the intermission, the Golden Bears scored 14 unanswered.

Marcus Plathe added eight points and nine rebounds for Garrigan, with Kyle Schaaf grabbing five boards.

“Marcus is probably our highest energy guy on both sides of the ball,” Meister said. “We feel like every night, he can get a double-double without us even calling a play for him. And Kyle came in off the bench and did a great job rebounding for us.

“We are going to be an offense by committee more this year, running things through those three with the other guys getting touches.”

The Gaels missed 17 of their first 23 shots from the field, forcing them to play from behind. They did finally get going in the fourth, scoring 11 points and making five field goals.

“I saw some good things out of us,” Kochendorfer said. “We played hard and were scrappy out there. We moved the ball and got some open looks, they just didn’t fall.”

Bishop Garrigan heads to Belmond-Klemme Tuesday and Mason City Newman Saturday, while St. Edmond hosts Hampton-Dumont Friday night.

BISHOP GARRIGAN 66, ST. EDMOND 35

Bishop Garrigan — Cade Winkel 8-14 0-3 17, Andrew Arndorfer 0-0 1-2 1, John Joyce 5-10 2-2 15, Marcus Plathe 4-5 0-1 8, Angelo Winkel 9-19 2-4 20, Cameron Baade 0-3 0-0 0, Kyle Schaaf 0-1 3-6 3, Joseph Meis 0-0 2-2 2, Isaiah Plathe 0-1 0-0 0, Kyphus Goche 0-0 0-0 0, Kellen Murphy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-53 10-20 66.

St. Edmond — Connor Bocken 6-12 0-0 15, Jed Tracy 2-9 0-0 4, Drew Schaeffer 2-10 0-0 5, Cael Kolacia 2-8 0-0 4, Hayden Mayer 1-4 3-4 5, Brock Stanek 1-1 0-0 2, Ethan Lursen 0-2 0-0 0, Charlie Shelly 0-0 0-0 0, Quinten McCarville 0-1 0-0 0, Jackson Bemrich 0-0 0-0 0, Anthony Lacina 0-1 0-0 0, Sean Flattery 0-0 0-0 0, Grant Heldorfer 0-0 0-0 0, Kase Baker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-48 3-4 35.

Quarter scores: Bishop Garrigan led 16-6, 29-14, 47-24. Three-point goals: Bishop Garrigan 4-12 (C. Winkel, Joyce 3), St. Edmond 4-17 (Bocken 3, Schaeffer). Total rebounds: Bishop Garrigan 44, St. Edmond 15. Steals: Bishop Garrigan 3, St. Edmond 8. Blocked shots: Bishop Garrigan 2. Turnovers: Bishop Garrigan 13, St. Edmond 15.