RAPID CITY —- Hamlin will play in the state semifinals for a fourth-consecutive season.

No. 4 Hamlin outlasted No. 5 Groton Area, 65-61, in the first round of the Class A state boys basketball tournament. The Chargers will face No. 1 Sioux Falls Christian at 5 p.m., MT, Friday night in the Summit Arena at the Monument.

“It was just a great team win,” said junior forward Boden Stevenson. “They played a great game too. We both went back-and-forth hitting shots and at the end it just came down to hitting a shot, getting a stop and making some free throws.”

The quarterfinal round of the state tournament marked a rematch between the Northeast Conference foes over three months in the making. 

Groton Area took down Hamlin 55-50 in the first matchup back on Dec. 12 but the Chargers, who graduated four starters from last year's run to the state championship game, didn’t have everything ironed out by the second week of December.

“(Trig) Heinrich is a ninth-grader and last year was a ball boy for us, so midway through the year we inserted him into the starting lineup so that helped,” said Hamlin head coach Todd Neuendorf. “And we graduated five seniors and they brought everybody back. Playing the first game of the year really benefited them. We were a little behind the 8-ball first game and didn’t have everything squared up that we needed.”

While it was a similar showing from the first matchup in Groton, it was Hamlin taking the win when it mattered most.

The Tigers held a two-point advantage heading into an action-packed fourth quarter. Tied at 43, the two teams traded 3-pointers on four consecutive possessions in a two-minute stretch. Stevenson hit a 3-pointer to push the Hamlin lead to 54-51 with under four minutes to play, before a free throw and Easton Weber’s long ball swayed momentum back with the Tigers.

“I thought it was a really good basketball game in the sense that it was, we’d make a play, they’d make a play,” said Neuendorf. “If you were a basketball fan and not a coach for Groton or Hamlin, it maybe was a lot of fun to watch. It’s fun now that you won, but it was really two good basketball teams that could've gone either way.”

Stevenson continued lighting it up from long range with his third 3-pointer to give Hamlin the lead while Karson Zak tied it at 57 with a quick bucket on the other end.

“It reminded me of an old-time NBA game where we’d run something and hit a shot, they’d run something and hit a shot,” Neuendorf said. “They’re a very good basketball team and we feel fortunate to come out with a win.”

Stevenson, who finished with 27 points and four assists, nailed a free throw before connecting on a step back 3-pointer with just 34 seconds to play. Another Zak layup, a free throw from Hamlin’s Jackson Wadsworth and another quick bucket by Zak gave the Chargers a 62-61 advantage with nine seconds left.

“It was just chaos,” Stevenson said of the fourth quarter. “Back-and-forth, three after three. It was like they hit a three and you were just like ‘Oh gosh,’ you just got to come back and respond.”

Wadsworth and Stevenson were each thrusted to the free throw line with chances to seal it but could only split the pair at the charity stripe. Back-to-back offensive rebounds would end up being the Achilles’ heel for the Tigers as Hamlin brought down both opportunities in the closing moments.

“I told the guys it’s going to come down to free throws and we didn’t do ourselves any favors at the free throw line and part of that is I didn’t sub so their legs were tired,” Neuendorf said.

Wadsworth finished with 20 points and three assists while Jack Stormo and Aiden Abraham each had eight points in the win.

Zak led the Tigers with 23 points, Gage Sippel totaled 12 points and six boards, Easton Weber added nine points while Keegen Tracy totaled seven points in the loss.

Up next, the Chargers will meet another familiar foe in a similar place. A rematch from the past two Class A state championship games will take place Friday night in the Class A state semifinals at 5 p.m., MT.

“Let’s just cut to the chase, they’re really good,” Neuendorf said. “I think they’re just a step ahead of everybody just because of the depth and length that they have. They’re so long and they’ve got guys and they just keep bringing guys. That’ll be a test for us. They’re good and our guys know they’re good.”

“They’re a great team too and they’ve got great players but we’re going to have a good gameplan, come out and just give it our best,” Stevenson said.