The West Fargo girls and boys basketball teams made a 200-mile bus trip to Bismarck well worth their while.

Both teams posted impressive season-opening victories over St. Mary's Friday night at the St. Mary's gym. The West Fargo girls started the evening with a 70-40 win, and the boys followed that up with a 71-53 victory in the nightcap.

The St. Mary's girls and boys teams will return to action today at home against Devils Lake, both hoping to see some improvement.

"We have a young team and it's going to take some time," St. Mary's girls coach Corey Frink said. "We saw some good things today, but we have to work on being more consistent."

"It was the season opener and if anything, we found out what we need to work on where we need to improve," said Joe Mueller, the St. Mary's boys coach. "We have to take it one game at a time, one week at a time."

St. Mary's turnovers were the story for the girls game. The Saints turned the ball over 31 times and the athletic Packers took advantage.

"We had way too many turnovers. … Way, way too many," Frink said. "When you turn it over that many times against a good, athletic team, you're going to pay for it. We have to take better care of the basketball. We have to make our possessions count."

The Saints also had trouble finding the basket, making just 11 of their 50 shots (22 percent).

"When you don't take care of the ball, it effects anything else you do," Frink said. "We really didn't make good decisions out there."

Despite their struggles, the Saints hung with the Packers a better part of the game. They trailed by just 37-30 with 14:20 remaining in the game following a 6-0 run. Then the floodgates opened. The Packers clicked like a fine-tuned machine over the next 6:45, putting together a 23-0 run that put the Saints away.

"(The Packers) are so athletic, so quick," Frink said. "Just like that, they can turn a close game into a rout."

Jessie Gust and Jamie Green tossed in 12 points apiece to pace a balanced West Fargo attack.

Kylie Messer led the Saints with 15 points.

WEST FARGO (70): Jessie Gust 12, Jamie Green 12, Jill Utter 10, Miranda Mars 10, Whitney Adams 8, Aryelle Jones 7, Blake Selisker 5, Alyssa Hummel 4, Sadie Doggett 2. Totals: 30-65, 8-16 70.

ST. MARY'S (40): Kylie Messer 15, Brittany Wolf 7, Bobbi Anderson 5, Rachell Wolf 4, Morgan Tescher 4, Meagan Loomis 2, BreAnn Schaffner 2, Brooke Christensen 1. Totals: 11-50 18-31 40.

Halftime: West Fargo 33, St. Mary's 21.

3-pointers: West Fargo 2 (Utter 2). Fouls: West Fargo 25, St. Mary's 16. Fouled out: West Fargo, Amanda Montgomery.

Records: West Fargo 1-0, St. Mary's 0-1.

West Fargo 71,

St. Mary's 53

In the boys game, the Packers jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back. They held a 34-24 advantage at halftime behind Tanner Farkas' 13 points, and led by as many as 20 (60-40) in the second half. The Saints opened the half with a Tanner Harris three-pointer to make it 34-27, but West Fargo answered with a 14-5 run.

"West Fargo got after us and we couldn't respond," Mueller said. "They're a quick, strong, athletic team and they moved guys in and out all night. We couldn't adjust to any of that."

Like the girls, the West Fargo boys also boasted a balanced scoring attack. Farkas led the way with 20 points, and Tyler Lund, Seth Dye and Michael Schnepf followed with 14, 13 and nine, respectively.

One silver lining for the Saints was 6-foot-5 senior post D.J. Schmitz, who tossed in a team-high 18 points. He was 6-for-12 from the floor and 6-for-7 from the free-throw line.

"D.J. did a good job inside. … He worked hard in there," Mueller said. "But we need to develop some inside, outside balance."

Alex Wirth added nine points for the Saints.

WESTFARGO (71): Tanner Farkas 7-14 5-7 20, Tyler Lund 6-8 2-3 14, Seth Dye 6-010 0-0 13, Michael Schnepf 3-9 3-4 9, Jason Moch 2-4 0-0 4, Nathan Kuik 2-2 0-2 4, Jon Rezencheck 1-4 2-2 4, Eric Driscoll 1-1 0-0 2, Alan Neer 0-1 1-3 1, Ryan Berglund 0-1 0-0 0, Mike Benson 0-1 0-2 0. Totals: 28-55 FG, 13-23 FT.

ST. MARY'S (53): D.J. Schmitz 6-12 6-7 18, Alex Wirth 3-9 3-3 9, Tanner Harris 2-7 0-0 6, Matt Chuppe 2-5 2-2 6, Tom Welk 1-1 3-4 5, Matt Weber 1-7 1-4 3, Jon Herold 1-3-0-0 3, Ryan Huber 1-1 0-0 3, Zach Reisenauer 0-2 0-0 0, Michael Gilchrist 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 17-48 FG, 15-20 FT.

Halftime: West Fargo 34, St. Mary's 24.

3-pointers: West Fargo 2 (Farkas, Dye), St. Mary's 4 (Harris 2, Herold, Huber). Rebounds: West Fargo 41 (Kuik 6), St. Mary's 25 (Wirth 5). Assists: West Fargo 5 (Farkas 2), St. Mary's 5 (Herold 4). Steals: West Fargo 9 (Benson 4), St. Mary's 6 (Weber 3). Turnovers: West Fargo 14, St. Mary's 17. Fouls: West Fargo 21, St. Mary's 22. Fouled out: St. Mary's, Harris.

Records: West Fargo 1-0, St. Mary's 0-1.