Staff photo by Jeremy Behnke Cedar Mountain’s Dakota Pendelton Sam drives past Minnesota Valley Lutheran defender Benjamin Pearson during Friday’s game at MVL high school.

NEW ULM — First basketball games of the year are like the proverbial box of chocolates.

You never know what you are going to get.

Cedar Mountain placed three players in double figures and shot 50% from the field as the Cougars toppled Minnesota Valley Lutheran 75-55 Friday night in Tomahawk Conference boys’ basketball.

Sophomore Max Pendleton led the Cougars with a game-high 24 points. Brandon Pendleton added 22 and Dakota Pendleton ended with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars.

Ben Pearson paced the Chargers with 13 points, with Maverick Johnson adding 12.

“This was growing pains for us,” Chargers head coach Craig Morgan said. “We did some good things tonight and our youth showed. We did not shoot well tonight (24% from the field and 26% from beyond the arc) but we rushed our shots and we did not have players out there with varsity experience.”

Cedar Mountain head coach Brian Pendleton was pleased with the performance of his team in their first game of the season.

And especially with their shooting from beyond the arc, where they made 6 of 19 from long range.

“We can shoot the ball and we had some players like Max (Pendleton), especially Dakota (Pendleton) who really stepped up,” he said.

It was a family affair for the Cougars early in the game as Dakota, Max and Brandon Pendleton scored the first 23 points of the game and built a 23-16 lead. They expanded that to a 31-19 lead and eventually a 37-20 lead at half.

The Chargers made just 2 of 17 shots from the field and 3 of 17 3-pointers.

“Cedar Mountain settled down after a few trips down and they played really well,” Morgan said.

The Cougars opened the second half increasing their lead to 44-22 on a Max Pendleton short jumper and held a 53-30 lead on a Dakota Pendleton 3.

Brandon Pendelton’s bucket made it 64-40 at the nine-minute mark before MVL’s Ben Halvorson canned a 3 and Brayden Kube hit a jumper to make it 64-45 with under eight minutes to go in the game.

“We will keep improving in what we have to do in the way that we move the ball,” Morgan said.

MVL is at Wabasso on Tuesday, while Cedar Mountain hosts New Ulm Cathedral on Tuesday.