Photo by Samantha Davis. Dawson-Boyd's goes up for a fast break layup after grabbing a steal in the first half against MACCRAY Section 3A North subsection quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at Montevideo High School. Liebl finished with 20 points, four assists and four steals in the Blackjacks' 80-36 win.

MONTEVIDEO — Four players finished in double figures as the first-seeded Dawson-Boyd boys basketball team limited No. 8 MACCRAY to just 9 first-half points and cruised to an 80-36 victory in the Section 3A North subsection quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at Montevideo High School. The victory marks 14 straight for the Blackjacks.

“We wanted to come out and play with intensity, and we certainly felt like we needed to start on the defensive end. Holding them to nine points at half and only three field goals, it was a good defensive half,” Dawson-Boyd head coach Cory Larson said. “We were able to generate some offense with our defense, so it was a good effort by our kids really on both ends of the floor, and I felt like we executed well. We did what we had to do to move on to Tuesday.”

Dawson-Boyd set the tone from the jump, and built a 48-9 halftime lead to put the game away early on. Although priding themselves on its consistent offensive effort, the Blackjacks shined on the defensive end with beating MACCRAY on rebounds along with its numerous steals for extra opportunities.

The Blackjacks dominated with 36 rebounds and 15 steals, to MACCRAY’s 17 total boards and six steals.

Brayson Boike finished with an 18-point and 12-rebound double-double, as Gunner Liebl led with 20 points, four assists and four steals. Drew Hjelmeland tallied 11 points with nine rebounds, while Gunner Olson rounded out the Blackjacks with 10 points.

The Blackjacks complete a season sweep over the Wolverines, as they also took both meetings 105-34 on Jan. 7, and 82-36 on Feb. 18.

The game began with MACCRAY shooting two technical free throws instead of a tip-off, as Dawson-Boyd was given a team technical foul during pregame warmups for dunking, which generally is not allowed.

But, the 2-0 deficit to start the game didn’t rattle the Blackjacks, as Liebl got the scoring started on their first possession with a drive to the basket for the layup after Hjelmeland grabbed two offensive rebounds to save the ball.

Jaxton Hastad and Liebl followed that up with back-to-back 3-pointers after Boike and Hastad grabbed a pair of steals.

MACCRAY was held scoreless for the first four minutes after the free throws, until it made a jump shot at the post around Boike.

Overall, Dawson-Boyd shot 56% from the field and 42% from the perimeter, and limited the Wolverines to 28%-20% shooting marks.

After a Wolverines’ timeout midway through the first half, the Blackjacks went on a run of dunks with four straight, starting with Boike going up for a reverse dunk with a feed from Hjelmeland.

Boike immediately went up for another on the next possession on the offensive rebound, followed by Hjelmeland hitting one of his own off a steal, and Liebl finished it off with a fast break dunk off another steal to put Dawson-Boyd up 20-6, as Dawson-Boyd’s crowded fan section filled the gym with cheers.

“Our fan base is very, very loyal,” Larson said. “I think they’ve been excited since December, and hopefully that excitement we can just let it keep building here as March gets older.”

The Blackjacks showed strong I.Q., with ensuring there was an extra player trailing behind on any transition breakaway to catch the offensive rebound or to be an outlet if a MACCRAY defender caught up, which was needed and resulted in more points on several occasions.

“Early in the season, we really tried to stress that you need to trust each other, so it comes with that,” Larson said. “It’s like, get yourself into the play and go make plays. Sometimes, you can’t make a play if your teammates are not putting themselves in the right position. So, I think we did a good job of that. We certainly saw that in a lot of transition possessions.”

Also showcasing patient ball movement, Hjelemland drilled in two 3-pointers to give the Blackjacks a 30-point lead at 41-9 with 2:30 still to go in the half.

Dawson-Boyd also dished out 20 assists on the night.

Boike nailed one more 3 as the half came to a close, giving the team its 48-9 advantage.

Liebl led with 15 first-half points, while Boike followed with 12.

Dawson-Boyd continued with the same style of play throughout the second half, never letting up. Larson took out Boike, Hjelmeland and Liebl to give reservers more playing time with nine minutes to go when the Blackjacks eclipsed a 66-19 lead.

Boike and Hjelmeland’s height at 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-7 continue to serve as a challenge for opponents, which Larson said prior to playoffs he wants to use as efficiently as possible to their benefit.

Dawson-Boyd (24-3) advances to the subsection semifinals, and will next play No. 4 Wabasso (15-11), who defeated fifth-seed Minneota 76-64 on Saturday.

The Blackjacks will be looking to avenge last year’s tournament run and make it past the next round, where they were eliminated last season. They also had the first-seed last year, but fell in the subsection semifinals with a Minneota upset victory, 61-57.

“It is a mindset, really. It’s playing the game to win versus playing not to lose,” Larson said about moving forward. “Go out and make things happen, enjoy the moment, lay hard, play together and see what happens.”

Wabasso and Dawson-Boyd will tip-off today at 6 p.m. at Montevideo High School.