It took four hard-fought quarters and an overtime period, but the Tommies found a way Saturday night in the Class B boys basketball state title game at the Minot State Dome. No. 1-seeded Thompson delivered when it mattered most and defeated No. 2-seeded Shiloh Christian by a score of 57-47 to win its first ever state championship.

“There are about a million different thoughts going through my mind,” Thompson head coach Brandy George said. “I’m just so proud of these boys for what they did and who they are. It means the world to win… This is what it’s all about.”

The Shiloh Christian Skyhawks took round one, as they unleashed the beast down low. Macauley Young, towering above his defenders at 6 feet and 9 inches, made his presence known from the opening tip (which he won with ease).

The senior snagged five offensive rebounds in the first quarter and finished with five points and seven boards at the break to give his team a 9-6 edge.

Al Christianson/Special to the MDN Thompson's Hayden Overby (33) takes a shot over Shiloh Christian's Macauley Young (right) in the Class B boys basketball state championship game at the Minot State Dome.

“(Young) is unreal,” George said. “He’s 6-foot-9, and he finishes well. He’s a dude, and it was a battle.”

But the second round went to the Tommies, who responded with a few haymakers of their own.

Marcus Hughes placed Thompson firmly in the driver’s seat with a smooth layup at the 6:30 mark to give his team an 11-9 edge. Four minutes later, the senior struck again with another bucket from close range to push the Tommies’ lead to 21-17.

That lead ballooned to eight points before the Skyhawks landed a jab in the closing seconds of the quarter.

Trailing 25-17 with time winding down, Jaden Mitzel kicked the ball out to Josh Lardy at the three-point line. The junior caught the ball, threw up a prayer and had it answered as the ball fell clean through the rim at the buzzer.

The triple sent the Skyhawks into the half with some momentum, but they still trailed 25-20.

That deficit didn’t last long, though, as the Skyhawks came out swinging in the third. Shiloh Christian turned to its not-so-secret weapon once more, as Young went into takeover mode.

The senior gave his team its first lead of the second half, 35-33, with 1:27 left by sinking a shot down low during a personal 10-0 run. By the time Young’s one-man rampage was over, the Skyhawks held a 37-35 lead with 17 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Thompson senior Cadyn Schwabe closed out the quarter with a pair of made free throws, but it was Shiloh Christian who entered the final frame with a slim 37-35 lead.

The fourth and final round could only be described as an all-out brawl as both teams laid it all on the line for the state title.

Senior Hayden Overby broke free with a four-point burst at the six-minute mark to give the Tommies a 42-41 edge, and Shiloh Christian’s Canaan Fagerland snatched the lead back two minutes later with a layup to put his team on top, 43-42.

Now trailing 44-43 with 1:03 remaining, Young went back to work down low. The senior backed down his defender, spun and got fouled. With the Thompson crowd hollering, he calmly knocked down both free throws to give the Skyhawks a 45-44 lead.

The one-point edge held until 30 seconds remained, when Hughes went 1-for-2 from the free throw line to tie the score. After the Tommies got a defensive stop, Schwabe had a chance to win the game with a triple from the right shoulder.

But the senior’s shot rimmed out, and both teams went into overtime.

“(Going into overtime) was stressful,” Hughes said. “But we knew we were going to make another run, and we wanted to target (Young) because we knew he had four fouls.”

Sure enough, the Tommies got their way.

The game remained scoreless until Hughes caught the ball in the left corner and got hacked by Young. The foul marked Young’s fifth of the contest and sent him to the sideline for good.

“I knew the pressure was on me,” Hughes said. “But I knew I had to get my team up and sink those free throws. All that was going through my head was all the work we put into practice. That’s what all that hard work was for.”

This time, Hughes had no intentions of missing. The senior went a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe to give the Tommies a 48-45 lead with 3:10 left.

With Shiloh Christian’s rim protector now out of the game, Overby took advantage. The senior nailed two consecutive buckets down low to push Thompson’s lead to 52-47 with 1:40 on the clock.

The Skyhawks never recovered. The final buzzer sounded shortly afterwards, as the Tommies earned the 57-47 win. Thompson’s student section spilled onto the court with shades of green and white covering the hardwood in a scene of pure madness and joy.

“It was amazing,” Hughes said. “That’s something that I’m going to remember for a long time. It’s a feeling that’s never going to get old.”

Young finished with a game-high 25 points and 15 boards in the losing effort. Meanwhile, Overby led the Tommies with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Schwabe and Hughes also broke double-digit points with 15 and 10 point, respectively.

Justin Martinez covers Minot High School sports and Class B high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @JTheSportsDude.