Photo by Jake Przytarski Dawson-Boyd’s Zach Durfee goes up for a shot during Thursday’s Section 3A north subsection game against Central Minnesota Christian. The Bluejays defeated the Blackjacks 72-47.

MARSHALL — With last year’s subsection loss to the Blackjacks serving as an extra layer of motivation, the No. 1N Central Minnesota Christian boys basketball team used a dynamic performance on both ends of the floor to defeat No. 5N Dawson-Boyd 72-47 on Thursday in the Section 3A North semifinals.

Despite the end result, DB coach Cory Larson is proud of the strides made by his team throughout the course of the season.

“I just think about where we were. I mean we started the season 0-3 with a bunch of injuries. The goal is to hopefully play your best basketball come the end of February early March and it maybe didn’t show tonight but I thought we accomplished that here the last couple of weeks of February,” said Larson.

Early on in the first half, the Bluejays quickly established their offensive rhythm by knocking down three shots from beyond the arc en route to taking a commanding 17-5 lead. After a made basket by Micah Olson and a 3-pointer by Mike Kvaal cut the deficit back to single digits at 17-10, CMCS went on a 11-1 run that extended their lead to 17 at 28-11 midway through the half.

In need of a response with the Bluejays carrying the play, DB put together an 8-2 scoring run highlighted by a pair of baskets by leading-scorer Zach Durfee. The momentum shift was shortlived, though, as CMCS quickly regained control down the stretch and held a 22-point lead at halftime with the score favoring the Bluejays at 45-23.

Dawson-Boyd’s best stretch of the game came early on in the second half as the Blackjacks received valuable scoring contributions from Durfee, Kvaal and Olson to come to within 15 points of tying the game at 49-34 following an 11-4 run. The brief surge would come to an abrupt hault, however, as CMCS recorded a four-point play on their next trip down the floor to make it a 19-point game at 52-34.

Larson tipped his cap to the Bluejays for their ability to make you pay in a variety of ways through their offensive versatility.

“The thing is they’ve got a couple of main options that you want to contain, but like (Austin) TeBrake tonight I mean he hit some tough threes,” said Larson. “I mean we gave him a couple early to let him get going and then I think his last three or four made threes we had a hand in his face and he just knocked down the shot. But they move the ball so well and they space you out. I mean it’s a multi-effort certainly, because you think you’ve closed down a driving lane and then they move the ball and you have to continue to rotate and contest and then rebound it. They put a lot of pressure on you.”

With a comfortable lead in hand, the Bluejays kept their foot on the gas until the final buzzer in a 72-47 final.

The loss moves Dawson-Boyd to a final record of 17-9.

CMCS 72, Dawson-Boyd 47

CMCS 45 27 — 72

DB 23 24 — 47

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

SCORING: DB (Durfee 6-15 4-7 17, Horton 4-13 1-1 10, Kvaal 1-5 3-4 7, Olson 2-9 3-4 8, Liebl 1-5 0-0 3, Hastad 1-1 0-0 2)

REBOUNDING: DB 16 (Durfee 6, Kvaal 5, Olson 2, Johnson, Sather 1)

ASSISTS: DB 3 (Durfee 2, Olson 1)

BLOCKS: DB 1 (Durfee 1)

STEALS: DB 6 (Sather 2, Durfee, Kvaal, Olson, Stulz 1)