Castlewood cleared a hurdle Friday night that it wasn’t able to get past last season.

The Warriors defeated Wessington Springs 64-45 Friday night during the semifinals of the Class B State Boys’ Basketball Tournament at a jam-packed Wachs Arena.

Castlewood, which came up short in the semifinals a year ago, got an early lead and never trailed, but wasn’t able to relax until the end against the dangerous Spartans.

“We never felt comfortable all game. They can score the ball and when we got that lead in the second half, we wanted to get out and defend the 3-point line a little bit better than we did,” said Castlewood coach Paul Raasch. “I didn’t want them to get in a couple of threes and get some momentum, and we were able to hold them off. … We knew they were good enough to come back and our guys did a good job focusing in and getting stops.”

The Spartans knew that playing from behind was not going to be ideal, and when they had opportunities, they couldn’t capitalize on them.

“We got down at halftime by 10 and then after, we never really overcame it. It was right at the 12-13 mark pretty much,” said Wessington Springs coach Joey Mitchell. “We would almost be on the brink, what it felt like would be kind of putting together a run and then we kind of shoot ourselves in the foot. The offensive execution, careless turnovers, even careless shot selections at times.”

The Spartans had a game plan to slow down 6-foot-9 Castlewood center Bryon Laue in the paint.

“They have shooters, we’re going to be digging down on Laue, we’re closing out to the shooters ‘cause they all can shoot. And knowing Laue, the game plan was to keep him 8 to 10 feet,” said Mitchell. “Colby (Flowers) was to make contact with him at the 3-point line and try to keep him 8 to 10 feet. … I thought we did a nice job of that in the first half.”

Flowers matched up with Laue in the lane. The standout football player is used to being physical and even used some of his football skills to help him make up for the 5-inch difference between him and Laue.

“Well, I’m an outside linebacker and tight end, so I’m used to ripping through, swimming, and getting around blockers,” said Flowers. “But also with my box out, I’m just blocking. I love football, and I know coach might not like to hear it, but I love playing football more than basketball, but the physicality carries over for sure.”

Raasch knew the importance of the matchup in the lane as the two players went toe-to-toe all night.

“Those guys had a good battle in there. I just told Bryon, we gotta win this match up head-to-head tonight and he took it upon himself to do that,” said Raasch. “Flowers had a good game, and I thought Bryon had a terrific game.”

Although Laue finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, Flowers did his best to make the Castlewood big man work for his totals, even blocking two shots and forcing a couple of steals.

Jamison Keszler, who runs point for the Warriors, knew they had to mix things it up if they wanted to get Laue more involved.

“I’ll drive and I’ll throw him the ball behind my back, behind my head, so I just tell him to be ready for it. I like to catch teams off guard. I’ll chuck it down the floor to him,” Keszler said. “I tell him to be ready at all times, so we can get him the ball. Sometimes, it’s really difficult to get him the ball, so just a lot of ball movement.”

Laue was able to put up 13 points in the first half, and Keszler matched that total with three of those points coming on a buzzer-beater in the first quarter that grew the Warrior lead to five points.

Although the shot was nothing new for the senior, it felt different inside Wachs Arena.

“It felt really good. I had a few of those, but that one felt amazing. That was a really big confidence booster. That was a nice shot to make at the end of the quarter,” Keszler said. “I think this is probably the best time of the year, in my life, so I just love it. I love the atmosphere. I love being out there with my boys.”

With the Spartans trailing, they needed some sort of spark late in the game. Flowers did his best to keep his team within striking distance, producing all eight of the team’s fourth-quarter points. While he did the scoring, he credited his teammates for their contributions as well.

“Shots were opening up, people were moving better than they were. I mean we were moving, we were passing the ball. My teammates are great at finding the open cutters,” said Flowers. “We started doing that and it’s hard to stop that. I like being a leader, but we have 13 leaders on our team.”

And all 13 of those leaders were able to check into the game late, giving each player the opportunity to experience what it’s like to be on the court at the state tournament.

“There’s more to basketball than basketball. Those guys show up every day. They do the dirty work,” said Mitchell. “So, it’s rewarding those guys for their hard work, their dedication. They’ve been there all year. And then a couple of them were seniors, so I wanted to make sure they got a little extra time.”

Keszler finished with 17 points for the Warriors. Kamden Keszler followed with nine, and Brody Bass and Luke Baumberger each added eight.

Flowers ended up with 15 points for the Spartans, while Ryder Michalek contributed 13 points and 11 rebounds.

In the end, Castlewood was able to punch its ticket to the championship game. The Warriors, 23-2, will take on Viborg-Hurley in the title contest at 7:45 tonight. The Cougars won a previous matchup earlier this season.

“We’ve been on a mission and our guys have been confident all year. We played an extremely tough schedule, we’re battle-tested and we believe in ourselves,” Raasch said. “We lost a heartbreaker last year when we thought we were good enough to win last year and we didn’t get it done. To get to this point now and have a shot, there’s nothing better than that.”

Even though Wessington Springs isn’t playing for a state title, there is still the possibility to end the season with a win. The Spartans will play Dell Rapids St. Mary at 6 tonight in the third-place game.

“It’s the next play mentality, and this carries over from the next play to the next game,” said Flowers. “We have a 24-hour rule, but it might need to be 12 today. We play right again (Saturday).”

WESSINGTON SPRINGS (22-3): Karter Mebius 3 0-0 7, Wesley Molnar 1 0-0 2, Sam Poncelow 2 0-0 6, Colby Flowers 6 3-4 15, Ryder Michalek 6 0-0 13, Luke Larson 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 3-4 45.

CASTLEWOOD (23-2): Kamden Keszler 4 0-0 9, Brody Bass 3 0-0 8, Jamison Keszler 6 4-6 17, Luke Baumberger 2 2-2 8, Bryon Laue 8 3-6 19, Bennett Johnson 1 0-0 3. Totals 24 9-14 64.

Wessington Springs 14 26 37 45

Castlewood 19 36 50 64

3-point field goals – Mebius, Poncelow 2, Michalek; K. Keszler, Bass 2, J. Keszler, Baumberger 2, Johnson. Total fouls – Wessington Springs 13; Castlewood 8. Rebounds – Wessington Springs 26 (Michalek 11); Castlewood 30 (Laue 13). Turnovers – Wessington Springs 10; Castlewood 10. Assists – Wessington Springs 13 (Molnar 3); Castlewood 13 (J. Keszler 5). Blocked shots – Wessington Springs 2 (Flowers 2); Castlewood 4 (Bass 2, Laue 2). Steals – Wessington Springs 7 (Flowers 3); Castlewood 4 (K. Keszler 2).