Evan Templeman scored a career-high 24 points and made 4 of 4 3-pointers on Wednesday as he led the Albert Lea boys’ basketball team to an 82-68 upset of Kasson-Mantorville in the Section 1AAA opener.

Kyle Ooms scored 25 points for the sixth-seeded Tigers, which will play at No. 2 New Prague on Saturday in the section semifinals.

Tigers coach Lucas Kreuscher called the victory a “team win” and said the group recorded 21 assists on 29 field goals.

“We moved the ball really well, and moved without the ball really well,” he said. “I’m really proud of our guys. We’ve been waiting for a game like this to happen.”

Tyler Vandenheuvel added 14 points for the Tigers, which shot 52 percent from the field and led the KoMets 44-22 at halftime. Albert Lea led by as many as 26 points en route to the 14-point win.

“We made plays on defense, executed at a high rate and took care of the ball,” Kreuscher said.

Tyler Wichmann added 11 points, and Cody Scherff five and Dylan See-Rockers two.

Second-seeded New Prague beat No. 7 Waseca 65-56 and will next host the Tigers, which it beat 72-40 at home on Jan. 5. On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Austin cruised to a 60-17 win over No. 8 Faribault, and No. 5 Winona beat No. 4 Red Wing 51-44.