No. 1 Cherry boys basketballs’ Class A title quest stopped short by No. 2 Dawson-Boyd
Cherry and Dawson-Boyd tip off in the Class A state boys basketball championship at Williams Arena 3/22/25.
The top-seeded Cherry boys basketball team entered Williams Arena Saturday with a chance to defend their 2024 Class A state championship, making their second straight, and second-ever, appearance in the title game. However, the No. 1 Tigers (31-2) would fall short of repeating, dropping a close one to No. 2 Dawson-Boyd (30-3) 81-74.
“We hit them, they hit us with a run, we go down by 11. We hit them with a run, we go down by 6 at halftime. It’s a game of runs, they hit us with a big run and we didn’t bounce back,” senior Carson Brown said.
Cherry’s Isaiah Asuma scored the first bucket of the game, but the first half would be back-and-forth after that. However, with 6:19 to halftime Dawson-Boyd pulled out to a 26-19. The Blackjacks proved tough on defense boxing out the Tigers, and best displayed their offense at the rim. With 3:03 left to break Cherry would find themselves down 36-25. The Tigers stayed aggressive drawing key fouls while holding off Blackjack rebound attempts.
“Whole offense, not our whole offense, but it’s a lot predicated getting to our spots offensively. They did a really good job of cutting the ball off and getting us off of our spots,” Cherry head coach Jordan Christianson said.
At halftime, Dawson-Boyd would lead 38-32. Noah Sundquist, Noah Asuma and Isaiah Asuma each posted 10 points to lead the Tigers, while the Blackjacks’ Brayson Boike led the half with 13 points.
“I think the big thing was just playing off two feet, getting kickouts, getting cuts. We were doing it in the first half really well and then it just kind of slowed down a little bit,” junior guard/forward Noah Asuma said.
In the second half, the Tigers’ bridged the gap quick going on an 11 point run, including a Carson Brown three to trail just 51-50 with 13:07 left. Then Sundquist dropped two to earn the lead back for Cherry 52-51. However, the Blackjacks hit three threes to help regain their double digit lead 73-61 with 3:51 remaining in the game. Isaiah Asuma hit a late three to trail 80-74 with under 30 seconds to go.
“We’ve had some adversity, you know in timeouts, we are just ‘keep believing’. That’s what they say, ‘keep believing’. We’re just trying to do that and just trying to power our way back,” Isaiah Asuma said, a sophomore guard.
But in the end, the Blackjacks proved too much for Cherry winning the Class A title 81-74. Sundquist led the Tigers with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Isaiah Asuma had 19 points, Noah Asuma posted 18, and Carson Brown tallied 16. Dawson-Boyd’s Brayson Boike led the game with 29 points.
“We got shooters all over and today we shot 18 percent. They shot 56 percent from three,” Christianson noted.
The Tigers close out their 2024-2025 season 31-2 as Class A runners-up. There will be a welcome home party for Cherry Sunday, March 23 at Noon at the Cherry Town Hall.
Regardless of the outcome, Christianson knows this pack of Tigers have made a long lasting mark in Minnesota state high school basketball history. “These guys don’t even realize what they’ve done yet.”
For the full Class A bracket, Click here.
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