Photo by Jake McNeill Dawson-Boyd forward Drew Hjelmeland (10) attempts a layup over a pair of Central Minnesota Christian defenders at the 3A North boys basketball subsection championship on Saturday at Southwest Minnesota State University’s R/A Facility. The Blackjacks will face Hills-Beaver Creek at SMSU tonight in search of their first state tournament berth since 1991.

MARSHALL — In a battle of the top seeds for the Section 3A title, the Dawson-Boyd boys basketball team will take on Hills-Beaver Creek in the championship tonight at Southwest Minnesota State University’s R/A Facility. The winner will book a ticket to the Class A state tournament. 

The Blackjacks won the North subsection championship on Saturday with an 81-47 defeat over No. 2 Central Minnesota Christian, while HBC won the South over No. 6 Murray County Central, 60-44. 

Dawson-Boyd and the Patriots have not met in recent years, but both contain several assets that have led their teams deep into the playoffs. 

Dawson-Boyd, ranking third in the coaches poll, sits 26-3 overall on the season with its losses coming from other ranked teams. It fell 70-64 to No. 1 Cherry on Dec. 7, 74-53 to undefeated No. 1 Albany on Dec. 28 and fell by the hands of Dell Rapids St. Mary by 6 points on Jan. 18, who is ranked 12th in South Dakota. 

HBC, ranked eighth in the poll, enters 26-2 overall with its lone losses coming from Viborg-Hurley, S.D., 71-60 on Jan. 7 and 83-65 by Southwest Minnesota Christian on Feb. 11. 

Throughout the season, and heavily in the section tournament, Dawson-Boyd has been led by seniors Brayson Boike and Drew Hjelmeland and junior Gunner Liebl in both scoring and defensively. 

Liebl, who serves as the primary point guard, is a force on defense with tipping passes and grabbing steals. Boike and Hjelmeland are a powerful frontcourt duo that stand at 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-7, and continue to pressure their opponents on all areas of the court. All three have averaged double-figures in section play. 

Boike and Hjelmeland are typically first to crash the boards, but also have versatile shooting skills who can be reliable at the perimeter and in the interior. Dawson-Boyd head coach Cory Larson said prior to the beginning of playoffs that he wants to continue using their height as efficiently as possible. 

Yet, Dawson-Boyd has other shooters like Beau Johnson, Carson Stratmoen and Jaxton Hastad, who can attract the hot-hand as well. 

The Blackjacks also run a fast transition, which typically separates them early on. They will look to continue their aggressive performance in rebounding and defense to complement the offense. 

So far during playoffs, Dawson-Boyd outrebounded No. 8 MACCRAY 36-17, No. 4 Wabasso 36-23 and 27-15 over CMCS most recently. In each of the games, the Blackjacks also had 15, 12 and nine steals to MACCRAY, Wabbaso and CMCS’ six, three and three. 

HBC has a handful of competitive shooters that Dawson-Boyd will need to look at slowing down, specifically in Cameron Allen, Micah Bush, and Jamin and Brodie Metzger. In the subsection championship against MCC, Jamid led with 21 points, while Bush and Brodie tallied 12 each. 

Defensively, Jamin comes closest to matching Boike and Hjelmeland’s height at 6-foot-5, while Beau Bakken follows at 6-foot-4. 

The Patriots will also be coming in with an older roster, holding seven seniors and five juniors to Dawson-Boyd’s six seniors and two juniors. 

The Blackjacks last played for the section title in 2023, and fell to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton who went on to become state champions. Last year, Dawson-Boyd was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Minneota. 

HBC made it to the semifinals in last year’s section tournament, and was defeated by RTR, who also went on to win the section. 

Both teams will be fighting for a spot in the state tournament, which would be Dawson-Boyd’s first appearance since 1991 and HBC’s first ever state trip in program history. 

Tip-off for tonight’s game is slated for 8 p.m.