Photo by Jake McNeill: Dawson-Boyd guard Gunner Liebl attempts a 3-pointer while defended by a pair of Central Minnesota CHristian defenders during Saturday's 3A North subsection championship game at Southwest Minnesota State University's R/A Facility.

MARSHALL — A late first-half surge and a decisive first few minutes of the second half allowed the top-seeded Dawson-Boyd boys basketball team to pull away from No. 2 Central Minnesota Christian in Saturday’s 3A North championship game, 81-47. The win marks the Blackjacks’ second subsection championship in the last three years and puts them one victory away from the state tournament.

Dawson-Boyd last reached the 3A championship in 2023 before falling to the eventual state champion Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Knights. A win in this year’s section championship would give the Blackjacks their first state tournament berth since 1991.

“Last year, we were kind of playing not to lose. This year, we’re just going out there, having fun and enjoying and soaking in each second,” Dawson-Boyd guard Gunner Liebl said.

The Blackjacks entered last year’s section tournament as the top seed, but were upset by Minneota in the subsection semifinals. Still, the disappointing exit is something that allowed this year’s team to come back even better.

“I think we really grew from that,” Dawson-Boyd senior forward Brayson Boike said. “Everyone stepped up. We’ve got guys that didn’t have much of a role last year, that were freshmen, and you can tell now that they’re a year older that they’ve gotten a lot better with playing as a team, and our defense is at an elite level.”

The Blackjacks never trailed in the subsection championship. A Drew Hjelmeland grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback layup and dished an assist to Liebl for a corner 3 to give Dawson-Boyd each of the game’s first 5 points.

Liebl attacked early and often, finishing the first half with 13 points and finishing the day with 25. Both marks were game-highs as he shot 10 of 13 from the field while draining each of his three 3-point attempts. His four assists with one turnover were also second only to Hjelmeland’s five assists on two turnovers.

“My teammates were just finding me in the gaps and I was kind of reading off of them,” Liebl said when asked about his efficiency on the night. “We’ve played together for a long couple of years now, so just feeling off of them and getting open shots.”

Also contributing, Boike and Stratmoen tallied 8 first-half points each before Boike finished with 15 and Stratmoen tied Jaxton Hastad for third on the team with 13.

Following Dawson-Boyd’s opening scoring run, Bluejays made it a 1-point game when a pair of Drew Duininck buckets and another from Logan Roloefs made it a 1-point game. Still, Liebl and Brayson Boike answered with a layup and a pull-up jumper.

Liebl continued to catch heat with a 3-pointer and a layup through contact, emphatically pumping his first after earning the and-1 to make the score 17-8.

CMC called a timeout with 9:16 remaining after Liebl’s and-1, and Eli Gerdes and Asher Wieberdink drained 3s on consecutive trips down the court to make it a one-possession game. Still, Hastad scored off a baseline out-of-bounds pass to give Dawson-Boyd an inch of breathing room.

Over the final four minutes of the half, Dawson-Boyd quickly grew its lead. Boike made it a double-digit game when he angled his way down the baseline before throwing down a two-hand slam, and Stratmoen connected on a 3-point attempt on the Blackjacks’ next possession to make it a 31-17 game with three minutes remaining.

Hastad and Liebl each logged a pair of blocks for Dawson-Boyd, while Stratmoen and Hjelmeland tallied three steals each.

“We just play defense as a team. Guys got beat, we’ve got backside help for them,” Boike said. “We’re just aggressive and playing well as a team on the defensive side.”

Dawson-Boyd finished the day with a 13-2 edge on the offensive glass, led by four rebounds each from Hjelmeland and Hastad and another three from Boike. Hjelmeland and Boike finished tied with a team-high eight rebounds while Hastad added another six.

Dawson-Boyd went into halftime with a 37-22 lead, which was the largest of the game at the time. Still, that lead only continued to balloon after the break. Gerdes scored the first second-half points for CMC, but Dawson-Boyd responded with a pair of 3s from Boike and Liebl, and Hjelmeland deflected a CMC pass to Boike before Boike assisted a Hastad layup.

Another pair of free throws for Hastad after another CMC turnover capped off the 10-0 Dawson-Boyd run with the Blackjacks in command, 47-24.

At halftime, no Bluejays had more than 6 points. Wieberdink finished the game with a team-high 11 points on 3 of 5 shooting while Micah Asake and Gerded added another 9 points each.

As the second half progressed, the Blackjacks built their lead up to 34 points with a Liebl fast break dunk with four minutes remaining. CMC never got back within 20 points and both teams substituted out their starters to a standing ovation with 3:47 remaining.

With the win, Dawson-Boyd improves to 26-3 on the season and now will prepare for Thursday’s Section 3A championship against No. 1 Hills-Beaver Creek. Tip-off for the Section 3A championship is slated for 8 p.m. at the R/A Facility on Thursday.

“It would be huge for not only us, but our entire community,” Boike said. “I think the town of Dawson would erupt and out at the state tournament, everyone would be there.”