To beat a champion you have to play like one and the Howard Tigers did just that Saturday night.

From solid defense to proficient free-throw shooting, Howard checked all the boxes on the way to winning the State B Boys’ Basketball Championship with a 60-55 overtime win over De Smet, preventing the Bulldogs from a fourth consecutive state title. Make no mistake, the Tigers weren’t handed the crown, they went out and grabbed it.

“We pride ourselves on being a veteran team, playing all seniors and juniors,” said Howard junior Luke Koepsell, “knowing that if we’re in the game in the fourth quarter or overtime, we’re going to pull it out somehow.”

The Tigers did it on both ends of the floor in the extra session. Kolt Koepsell denied a layup on a huge block, then made six straight free throws in the final 1:09 as Howard erased a one-point deficit to close out the victory.

“I just took my time,” Koepsell said of his free-throw accuracy, “and relaxed myself and just said, I’m good at these and I can do it.”

As a team, the Tigers made 17 of 19 free throws in the contest, and got an offensive rebound on the trip that resulted in the two misses.

“We shoot mid 60s for percentage from the free throw line,” said Howard coach Nick Koepsell. “We practice them every day, just like all coaches do, but to me it’s not how many you make, it’s when you make them and tonight they did both.”

The final seconds of regulation will likely be talked about for years to come. With the score tied at 50, Luke Koepsell worked down low for what appeared to be the game-winning basket with 1.2 seconds remaining.

However, De Smet had one last chance. Coming out of a timeout, the Bulldogs attempted a full-court pass, but an inadvertent horn sounded, canceling the first play. The second attempt was executed to perfection as Britt Carlson fired a strike to George Jensen who somehow caught the ball between two defenders, turned and banked in the shot to tie the contest.

“It was crazy that we got it into overtime. The horn blew. We showed our cards once and we changed our cards,” said De Smet coach Jeff Gruenhagen. “Carlson just made a great pass. George just went up and got it, turned and shot that thing. That gave us that energy we thought we could just get that done for the four minutes (of overtime).”

The Tigers figured that play was coming and defended it about as well as they could have.

“My thinking was get my big guy in front of Jensen down there and put Luke behind him. I didn’t think they’d be able to execute that pass,” Coach Koepsell said. “Sometimes you have to tip your cap to the other team for doing something like that. They threw it right over Kolt’s fingertips and he made the shot, too.”

That momentum changer could have marked the beginning of the end for Howard, but it definitely did not.

“When we came out of that timeout when there was 1.2 seconds left, I’m thinking all right, one stop and we win the state championship,” Luke Koepsell said. “Then they throw in that shot, a heckuva shot, and then we get in the timeout and coach says how are we going to respond? We looked at each other and said we ain’t going to lose this game. They’re not going to beat us on a shot like that. So we dug down and we won.”

Kolt Koepsell believed that the Tigers could get the job done in overtime after De Smet’s last-second shot.

“We knew we could do it, because we had that run there in the middle of the third quarter, and we knew we could do it again,” he said. “Just because they made that didn’t stop us from it.”

Howard led by seven points early in the fourth quarter, but had a hard time dispatching the Bulldogs, who made one big shot after another and eventually took the lead with just under three minutes remaining.

Like De Smet in past state championship victories, Howard remained poised throughout and produced under pressure.

“You trust in the kids. You get into a one-possession game there in the fourth quarter and overtime, and you pretty much throw the playbook out the window,” Coach Koepsell said. “They couldn’t hear me anyways. You trust in the guys. You try to get the ball to the best players at good spots on the floor, and trust that they’re going to make plays for you and our guys did that tonight.”

The win not only avenged an earlier setback to De Smet, it also wiped out years of frustration against the Bulldogs.

“We’ve never beat De Smet, not in my high school career,” Luke Koepsell said. “We owed them and we finally got it on the biggest stage. It feels good.”

The Bulldogs knew they would be in for a battle, despite a win over Howard during the regular season.

“They’re a great team. We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Jensen said. “We just didn’t hit shots and they kept getting inside, battling, getting easy looks.”

Kolt Koepsell finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Luke Koepsell added 16 points, three rebounds and four assists. The two made all 15 of their free-throw attempts.

“Both the Koepsells are just great players,” Jensen said. “They obviously spend lots of time working on their games, and especially free throws. They were really good down the stretch with free throws.”

Kadyn Fast led De Smet with 18 points, while Carlson and Trace Van Regenmorter each added 11.

Jensen was his usual clutch self, producing his second key shot in the tournament, after a last-second game winner in the opening round.

“I just want to thank God for all the opportunities he gives me. I wouldn’t be anywhere without my family, my teammates, my friends,” Jensen said. “I just got the ball at the end both those times and just did what I could.”

The Bulldogs ended the season at 22-4, but fell just short in their quest for another state title.

“It’s going to be hard to get past, just because of that fact,” Gruenhagen said. “We were so close, by getting it into overtime that we couldn’t finish it. It’s going to be hard.”

Colby Claussen and Logan Mentele each added eight points to the Howard total, including two key 3-pointers from each in the second half.

The Tigers capped the year with a 23-3 record and proved that Howard is more than a town known for football and wrestling.

“We’ve had a lot of down years here in the 2000s, but we’ve got a rich tradition of basketball in Howard,” Coach Koepsell said. “Why can’t be all those? Why can’t we be football, wrestling and basketball? There’s enough to go around.”

On Saturday night, the Tigers proved they were the new kings of Class B basketball.

When asked how to top that, Luke Koepsell responded, “You can’t. I don’t know how you can. I’ve yet to find anything that’s better.”

De SMET (22-4): Tom Aughenbaugh 2 2-2 7, Trace Van Regenmorter 4 0-0 11, Kadyn Fast 6 5-6 18, Britt Carlson 3 2-2 11, George Jensen 2 1-2 6, Grant Wilkinson 1 0-0 2. Totals 18-47 10-12 55.

HOWARD(23-3): Colby Claussen 3 0-0 8, Logan Mentele 3 0-0 8, Taiden Hinker 0 2-2 2, Luke Koepsell 5 6-6 16, Kolt Koepsell 7 9-9 24, Carson Hinker 1 0-2 2. Totals 19-34 17-19 60.

De Smet 11 22 35 52 55

Howard 13 24 39 52 60

3-point field goals – Aughenbaugh, Van Regenmorter (3), Fast, Carlson (3), Jensen; Claussen (2), Mentele (2), K. Koepsell. Fouled out – Carlson. Total fouls – De Smet 17; Howard 8. Rebounds – De Smet 16 (Carlson 5); Howard 29 (K. Koepsell 13). Turnovers – De Smet 8; Howard 14. Assists – De Smet 9 (Fast 3); Howard 9 (L. Koepsell 4). Blocked Shots – De Smet 4 (Jensen 3); Howard 3 (K. Koepsell 3). Steals – De Smet 8 (Fast 3, Van Regenmorter 2, Jensen 2); Howard 3 (K. Koepsell 2).