Photo by Samantha Davis. Dawson-Boyd's Brayson Boike posts up against defenders inside during the first half against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Friday evening in Tracy. Boike finished with a game-high 36 points in the Blackjacks' 91-67 win.

TRACY — The stage was set for a competitive showdown as the second-ranked Dawson-Boyd boys basketball team visited a red-hot Tracy-Milroy-Balaton squad Friday night in Tracy. Brayson Boike, Gunner Liebl and Drew Hjelmeland combined for 72 points to anchor the Blackjacks’ 91-67 victory.

Although an aggressive matchup, Dawson-Boyd pulled away to a double-digit lead behind 10 first-half 3-pointers and went into halftime with a 15-point advantage. Trevor Smith and Alex Munson had the hot-hand for TMB, however the Blackjacks never lost sight of their large lead once obtained.

“At one point, we started to stretch it [the lead] out in the first half. I think the first six, seven minutes was neck-and-neck. It’s a good win,” Dawson-Boyd head coach Cory Larson said. “They [TMB] are a team that’s got a lot of ways and a lot of kids that can score the basketball. Two elite scorers in Trevor Smith and Alex Munson, they put a lot of pressure on you defensively.”

Along with Boike’s game-high 36 points, Liebl finished with a double-double of 19 points and a team-best 11 assists. He also shot 4 for 8 from the 3-point line. Hjelmeland conducted a double-double performance himself with 17 points with a team-high 11 rebounds and four steals, and also made three from the perimeter.

“We started off pretty good. We shot the ball really well that first half,” Boike said. “Our guys were making shots hard to guard.”

For the Panthers, Smith led with 26 points and three steals, and made four 3-pointers. Munson finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

The main gym at Tracy High School was packed with fans and the court held an ample amount of talent across two teams that have already seen significant achievements in the first half of the season. Both the Blackjacks and Panthers only had two losses coming into Friday.

Dawson-Boyd’s losses have come by two undefeated teams against Cherry High School on Dec. 7 by 6 points, and against Class AA Albany on Dec. 28 74-53. But, the team quickly got back on track when it defeated Southwest Minnesota Christian 80-45 on Saturday, and took down MACCRAY by 71 points on Tuesday.

For TMB, its losses came from a strong Murray-County-Central team by 8 points on Dec. 21, and fell to Custer (S.D.) 60-54 on Jan. 4, to which the Panthers profoundly responded to with an 80-37 win over Renville County West on Tuesday.

In terms of individual successes that faced off, Boike became the all-time leading scorer in Dawson-Boyd history on Dec. 17 in a 65-47 victory over Central Minnesota Christian, and shortly after scored his 2,000th career point in last Saturday’s win.

Boike surpassed Justine Lee, who previously played for the girls team and held the all-time record.

“I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and coaches,” Boike said. “I wouldn’t be here without them, so credit to them.”

Smith for TMB has also achieved the same accomplishments. He collected his 2,000th career point on Dec. 31 in a 56-52 win over Pipestone Area, and became TMB’s all-time leading scorer a few days ago in the win over RCW.

Smith was honored before the game. He passed his brother, Spencer, who held the record since 2016.

“I couldn’t do it without everybody that I’ve had as teammates throughout the years, it all goes to them. They made me the player I am today,” Smith said. “It’s pretty special. They always say 1,000 points is a milestone, but 2,000 is definitely one you hold on to.”

Munson also surpassed his 1,000th career point earlier this season on Dec. 6 in the Panthers’ win over Minneota.

Both teams were responding to one another through the beginning of the game before Dawson-Boyd began to pull away. They each forced early turnovers, but it quickly became apparent the Blackjacks held more height to benefit them with perimeter shooting and rebounding.

“They [Dawson-Boyd] are number two in the state … We were the underdogs, but we have nothing to lose,” Smith said. “We wanted to come out here, play physical and play hard against them.”

Boike stands at 6-foot-8 and Hjelmeland follows at 6-foot-7, and the duo was too much of a threat to find a full answer to.

“We’re one of the biggest teams in Class A, so we’re working to take advantage of that,” Boike said. “Drew and I, we have a mismatch almost every time. We love to utilize that.”

Dawson-Boyd finished with 38 rebounds, 29 of which were defensive. TMB collected 31 boards, and 20 were on the defensive end.

The Panthers’ tallest players stand at 6-foot-3 in Munson, Ryker Davis and Elijah Lightfoot.

Going into halftime up 52-37, Hjelmeland led with 15 points, Boike had 13 and Liebl followed with 12. Both Hjelmeland and Liebl already had a trio of 3-pointers.

“I thought offensively, we were really good in the first half. You saw the tempo of the overall game just kind of slow down in the second half,” Larson said. “I liked the way we played the last couple minutes, just cleanly. Good situation for us to be in.”

For TMB, who had six 3-pointers in the first half, Munson led with 12 points and Smith had 10.

Boike got the night started with a putback dunk off a rebound, to which Munson responded with a hard drive to the basket on the opposite end.

Boike also finished with eight rebounds, and shot 61% from the field going 13 for 21.

Munson had the Panthers’ first 6 points.

The Blackjacks worked up an early 12-6 lead, but Smith made both free throws after being fouled and a corner 3-pointer from Connor Lanoue brought TMB within a point.

Smith drilled in a 3 to give TMB the lead 14-12, but Dawson-Boyd’s Liebl created a 4-point play after hitting a 3-pointer being fouled, with the free throw to put the Blackjacks back up by a field goal.

TMB head coach Ryan Kruse called a timeout with a 25-16 deficit after Liebl made another 3-pointer, and Boike was found wide open at the post for an easy bucket.

Liebl finished with six rebounds.

Following the reset, Boike made another shot down low to give the Blackjacks’ their double-digit lead, which continued to grow deeper from there.

Colten Bothun got involved on the 3-point action, as Dawson-Boyd continued to excel on miss-matches.

“Those [Boike and Hjelmeland] are like two tough kids to defend, because they’re not just paint presence. They knocked down 20 footers, they can take you off the dribble, and they’re also kids that understand the game well and can see the floor,” Cory said. “Two really tough kids to match up against. Certainly love having both those guys on my team.”

A string of 3-pointers, mixed with a few fast break points, served the Blackjacks well as the half was winding down to head into the locker room with a comfortable advantage.

“We’re taking shots that we should be taking … One thing I like to say is we are being decisive offensively,” Larson said. “Quick decisions, ball moves quickly, and then usually good things happen.”

Both teams secured the ball fairly well through the night. Dawson-Boyd committed seven turnovers, while TMB gave up eight.

Dawson-Boyd opened the second half on a 10-4 run, and cruised the rest of the night.

Kruse called another timeout to gather his group.

During the reset, Larson told his team to not let up, and “continue getting stops.”

Although trailing, TMB didn’t give up on its fight.

Griffin Zick hit a 3-pointer, followed by three in a row from Smith to cut into its deficit, which forced Larson to call a timeout.

Dawson-Boyd quickly found its footing back on defense and continued to hit big shots up until the final buzzer.

“We definitely learned tonight that we need to emphasize a lot of rebounding. I feel like that showed up tonight a lot,” Smith said. “We had a lot more guys crashing the boards, and getting tip outs.”

Dawson-Boyd (9-2) will next return home after a six-game road trip to host Renville County West (9-2). TMB (9-3) will hit the road to Kerhoven to take on Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in Kerkhoven (4-5) on Tuesday. Both games are slated for 7:30 p.m.