Show up at the Target Center on the basketball season’s final day and leave with a state championship trophy.

A hoop dream many players never fulfil is routine for current DeLaSalle players. For six straight years they haven’t known any other reality.
A 72-44 rout of Austin earned the Islanders an unprecedented sixth consecutive state title and 11th overall.

Stifling man-to-man defense and big scoring nights from star players pushed No. 1 seed DeLaSalle (27-3) to a third title-game defeat of No. 2 seed Austin (29-3) in five seasons.

Senior forward Goanar Mar and junior guard Gabe Kalscheur led the Islanders’ latest mountaintop ascent. Mar scored 28 points and Kalscheur added 20. They set the defensive tone by tying for the team lead with three steals.

“Our defensive effort tonight was phenomenal,” DeLaSalle coach Dave Thorson said. “When your two best offensive players still play with such passion and fever and such intensity on the defensive end … I can’t even begin tell you how proud I am as a coach.”

Austin coach Kris Fadness, now 1-3 in title games against Thorson, saw a devastating new weapon in Saturday’s matchup.

Speed.

“They all get up and down the floor,” Fadness said. “When you compare them to past teams, this team can run.”

Heeding Thorson’s season-long mantra of pressure and pace, DeLaSalle rushed to a 9-0 lead less than four minutes into the game. Kalscheur and Mar combined for all nine points while Austin committed three turnovers and missed its first two shots.

“I thought coming in that we could handle it and we were ready. I was wrong,” Fadness said. “This game is on me more than anybody else because I did not have us ready for that.”

Blasted out of a cannon to start the second half, Kalscheur and Mar again combined for nine unanswered points — each player threw down a fast-break dunk — and DeLaSalle led 41-23.

“We had to come out and step on their throats and just end the game,” Kalscheur said.

“Game over when they went on that run right away,” said Fadness, who got a combined 24 points from brothers Both and Duoth Gach.

Mar, who has signed with George Mason University, leaves the Islanders with four consecutive state championships. “It’s special,” Mar said. “I wouldn’t want to go out any other way.”

Kalscheur, who is drawing Division I college interest, called Saturday’s victory, “unbelievable but satisfying at the same time. We’re used to it but we know we have to play 100 percent each game.”

The DeLaSalle boys’ basketball march through March follows a similar cadence.

Play stifling man-to-man defense. Watch star players excel. Win state tournament championships.

And repeat.

The Islanders’ 72-44 victory against Austin earned them an unprecedented sixth consecutive state title. No. 1 seed DeLaSalle (27-3) dispatched No. 2 seed Austin (29-3) in the Class 3A state championship game played Saturday at the Target Center, the third time in five seasons the Islanders beat the Packers for the crown.

All six state titles have come at the 3A level, a distinction not lost on critics who believe the team has outgrown this level and should opt-up to play among the largest schools by enrollment in Class 4A.

However, the program remains at Class 3A for the next two-year placement cycle, which means additional success and scrutiny likely await.

Senior forward Goanar Mar, a Star Tribune All-Metro first team selection and junior guard Gabe Kalscheur led the Islanders’ latest mountaintop climb. Mar scored 28 points and Kalscheur added 20.

DeLaSalle roared out of halftime with a 10-0 run. Mar tallied six points and Kalscheur added four. A fast break dunk from each player punctuated the surge. DeLaSalle led 41-23 a little more than two minutes into the second half and Austin never threatened.

DeLaSalle spent the first half in control, jumping out a 9-0 lead and answering each big play from Austin in kind.

When Douth Gach gave the Packers energy with a baseline drive and dunk, DeLaSalle’s Christian Dickson buried a three-pointer.

Consecutive three-pointers from Both Gach and a Oman Oman basket gave Austin life via a 8-0 run. Mar responded with a put back, a three-pointer and a driving layup.

Trailing 26-16, Austin got a three-pointer from Duoth Gach. Not long after, however, Both Gach picked up a third foul and the Packers lost one of their most dynamic players for the remainder of the first half.

Even the role players got into the action. Kyle Oberbroeckling and then Tate Hebrink each cut DeLSalle’s lead to six points. But Sage Booker and then Tyrell Terry countered each time with baskets to keep the Islanders ahead by eight.

Spotting DeLaSalle a nine-point lead isn’t advisable. But that’s just what Austin did to start the game. As Kalscheur and Mar traded baskets for the Islanders, Austin committed three turnovers and missed its first three shots.

Austin coach Kris Fadness fell to 1-3 in title games against DeLaSalle counterpart Dave Thorson. Back in 1997, Fadness directed Caledonia to the championship. Thorson got even, then ahead, with victories against Fadness and Austin in 2013 and 2014.

Check back later for more on the game.