The Red Lake County Rebels played a great game, but the Dawson-Boyd Blackjacks were too strong inside with a pair of 6’8 and 6’7 players on their way to an 80-66 victory in the Minnesota State Boys Basketball Class A semi-finals at Williams Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
FIRST HALF
The start of the game was a sign of what to expect the entire first half. Dawson-Boyd started the game with a basket before Connor Duden made a three-pointer. After another Blackjacket basket, Duden followed with a basket of his own for a 5-4 lead. Dawson-Boyd’s Brayson Boike (6’8 senior committed to Southwest Minnesota State next year) made a basket only to have Red Lake County’s Owen Chervestad and Luke Peterson make baskets for a 9-6 lead three minutes into the game.
Dawson-Boyd bounced back with five straight points from Drew Hjemeland for an 11-9 lead. Red Lake County bounced back with baskets from Duden and Chervestad for a 13-11 lead. After a Blackjacket three-pointer, Red Lake County answered with a 6-0 run with baskets from Duden, Chervestad, and Peterson for a 19-14 lead with 10 minutes to go in the half. Dawson-Boyd battled back to tie the game at 24 and 26. Red Lake County’s Duden made a basket before the Blackjackets scored six straight points for a 32-28 lead with 2:22 remaining. Chervestad stopped the run with a basket before Dawson-Boyd scored six more points for a 38-30 lead. In the last minute of the half Red Lake County’s Duden made a layup and then with a few seconds left in the game pulled up for a three-pointer from 10 feet behind the three-point line and hit nothing but net to bring the Rebels within a 38-35 deficit going into halftime.
SECOND HALF
Red Lake County had a good start to the second half with baskets from Duden and Luke Peterson for a 39-38 lead. Dawson-Boyd, as they did all game long, had an answer with six straight points with four points from Boike and two points from Jaxton Hastad for a 44-39 three minutes into the half. Red Lake County’s Duden answered with a three-pointer before the Blackjacks added four more points for a 48-42 lead. Red Lake County’s Gunnar Halvorson made two free throws for his first points of the game and Wille Gieseke followed with a three-pointer to get the Rebels within a 48-47 deficit. Dawson-Boyd led 51-49 when they went on a 9-0 run. Boike had four points, Hastad had a three-point play, and Gunner Liebl added a basket for a 63-52 lead with 7:06 to go in the game. Red Lake County answered in a big way with a Gieseke three-pointer and after a Dawson-Boyd three-pointer, the Rebels Duden scored five points, and Ethan Johnson made a free throw to get within a 63-58 deficit. Dawson-Boyd answered with a 13-3 run for a 78-63 lead with 63 seconds left in the game. Red Lake County’s Duden made a three-pointer for his 30th point of the game, but Dawson-Boyd held on to win 80-66.
Red Lake County drops to 30-3 on the year and will play Nevis in the Third Place game at Concordia-St. Paul’s Ganglehoff Center on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. You can hear the game on KROX Radio with the RiverView Health pre-game show at 9:30 a.m.
Dawson-Boyd improves to 29-3 on the year and will play the Cherry Tigers in the State Class A Championship game at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday at Williams Arena.
| 1st Half | 2nd Half | Total | |
| Dawson-Boyd | 38 | 42 | 80 |
| Red Lake County | 35 | 31 | 66 |
| For Red Lake County | Points | Rebounds | Misc |
| Conner Duden | 30 | 2 | 2 steals |
| Will Gieseke | 15 | 5 | 5 assists |
| Owen Chervestad | 10 | 5 | 9 assists/2 steals |
| Luke Peterson | 8 | 1 | |
| Gunnar Halvorson | 2 | 1 | |
| Ethan Johnson | 1 | 4 |
| For Dawson-Boyd | Points |
| Brayson Boike | 28 |
| Drew Hjelmeland | 17 |
| Jaxton Hastad | 15 |
| Gunner Liebl | 10 |
| Carson Stratmoen | 5 |
| Beau Johnson | 5 |
