Photo by Samantha Davis Wabasso’s Brayden Guetter dribbles around the perimeter in the first half against Dawson-Boyd Tuesday night in the Section 3A North subsection semifinals at Montevideo High School. The Rabbits defeated the Blackjacks 89-70 and advance to the subsection championship.

By Samantha Davis

sports@nujournal.com

MONTEVIDEO — Holding a lead for the majority of the night, the No. 3 Wabasso boys basketball team came away with a thrilling 89-70 semifinal win over No. 2 Dawson-Boyd Tuesday night to advance to the Section 3A North subsection championship. The loss ends the Blackjacks’ season 21-6 overall, who put together yet another impressive campaign.

One game after breaking Wabasso’s single-game rebounding record with 34, Caden Frericks put his name on another honor after breaking the program’s record for most rebounds in a single season, now 488 and counting after finishing with 27 Tuesday night. The previous school record was 475 in a season.

“Just joy. We haven’t been this far since probably 1996-97, so I’m excited. I’m just happy for the boys. They played their hearts out, and they deserve it,” Wabasso head coach Scott Leopold said. “They worked so hard all season, and they deserve it. We’re like a family … That’s why I’m doing this, to give them the chance to do something great and that I see their potential. It was fun to see them reach their potential.”

Wabasso got off to a hot start and went into the break with an 11-point lead, 45-34, over Dawson-Boyd. In the energetic atmosphere with both schools bringing a large crowd, the Rabbits were able to withstand the Blackjacks’ pressure to come away with the upset over the 2025 Class A defending state champions.

Gunner Liebl and Carson Stratmoen got some Dawson-Boyd momentum going to open the second half with a 3-pointer each, followed up with a floater down the middle of the lane from Liebl to cut into a 49-44 deficit.

Stratmoen shortly after made it a one-possession game after drilling in another 3 near the top of the key to force Wabasso to call a timeout with a 53-49 lead and just over 12 minutes left to play.

Along with Brayden Guetter and Drew Kemp’s strong shooting performance for Wabasso, Frericks’ rebounding power once again made a difference for the Rabbits in getting more offensive opportunities.

Guetter credited his team’s depth for their success and consistent shooting, which has served them well all season, and specifically noted Frericks’ positive impact in continuing to crash the boards.

“They [Dawson-Boyd] are great shooters. They are a great coached team … They know how to play in close games,” Leopold said. “So, our approach was to run them off the line, make them drivers, and then just try and out rebound them, because our rebounding is top-notch.”

The two teams continued to go back and forth, matching one another’s physicality with all players clearly putting their bodies on the line, as tension built up by the possession.

Although Dawson-Boyd continued to chip away, Wabasso came up with a handful of clutch defensive stops and shots to prevail for the win down the stretch, sparked by a 3-pointer from Kemp to earn back a 10-point lead with 2:36 to play, 77-67.

A Rabbits’ steal then led to a fastbreak layup for Kemp to deepen their lead, as the Blackjacks began to intentionally foul. Wabasso performed well at the foul line to finish off the night.

“It feels good. They only beat us by [10 points] the first time, so we knew we had a chance coming in,” Guetter said. “It feels good to move on, and it’ll be our first time ever playing at SMSU.”

Kemp, Frericks and Guetter combined for 75 points in the win for Wabasso.

Guetter finished with a game-high 30 points, four blocks and six assists, along with six rebounds. Frericks followed with 23 points to his 27 boards, while Kemp added in 22 points on 3 of 6 shooting from deep, with four assists.

Wabasso also outrebounded Dawson-Boyd 49-32.

Notably, Dawson-Boyd went 11 of 41 from the perimeter, and Wabasso shot 5 of 16 from deep.

Wabasso initially took to a 20-10 lead to start the night with its shots falling promptly along with applying a frequent full-court press to speed up the pace, and Guetter found his hot hand quickly on the scoring end. He had 12 of the Rabbits’ first 24 points, and finished with 13 in the first half alongside Kemp.

Both Dawson-Boyd and Wabasso have spent a large part of the regular season ranked top-10 in the state for Class A, or were receiving votes, setting Tuesday up for a competitive battle. The two met once in the regular season with the Blackjacks winning by 10 points.

Wabasso (26-3) now moves onto the North subsection championship, and the winner from there will advance to the section title game next Thursday with a state tournament berth on the line.

The Rabbits will face top-seeded Central Minnesota Christian (26-1) on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Southwest Minnesota State University. The Bluejays defeated No. 4 Renville County West 89-45 in Tuesday’s semifinals.