Dunseith’s Nelson Decoteau holds up the Class A Region 3 championship trophy after the Dragons defeated Turtle Mountain in the title game to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 1994. Mike Kraft/MDN

Holding the Class A Region 3 championship trophy in his hands, it was clear to see just how special of a moment it was for Dunseith boys basketball head coach Eric Morin.

It’s been a long time coming for the Dragons. Thirty-two years to be exact.

For the first time since 1994, Dunseith is heading to the state tournament, knocking off Turtle Mountain, 66-61, in the Class A Region 3 title game on Thursday, March 12, at the MSU Dome. The Dragons withstood a late run by the Braves to punch their ticket to state.

“It means so much for our community and our kids,” Morin said. “Thirty-two years, we talked about possibly being able to do this, but are we old enough because we don’t have a senior on our roster. But as far as to what it means to us as a community, our community is a basketball community. We love basketball. We’ve been battling and battling and battling and the support we had is amazing.”

The Dragons (16-7) led by as many as 11 with 5:40 left in the fourth quarter, but Turtle Mountain twice tied the game down the stretch. Easton Peltier drained a 3-pointer with under two minutes to play to tie the game at 59. After Tatum Poitra gave the Dragons back the lead, Peltier had another response to knot the game with 1:13 remaining.

But Dunseith scored the final five points to hang on and avoid having to play a state-qualifying game on Saturday. Braxton Azure knocked down 1 of 2 shots from the free-throw line and Mikah LaRocque converted a layup with 9.6 second left to give the Dragons a 64-61 lead. After a last-ditch 3-pointer by the Braves went begging, Nelson Decoteau sealed the victory with a pair of free throws.

“We talked all week about keeping our composure because we’re going to make runs and they’re going to make runs,” Morin said. “Belcourt is a heck of a team. They are a heck of a team and at some point they are going to make a run. It’s just a game of basketball and we stayed composed and got it done.”

Decoteau and Azure were responsible for 44 of the team’s points, with Decoteau leading the way with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Azure went for 20 and grabbed nine rebounds.

“Those guys are dudes,” Morin said. “They are dudes every night. Everything we do is to work through them and both of them play a team-ball style. We have shooters so it doesn’t allow other teams to double them.”

In front of a state-tournament-like atmosphere, Turtle Mountain jumped out to a 13-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Dragons went to the locker room in front by a score of 28-26. The game was back-and-forth all night, with 11 ties and nine lead changes.

The Dragons held a 47-30 advantage on the glass and a 46-32 edge in points in the paint. Dunseith finished 43.9 percent from the field.

“We got it done rebounding the ball today,” Decoteau said. “We outrebounded them by 17.”

Chase Peltier and Easton Peltier led the Braves (17-6) with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Turtle Mountain committed just five turnovers.

Turtle Mountain’s hopes of reaching the state tournament for the first time since 2015 remains alive. The Braves will play Dickinson Trinity in a state qualifier on Saturday, March 14, at 1 p.m. at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.