MARSHALL — Brayson Boike’s normally calm demeanor cracked.

After battling with Hills-Beaver Creek for 36 minutes in the Section 3A boys basketball championship on Thursday, Boike and the rest of the Blackjacks finally got to celebrate.

After a 59-52 victory at the R/A Facility at Southwest Minnesota State, Boike and the rest of the team took the section championship trophy and ran right to the student section to celebrate.

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For the first time in 34 years, Dawson-Boyd is headed to state.

The grin wasn’t leaving Boike’s face as his hands were wrapped around the section championship trophy.

“It’s just a sigh of relief,” Boike said. “I enjoyed myself. We won.”

That wait is something very familiar to Blackjacks head coach Cory Larson. He is a 1992 D-B graduate and was on that 1991 team. He knows what Thursday’s victory means to the communities of Dawson and Boyd.

Joe Brown / West Central Tribune

“It’s not about me; I’m so happy for our kids because man, they put hours and hours into this,” Larson said. “They poured their heart into the game. I told them they have all the characteristics of a champion, whether they won this game or not.”

Larson continued, “To get that to pay off, it’s phenomenal. I’m so happy for our kids and our community to get to enjoy the experience.”

The Class A state tournament gets underway with quarterfinal games on Thursday, March 20 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Seeds will be announced on Saturday.

Joe Brown / West Central Tribune

The Patriots (26-3) were no easy out as they tried to qualify for state for the first time. Led by a defense that left the Blackjacks discombobulated, the Patriots led 27-25 at halftime. Jamin Metzger paced Hills-Beaver Creek with 16 points. Micah Bush added 12.

“They kept us out of a rhythm for a good chunk of that half,” Larson said. “It felt like we weren’t digging in as much as we would have liked. We kind of flipped that switch and got some stops.

“It felt like we left some points out there in the first half where we didn’t finish some in transition and we were 2 of 13 on threes in the first half.”

It was a sophomore who helped the Blackjacks (27-3) get out of their slump.

Carson Stratmoen hit two key 3-pointers in the second half. The first tied the game at 28-28 with 17:33 left to play. The second was at 10:45 and put the Blackjacks up two possessions, 41-36. Hills-Beaver Creek didn’t get closer than two possessions the rest of the way.

“These guys are my best friends,” Stratmoen said. “I wanted to make them proud. The team, the coaches, everyone.”

Boike said of Stratmoen, “I have all the confidence in the world in him. He works his butt off in the offseason and during the season. He’s a great shooter. He can shoot those all he wants.”

Boike had three second-half dunks on the way to a team-high 19 points. Each one increased the volume of the boisterous D-B supporters eager to go back to state.

“I love it,” Boike said. “Senior year, I’ll play as much as I can.”