As Cory Larson and members of the Dawson-Boyd boys basketball team were introduced to the media following the Class A state championship, Larson had an addendum to the team’s intro.

“Can we add something to that?” Larson asked with the smirk growing on his face. “State champions.”

The elation carried over from the court after the second-seeded Blackjacks secured the first state boys basketball title in school history with an 81-74 victory over top-seeded Cherry Saturday at Williams Arena.

“All that hard work, it finally paid off,” said Dawson-Boyd senior guard Brayson Boike. “We got what we wanted.”

The Blackjacks (30-3) not only knocked off the defending state champion in the finals, they avenged one of their three losses from the regular season. The Tigers beat Dawson-Boyd 70-64 on Dec. 7 in the Breakdown Tip Off Classic.

“It’s a little town’s dream come true,” said Gunnar Liebl, who had 20 points.

Class 3A

Alexandria 73, Mankato East 64 >> Clemson commit Chase Thompson capped off a sensational state tournament run with 28 points, seven rebounds and a championship.

A 10-2 Alexandria run to close the first half staked the Cardinals a nine-point advantage at the break.

Mankato East got to within three on a triple from Brogan Madson, who led the team with 27 points, with 4 minutes, 41 seconds to play. But the Cougars would never get any closer than that, as Alexandria repeatedly executed offensively down the stretch to keep the Cougars at an arm’s length.

The top-seeded Cougars fell in the Class 3A title game for the second straight season. Mankato East went just 7 for 26 from beyond the arc.

Class 2A

Albany 70, Waseca 63 >> Zeke Austin and Sam Hondl combined for 50 points as Albany won the battle of the unbeatens to claim the Class 2A crown.

Leading by one with 33 seconds to play, Braeden Justin scored to put Albany up three. Waseca missed a potential game-tying triple on the other end, which led to an Austin layup in transition to put the game away.

Deron Russell led Waseca with 32 points, while Damarius Russell had 22 points and seven steals. The loss was Waseca’s first of the season.