Perham Yellowjackets Rally from Halftime Deficit to Claim Section 8AA Title

Down 11 points in the second half of the Section 8AA final, the fourth-seeded Perham Yellowjackets leaned on senior Nathan Rustad, a rebound putback, and a locked-in defense to defeat Staples-Motley 66-61 Friday night at the Concordia Memorial Auditorium in Moorhead, claiming the section championship and a berth in the Minnesota Class 2A state tournament for the first time since 2022.

Rustad finished with 23 points, 21 of them after halftime, including four of Perham's eight made 3-pointers. His back-to-back triples ignited an 11-1 run that erased what had been a commanding Cardinals lead, and his second consecutive 3-pointer, hit with 1:53 remaining, gave Perham a 58-53 advantage, the largest lead the Yellowjackets had held all night.

"Finally, I found that sweet spot and just kept going," Rustad said.

The game looked bleak for Perham at the half. Staples-Motley led 31-25, and the Cardinals wasted no time extending it, ripping off a 10-2 run to open the second half and pushing their lead to 41-30 within the first six minutes. Staples-Motley, seeking its first state tournament berth in 25 years, was playing with urgency and connected on nine 3-pointers for the game.

Perham refused to fold. Rustad's consecutive 3-pointers started the decisive stretch, pulling the Yellowjackets to within one. Then Sam Dale, who finished with three points, converted a rebound putback to give Perham its first lead since early in the game, and the Perham fan section erupted. From there, the two teams traded the lead through ties at 46, 48, 50, and 52 before Rustad's second straight triple broke the game open for good.

Perham salted away the final margin with free throws as the Yellowjacket faithful stormed the court at Concordia College.

Isaiah Farrell and Cypress Thiel each added 17 points for Perham, giving the Yellowjackets three players in double figures. Tate Zacharias contributed five points, Dale three, and Kade Raser two. The balanced output was no accident, according to Rustad.

"It's the whole team and it starts with the coaches who watch hours of film to put us in the best spots to succeed," Rustad said. "But it started in November when our goal was to establish a culture that we all bought into, and I'd say that it's paying off throughout this season."

Head coach Grant Dierkhising credited the composure his team showed when the deficit hit double digits. "It was a tale of two halves," Dierkhising said. "We stayed composed." On Rustad's second-half takeover, Dierkhising was direct: "He has the ability to take over anytime he wants. He's got a great-looking shot, his teammates found him and he knocked down a few big shots for us."

For Staples-Motley, Connor Kuhns led with 17 points, Avondre Brandt added 15, and Eli Rutten scored 14. The Cardinals' nine 3-pointers were not enough to withstand Perham's second-half surge, which produced 41 points against 30 for Staples-Motley.

The win capped a strong tournament run for the Yellowjackets, who dispatched top-seeded East Grand Forks 69-50 on Wednesday night to reach the section final. Perham finishes the season 18-12 and will await seeding results for the Class 2A state tournament, which begins March 26.

"It's been a dang ride," Rustad said. "The wins, the losses, the amount of struggles, valleys, uphills, it was an absolutely amazing game to play and it feels good to continue on."

Rustad, Zacharias, Thiel, Farrell, Raser, Bormann, and Dale each took a turn cutting down the net inside the Concordia Memorial Auditorium, joined by coach Dierkhising, before Perham's players and fans celebrated a return trip to the state tournament.