GROTON – The novelty of making a state tournament is wearing off for the Groton boys’ basketball program.

Make no mistake, the Tigers are still soaking in the experience. But they’re ready to do more than just be included.

“I think that the ‘hey, we made it’ is kind of wearing off,” said Groton coach Brian Dolan. “Four years ago when we went in 2022, I think we had a lot of that ‘wow, we made it. First time in 20 years.’ Then last year, it was ‘gosh, we’re back.’ This year, we’re not just happy to be there.”

Groton is making back-to-back appearances in the State A boys’ tournament for the first time in program history. The eighth-seeded Tigers knocked off ninth-seeded Winner in a convincing SoDak 16 victory, and Dolan isn’t sure his team has hit its stride despite being 22 games into the season.

“It’s a really beautiful thing to watch that happen and to watch kids mature and come together and be a part of something bigger than themselves,” Dolan said. “It’s a great thing and a beautiful thing to watch. I still don’t think we’ve hit our peak yet.”

The TIgers are 17-5 on the season and Dolan said his team’s greatest strength lies in the intangibles.

“Number one, it’s the buy-in, to be part of something bigger than yourself,” Dolan said. “They’ve checked their individual goals at the door. Our team goal was we wanted to win a conference championship; we didn’t get that. We wanted to make it back to the state tournament; we did achieve that. Now we want to be playing at night; we still have that goal in front of us.”

Groton will have to face top-seeded juggernaut Sioux Falls Christian in the opening round of the tournament, but Dolan said his team isn’t daunted by the prospect.

“We told the guys, this isn’t the NCAA tournament. There’s not a 1 seed and a 68 seed,” Dolan said. “There’s eight teams that make it. We’re one of eight, they’re one of eight. They might be seeded one and we might be seeded eight, but that does not mean we aren’t on the same level as them.”

Groton’s steady leadership comes in the form of juniors Keegan Tracy and Ryder Johnson, while newcomer Becker Bosma provides the spark plug.

That doesn’t mean those three are locked into those roles, Dolan said.

“Our team is like a Swiss Army knife, in all honesty,” he said. “They’ve bought in to that, and no one cares about individual stats right now, and that’s why they’ve been able to come together and continue to get better as a team.”

While Johnson typically leads the way in terms of scoring and Bosma provides the court vision on offense, what the Tigers really rely on is their defense. Given the option of needing to win the game by getting a stop or getting a bucket, Dolan didn’t hesitate.

“We’re gonna go get a stop,” he said. “That’s what we hang our hat on, and it has been for years. You go on the road to play, you like to think you can control your shooting, but you can’t. The ball goes in sometimes and it doesn’t go in sometimes. But your defense, you can pack your defense and take it with you. And we always pack it. We are in complete control of our defensive effort and output.”

Groton will tip off the tournament at noon Thursday, and Dolan said the Tigers will be prepared to face the Chargers of SF Christian.

“(They are a) very talented basketball team,” Dolan said. “Very well coached. They play hard and they check a lot of boxes, but we wouldn’t be there if we didn’t check our own boxes.”