Ryan Ladika/MDN Kaden Chadwick, 34, drives to the paint in the first quarter of Velva’s matchup with Parshall at the Velva Invitational Tuesday.

Preston Kraft’s coming out party is off to a hot start to begin the new season.

A junior who spent his sophomore season on the Velva Aggies’ JV squad, Kraft is getting his first taste of varsity action this year. Through two games, he is certainly making the most of it.

The guard knocked down six of Velva’s eight triples Tuesday evening, leading the way for a resurgent second half by the Aggies (2-0) en route to a 50-22 rout of the Parshall Braves in the first round of the 2021 Velva Invitational.

“Last year in JV in January, I think he hit about 40 of them, and in February he hit four,” Aggies head coach Isaac Sondrol said. “He can get hot and cold; if he gets hot for us, he’s going to have a big year for us. We have athletes on the floor who can create space for him too. He ain’t ever scared to shoot the ball, you should see him at practice.”

Kraft’s hot shooting energized the Aggies student section early, as the junior guard knocked down consecutive tries from beyond the arc to begin the evening’s action. On the other end of a Joaquin Powell layup, Kyle Sandy and Kaden Chadwick combined for four more points to give the Aggies a quick 10-2 lead.

Parshall (0-2) stormed back on the backs of three different scorers: Powell, Tyson Odermann and Lawrence Polanco. The trio produced eight points on four shots to close the gap to 13-10 after the first quarter, an emphatic response to Kraft’s third triple of the first eight minutes.

The Braves would later emerge on the right end of a defensive struggle of a second quarter. Ben Schepp and Blake Engebretson added three for the Aggies to begin the frame, and Parshall went to work. River Querikiol converted a try from beyond the arc and four other scorers tallied six more points, holding Velva to just four more leading up to the halftime break.

“I really challenged them at halftime to be more physical. I didn’t think we were very physical in the first half,” Sondrol added. “For the kids we have here in this program, we have to be physical. We have to be the hardest-working team on the floor, and they really showed up and did that in the second half.”

Velva exploded out of the locker room, producing 19 points in the third quarter to Parshall’s two. The rout was on from there, as the Aggies scored 30 second-half points while holding the Braves to a total of three in the final 16 minutes of play.

Kraft drilled two more threes in the third quarter and his sixth of the evening in fourth. Ben Schepp and Reggie Bruner added the other two three-point shots for the Aggies in the third quarter.

“I’m encouraged by our defense,” Sondrol continued. “We gave up three points in the second half, that’s awesome at any level of basketball, especially at the varsity level. Rebounding, defense-wise, I think Kyle Sandy did a heck of a job in the second half rebounding there, and I told them it had to start there.”

Kraft’s 22 points marked a game-high and Chadwick notched nine more for Velva. Powell’s eight led the Braves on the scoresheet. With the win, Velva advances to play South Prairie in the tournament semifinals Friday evening at 7:30 p.m., while Parshall will face Nedrose at 4:30 p.m.