When the pressure was on Friday night, Freeman didn’t panic, it produced.

The Flyers erased a seven-point deficit and overtook Wall for a 74-70 semifinal win during the State B Boys’ Basketball Tournament at Wachs Arena.

Freeman received points from all five starters during a 22-11 fourth-quarter blitz that paved a way to tonight’s championship game.

“Our kids have a lot of character and a lot of heart and resiliency,” said Freeman coach Lance Friesen. “A lot of good characteristics.”

The Flyers watched Wall build a seven-point lead late in the third quarter, but weathered the storm before making a closing push.

“They’re a together team, too. I have so much respect for them,” Friesen said of the Eagles, “but we had to stay cohesive and not blame, not point fingers, and move on to that next play.”

The two squads took turns making big shot after big shot in front of a huge and engaged crowd.

With Freeman clinging to a 68-66 lead, Luke Miller corralled a missed shot and put in an offensive rebound with under a minute remaining. The sophomore had a tough time explained what happened on the pivotal possession.

“Man, I don’t know,” Miller said. “I feel like the ball was kind of like a magnet to me, and then I shot it and man it was just exciting out there.”

That shot made it a two-possession game and helped to put the Flyers in the driver’s seat.

“That was huge. … That took the pressure off our shoulders and maybe put a little pressure on their shooting down the stretch, so it’s harder for them to shoot,” Friesen said. “You’re shooting uphill rather than downhill.”

The Eagles had two chances to score on their next possession, but could not cash in. Freeman’s David Walter made two key free throws to extend the margin to 72-66 with 25 seconds left. Wall’s Teelan Kjerstad cut the deficit to four points and the Eagles were forced to foul again.

Luke Peters made the first free throw, missed the second, but the Flyers collected the offensive rebound which they turned into another made free throw. Wall’s late field goal accounted for the final margin.

“That’s why it’s the game of basketball. Sometimes you can play a great game and still come out on the wrong end,” said Wall coach Ryan Kjerstad. “At a state tournament you’re playing high caliber teams and when those 50-50 balls don’t go your way, enough of them, in a tight game, it goes that way.”

Tayden Kerrigan had eight points in the fourth quarter for Freeman.

David Walter led the Flyers with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

“The team was a big part of this,” Walter said. “Without those guys we wouldn’t have been here. We wouldn’t have won this game, so I give all credit to my teammates.”

Walter is a unique player who can play inside with his 6-foot-5 frame, but also serves as a point guard, being the team’s primary ballhandler.

“I can’t go too fast with the ball. I just know I’ve got be calm with the ball and just take my time,” Walter said. “Their goal is to obviously speed you up, but I know if I get sped up I might get out of control, so my goal is just to stay calm, see where guys are getting open, and just hit the open teammate.”

Kjerstad scored a game-high 30 points for the Eagles, many on tough shots in transition.

“You get back in transition, you get a hand up, what else do you want kids to do?” Friesen said. “Normally we say we stop his transition points, his easy points, we can probably (live with) a few tough ones in the half court, but he was doing that in transition. Those are tough shots in transition. That’s next-level shooting.”

Emmet Dinger poured in 22 points for Wall, including six 3-pointers.

“I couldn’t do that without my teammates, driving the paint and getting me open looks at the 3-point line,” Dinger said. “They did a phenomenal job finding me at the perimeter.”

However, Freeman was able to secure a few loose balls at crunch time which put pressure on the Eagles to score on every possession.

“They were getting offensive rebounds and that wasn’t helping us,” Dinger said, “so we had to try to match them on the offensive end and score as quick as possible.”

Jace Mohr added 10 points for the Eagles, who will face Lyman for third place at 5 this evening.

“It was a battle til the end and I couldn’t be more proud of our boys,” coach Kjerstad said. “Obviously, credit to (Freeman), they did some really nice things, but it was a fun atmosphere and something that I’m sure we’ll remember forever.”

There’s no doubt that the atmosphere was something that Miller will always remember, saying it trumped the team’s state football championship game last fall.

“I like the basketball environment better. It’s just iconic,” Miller said. “Like the State Bs is way more iconic.”

Kerrigan finished with 14 points, Tate Sorensen had 13, and Peters contributed 10 for the Flyers.

Freeman, 23-2 on the season, will face defending state champion Castlewood in the tonight’s title contest around 6:45.

“We have to process quick. There’s a mountain to climb, yet,” Friesen said. “This one was fun though, that’s for sure.”

WALL (20-5): Emmet Dinger 8 0-0 22, Dawson Handcock 2 0-0 4, Jace Mohr 3 3-5 10, Teelan Kjerstad 12 1-2 30, Trevor Schulz 1 0-0 2, Younger Amiottte 1 0-0 2. Totals 27-61 4-7 70.

FREEMAN (23-2): Tayden Kerrigan 6 1-2 14, Luke Miller 2 0-0 4, Luke Peters 4 1-4 10, David Walter 7 6-10 21, Tate Sorensen 4 2-2 13, Taylor Goodwin 2 0-0 6, Oliver Waltner 1 1-2 3, Tannen Auch 1 0-0 3. Totals 27-54 11-20 74.

Wall 18 34 59 70

Freeman 19 33 52 74

3-point field goals – Dinger 6, Mohr, Kjerstad 5; Kerrigan, Peters, Walter, Sorensen 3, Goodwin 2, Auch. Total fouls – Wall 19; Freeman 10. Rebounds – Wall 33 (Dinger 8, Schulz 8); Freeman 36 (Walter 10, Kerrigan 9). Turnovers – Wall 17; Freeman 16. Assists – Wall 11 (Handcock 3, Kjerstad 3); Freeman 11 (Sorensen 5). Blocked shots – Wall 2 (Handcock 2); Freeman 3 (Walter 3). Steals – Wall 8 (Dinger 2, Handcock 2, Kjerstad 2, Schulz 2); Freeman 11 (Peters 5, Sorensen 4).