BRANDON — The Brandon Valley Lynx have eyes on a repeat.

No. 2 Brandon Valley shut down No. 3 Sioux Falls Jefferson, 6-1, advancing to the Class A state championship for the second straight season.

In a rematch of last year’s state title, a 10-4 win for BV, the Lynx utilized a complete-game gem by Taylor Melby to will its way back to the championship game.

“I thought it was just a great team win,” Melby said of the win. “We’re a small ball team, we put a lot of bunts down today. On the mound for me, it was just being able to trust my teammates behind me and pump the zone.”

Melby allowed just one run on three hits and three walks in seven innings, striking out six batters along the way.

“Taylor Melby, he came out and did what we needed him to do,” said Brandon Valley head coach Jeremy VanHeel. “He pitched well against them earlier in the year and for him to come out and throw the whole game, that sets us up for the next one.”

But as dominant as Melby was in Saturday’s semifinal win, it almost took a turn early. After a one-out walk and a two-out single, Noah Kuenzi roped an RBI-single back up the middle to throw the first punch.

After getting out of the early jam, Melby settled in allowing just one hit and two walks the rest of the way.

“Arm wasn’t feeling too hot,” Melby said of the first inning. “I came in the dugout, took some ibuprofen, did some stretches and then went back in the second inning and was a little bit better. Third inning, the ibuprofen started kicking in and it was just over from there.”

Facing an early deficit, the Lynx got to work offensively, pouring on three runs on a Caleb Severin bunt, a Grady Gindorff walk and a Brayden Knutson sac-fly.

BV dropped down back-to-back walks in the second inning with both reaching base safely to power the big inning.

“I think that’s what makes our team is our bunting and being able to have so much speed,” Melby said. “We work on it a lot at practice so that’s what helps. Just having those small hits in those big moments is crucial to our play.”

Severin drove in another run on a single in the third inning before Gindorff broke the game open on a two-RBI-single in the sixth.

Facing the final batter at 104 pitches, Melby was able to record his sixth and final strikeout to close out the win.

“It was great,” Melby said. “Just having that feeling of being nervous but so confident and having so much energy in that setting. Seeing me at 104, knowing I could finish this last batter and then getting that third strike, the energy and the happiness was great.”

VanHeel says a key factor in Melby’s performance was learning to trust the defense behind him as the game went on.

“It was just his confidence,” VanHeel said of Melby. “When we went out there and ended up scoring some runs and he saw our defense make some good plays, he realized it’s not just him. We have all the other guys on the team that are going to help him win.”

Gindorff powered the Lynx’s offense with three RBIs on a hit and a walk, Severin had an RBI on one hit while Brayden Knutson totaled two hits, a double, and an RBI in the win.

For Jefferson, Caden Voss took the loss in three innings, allowing four runs on six hits and a walk, striking out two. Kuenzi had an RBI on one hit in the loss for the Cavs.

It’s the second-straight appearance in the state title game for the Lynx, a team looking to go back-to-back in Class A for the first time in a decade (2015-16 Brookings).

The Lynx will face the Watertown vs Yankton winner at 8:30 p.m. in the championship game at Ronken Field.

“Yankton and Watertown, they deserve to be in this moment too,” VanHeel said. “They’re both really good teams and we’ve played them this year. It’s high school kids playing a game. If the moment gets too big, it’s anybody’s game.”