SIOUX FALLS – Hamlin’s title defense ran into a 6-foot-10 roadblock.

Sioux Falls Christian center Griffen Goodbary put together a dominant performance in the paint, finishing with 32 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots – all without committing a foul – to help fuel Christian’s 61-51 win over Hamlin in the Class A State Boys’ Basketball Tournament championship game at the Sanford Premier Center Saturday night.

“He’s really good and that’s why they’re number one,” said Hamlin coach Todd Neuendorf. “It wasn’t like we lost to a bad team. We lost to the number one team in the state and we were number two. … Give them credit. They made some plays. Griffen is really good. We just fouled him too much.”

Hamlin, which defeated Christian in overtime in last year’s championship contest, found itself in an early hole and in early foul trouble trying to body up Goodbary in the post. That foul trouble eventually led to 19 trips to the free throw line for Sioux Falls Christian, 10 of them by Goodbary. By comparison, Hamlin had just five attempts from the line, two of which came in the fourth quarter.

Despite that early deficit, Hamlin made several runs at the top-seeded Christian squad, closing to within four points on several occasions in the second half, but could never get closer than that. Christian responded to each Hamlin charge with a push of its own to stay on top of the scoreboard.

“We would get there, but our margin of error was so small,” Neuendorf said. “They were getting free throws and we were having to take tough shots. We just couldn’t get quite over that hump.”

Goodbary’s dominant performance was supported by 11 points from Brant Wassenaar. Bennett Wassenaar and Britton Mulder added five points each.

Hamlin was led by Jackson Wadsworth with 18 points. Wadsworth hit four 3-pointers in the game, all of which came during Hamlin’s comeback charges. Zac VanMeeteren, hampered by early foul trouble, had 11 points and six rebounds. Easton Neuendorf finished with nine points and another six boards to go along with seven assists.

Neuendorf and Wadsworth were named to the all-tournament team.

“It was tough. Kids battled hard and did what we asked them to do,” Coach Neuendorf said.

Hamlin ended its season at 22-3, with two of those three losses coming at the hands of Sioux Falls Christian. Hamlin will bid farewell to six departing seniors, including Easton Neuendorf, Evan Stormo, VanMeeteren, Dawson Noem, Turner Stevenson and Carter Jutting.

“(It’s) really tough to say goodbye when one of them is your son and his friends who are over at your house all week,” Coach Neuendorf said. “They’ve had a good run in four years. We started them when they were freshmen, and in four years they’ve got a third, a second and a first, and a state football championship. They’ve had a good run.”

HAMLIN (22-3): Easton Neuendorf 3 2-2 9, Evan Stormo 3 0-3 6, Jackson Wadsworth 7 0-0 18, Dawson Noem 3 0-0 7, Zac VanMeeteren 5 0-0 11. Totals 21-49 2-5 51.

SIOUX FALLS CHRISTIAN (24-1): Cole Snyder 1 1-2 3, Griffen Goodbary 12 7-10 32, Britton Mulder 2 1-1 5, Carson Nickles 0 2-2 2, Brant Wassenaar 4 2-2 11, Bennett Wassenaar 1 2-2 5, Jude vanDonkersgoed 1 0-0 3. Totals 21-44 15-19 61.

Hamlin 9 21 37 51

Sioux Falls Christian 12 30 44 61

3-point field goals – Neuendorf, Wadsworth 4, Noem, VanMeeteren; Goodbary, Brant Wassenaar, Bennett Wassenaar, Van Donkersgoed). Fouled out – Stormo. Total fouls – Hamlin 18; Sioux Falls Christian 12. Rebounds – Hamlin 27 (Neuendorf 6, Stormo 6, VanMeeteren 6); Sioux Falls Christian 27 (Goodbary 15). Assists – Hamlin 9 (Neuendorf 7); Sioux Falls Christian 7 (Goodbary 3). Turnovers – Hamlin 10; Sioux Falls Christian 5. Blocked shots – Hamlin 1 (VanMeeteren); Sioux Falls Christian 2 (Goodbary 2). Steals – Hamlin 2 (Neuendorf, Stormo); Sioux Falls Christian 7 (Snyder 3).