The Central McLean boys basketball team celebrates with its fans following the Class B state tournament championship on Saturday, March 21, at the MSU Dome. Mike Kraft/MDN

It wasn’t always perfect over the course of the season, but when the final buzzer sounded on Saturday, March 21, the Central McLean boys basketball team had nonetheless beaten every opponent put in their path.

Competing at the Class B state tournament for the first time as a co-op, the Cougars were unbothered by both the pressure of entering undefeated and the No. 1 seed as well as the bright lights that comes with playing on the biggest of stages.

The Cougars leaned on their top-rated defense and received timely buckets from both their starters and bench to capture the program’s first state title and cap off an undefeated season with a 56-46 victory over Our Redeemer’s in the Class B state title game at the MSU Dome. Central McLean became the latest team to complete a season undefeated, with Central Cass in 2023 being the last ones to accomplish the feat.

“Just to go undefeated is incredible to start with,” Central McLean coach Joi Anderson said. “To make it all the way to the state tournament is tough. A lot of good teams get beat out. Parts of the puzzle went together and basically the puzzle got put together in the end.”

The Cougars (28-0) finished the regular season 19-0, which included a three-game stretch where they knocked off fellow state tournament participants Our Redeemer’s, Ray and Midway-Minto. They beat Our Redeemer’s on its own home floor, while toppling Ray and Midway-Minto on neutral courts.

Central McLean breezed to a District 8 Tournament title by besting Mandaree, Garrison and Wilton-Wing, all by double figures and punched its ticket to its first state tournament by taking care of Beach, Glen Ullin-Hebron and Wilton-Wing once more in the Region 4 Tournament.

Victories over Nelson County and Medina-Pingree-Buchanan at the state tournament set up a rematch with the Knights, as both teams were vying for their first state title. The Cougars defeated the Knights, 57-54, in the ORCS Invitational Tournament in December. The rematch was as good as advertised early, with both teams trading baskets and leads. The first quarter alone featured nine lead changes and two ties. ORCS’ Wyatt Weekley hit a pair of 3s in the opening quarter and Nolan Schmidt added six points. Ty Makeef scored all seven of his points in the first quarter, twice giving his team a one-point lead.

Central McLean’s Jase Utley beat the buzzer to give the Cougars a 15-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“We got the job done,” Utley said. “We had ups and downs the whole year, but at the end of the day we got it done. The atmosphere was great. Everyone was cheering loud. It was good.”

A three-point play by Schmidt gave the Knights a 19-17 lead, which would turn out to be the final time they found themselves in front. The Hanson brothers – Aiden and Ethan – put Central McLean in front for good with an 8-0 run for a 24-19 lead with 1:38 remaining in the first half. Ethan Hanson hit a pair of baskets and converted two free throws, while Aiden converted on his second field goal of the half. The Cougars again knocked down a shot just before the horn sounded, this one being a 3-pointer off the hand of Bridger Rittenbach as the Cougars took a 27-21 advantage into the locker room.

Central McLean limited the Knights to seven points in the second quarter, holding them to 20 percent shooting and 0-for-7 from 3.

The Knights (26-3) could only close the gap to as few as four points early in the second half following a basket from Jake Altringer. They were dealt an unfortunate blow when Weekley injured his ankle going up for a rebound against Aiden Hanson with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter. Weekley needed assistance getting to the locker room, leaving the Knights without their second-leading scorer and top 3-point shooter, rebounder and assistman. Weekley had 42 points and 16 rebounds in the first two games of the state tournament.

With Weekley out of the lineup, the Cougars went on an 11-2 run to go up 41-29 – their largest lead of the contest. Utley and Ethan Hanson each hit a 3 and Jacob Wolf provided a pair of baskets off the bench during the run.

“We came in with a big target on our back being the No. 1 team in this tournament, but the players and coaches, we kept our vision straight, knew exactly what we needed to do, came prepared and we did that,” Wolf said.

Wolf was responsible for all eight of his team’s points off the bench.

Jake Wolf coming off the bench, he was a starter last year all along so he’s capable of playing in these games,” Anderson said. “The pressure doesn’t bother him one bit. He came through and had some big shots underneath and that’s what he does and he did it.”

The Cougars took a 43-32 lead into the fourth quarter as Weekley returned from the locker room. Despite visibly being in discomfort, Weekley checked back into the game to start the fourth quarter.

“I thought he was done, too,” Our Redeemer’s coach Brock Teets said. “Coach came back and said that Wyatt could go. We tried it. You could see he couldn’t move really well, but Wyatt’s a gamer. He’s one of the best players in the state and he’ll fight til the end on one leg or two legs, whatever it is. He is just a tough kid.”

Weekley hit a 3 and provided the team’s lone block upon his return. He finished with 13 points. While already having the respect of his opponents’ players and coaches, his willingness to gut it out further grew that admiration.

“I feel really sorry for him,” Anderson said. “That’s a tough way to go out, but it’s a game of basketball and people get hurt at times. For him to come back and try again meant a lot to me and a lot to my team. All my kids think the world of him.”

Schmidt followed up Weekley’s 3-pointer with a basket down low to bring Our Redeemer’s to within 49-41, but that was as close as the Knights would get down the stretch. Aiden Hanson converted a three-point play and the Cougars scored their final five points at the free-throw line to complete their undefeated season.

“It means a lot,” Aiden Hanson said. “We’ve put in a lot of work in the offseason and it’s just nice to see it pay off tonight. We just knew we had to come in and play good defense for sure and get offensive rebounds and box out. We just hit some shots and got the win.”

The Cougars entered the tournament with the top-ranked defense in Class B, allowing just 41.6 points per game. The Knights were the second-ranked offense in Class B, putting up 76.8 points per game. Our Redeemer’s was coming off a semifinal victory over Ray in which they shot 48.3 percent from the field and 55 percent from 3. Against the Cougars, they shot 36.5 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from 3.

“Central McLean played great,” Teets said. “They shot the ball well and we didn’t shoot extremely well. I didn’t think we settled in offensively today. Rebounding killed us a little bit. Central McLean is a big, athletic squad. My kids fought like they always do. They will fight to the very end.”

The Cougars held a slight advantage on the boards, outrebounding the Knights 35-30. They grabbed 12 offensive rebounds, leading to 14 second-chance points. Aiden Hanson finished with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Ethan Hanson also finished with 13 points in the final game playing with his older brother.

“I love playing with him,” Ethan Hanson said. “He brings out a lot of energy to our team. He helps us out a lot with getting the ball to him and him kicking it out to us and we’re just knocking down shots.”

Amidst all the chaos immediately after the game, the Hanson brothers didn’t have the opportunity to bask in the moment together until well into the postgame festivities.

“I haven’t even gotten the chance to talk to him,” Aiden Hanson said. “I’ve been talking to so many other people, but it means a lot and I’m so happy he gets to play with me on the court and this is a great senior year.”

Six players scored for the Cougars and all six of them had at least seven points. Utley and Wolf each finished with eight and Rittenbach and Makeef each finished with seven.

‘They play really well together,” Anderson said. “It doesn’t really matter who’s the leading scorer or the leading rebounder. It seems like if you give us a chance, we have someone else to shoot the ball, we have someone else to get the rebound. The five or six or seven guys I play, they are all capable of playing the game of basketball and that sure makes it nice.”

Aiden Hanson wasn’t the only player on the court to register a double-double. Schmidt did the same with 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead Our Redeemer’s. Jayden Marshall finished with 10 points to give the Knights three players in double figures. Payten Lindbo added seven.

Despite coming up one game shy of their ultimate goal, the Knights finished with one of their best seasons in program history. It was the second time they have finished as state runners-up (2016) and matched that team’s win total with 26. The Knights won the District 6 Tournament for the second consecutive season.

“It’s a special group,” Teets said. “They do the right things. There’s a lot of love in our locker room and our culture is special. I just love these guys. Our locker room is great. It’s just been a fun year.”

The Knights graduate five seniors in Gus Engelhard, Sam Knudsvig, Ethan Brown, Collin Swenson and Lindbo, but will return its top three scorers in Schmidt, Weekley and Marshall amongst seven others from this year’s roster.

Aiden Hanson, Rittenbach, Weekley and Schmidt were all named to the all-tournament team. Aiden Hanson was named the tournament MVP and Anderson was named coach of the year. Hankinson’s RaeShaun Earl received senior athlete of the year honors.