HURON – Groton made history on Tuesday, securing a second straight trip to the Class A boys’ basketball state tournament for the first time in program history with a 51-38 victory over Winner in the SoDak 16 at the Huron Arena.

The TIgers, who finished seventh at last year’s tournament, are making their third appearance in the tournament field in the last four seasons.

“We knew coming into the year it was going to be a growth process throughout the whole year,” said Tigers’ coach Brian Dolan. “We couldn’t afford to try to cut corners or anything like that. We had to let the course of maturity and the course of growth happen on its own time schedule. I think we all did a good job of letting the process happen.”

That maturation process helped spark a second half in which the Tigers shed some early jitters. Groton, which Dolan said played tight in the first half, pulled away from a 17-15 lead at the break.

“We just told the kids to calm down at halftime,” Dolan said. “We said just play like it’s team camp. We know everything like the back of our hand, just play like it’s team camp. Let’s execute our offense.”

The Tigers changed the angle of their offensive cuts, which sparked an immediate offensive charge.

“We came out in the second half and scored four layups pretty quickly off our offense off of back cuts,” Dolan said. “And then we got some runouts in transition and got it to 19 pretty quick.”

Becker Bosma finished with 15 points and seven rebounds to pace the Tigers. Karson Zak added 13 points and four assists. Keegan Tracy finished with nine points, while Gage Sippel notched five points and 10 boards for the Tigers.

Winner was led by Carter Craven’s 17 points, while Nebraska football recruit Shawn Hammerbeck finished with 13. Hammerbeck scored 12 of his 13 points in the first half before the Tigers put the clamps down defensively.

“We said let’s get them off schedule, kind of like volleyball,” Dolan said. “Let’s not let them run their sets and get to points on the floor where they feel comfortable. I thought our guys did a really good job of that the whole game.”

Groton, 17-5, enters next weekend’s State A tournament as the eighth seed and will face top-seeded Sioux Falls Christian in the opening game of the tournament. Tip off is set for noon at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center on March 20.

“I don’t think we’re playing the best we can play, but we’re playing the best we have so far this season,” Dolan said. “I think we still have some room to get better.”

WINNER (16-6): Aiden Schroeder 3 0-0 6, Ryder Halligan 0 2-3 2, Carter Craven 6 3-4 17, Shawn Hammerbeck 6 1-2 13. Totals 15 6-9 38.

GROTON (17-5): Ryder Johnson 4 0-3 9, Keegan Tracy 4 0-0 9, Gage Sippel 2 1-1 5, Becker Bosma 6 1-1 15, Karson Zak 5 2-4 13. Totals 21 4-9 51.

Winner 9 15 23 38

Groton 6 17 33 51

3-point field goals – Craven 2; Johnson, Tracy, Bosma 2, Zak. Total fouls – Winner 13; Groton 12. Rebounds – Winner 26 (Craven 7, Hammerbeck 7); Groton 23 (Sippel 10, Bosma 7). Assists – Winner 2 (Zac Olson, Craven); Groton 13 (Zak 4, Bosma 3). Turnovers – Winner 14; Groton 14. Steals – Winner 7 (Schroeder 2, Craven 2); Groton 6 (Sippel 3). Blocks – Winner 2 (Hammereck 2); Groton 5 (Sippel 3).