File photo by Travis Rosenau Madelia’s Tate Becker looks to score on a layup while guarded by Springfield’s Brecken Heiling during a Section 2A Boys Basketball Tournament semifinals game Monday night at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

MANKATO — There’s been a bit of a numbers theme to the Madelia Blackhawks boys basketball season so far.

For starters, their 23 wins to this point in the season are the most in program history. Secondly, their Section 2A semifinals win over top-seeded Springfield on Monday was a case of the third time being the charm. Last but not least, a win Thursday would give Madelia its first state appearance in boys basketball since 1953.

After falling to Springfield twice in the regular season, Madelia got payback in the section semifinals with a 69-63 win to light up an energetic Madelia crowd in attendance at Gustavus Adolphus College and send the Blackhawks to this Thursday’s 6 p.m. section title game at Bresnan Arena in Mankato.

Standing in the way of a section title and state berth for Madelia will be a strong BOLD team. The second-seeded Warriors took down third-seeded Cedar Mountain 62-53 in overtime to advance to Thursday.

Madelia head coach Jeff Van Hee said his biggest area of concern dealing with the Warriors will be matching their physicality.

“Physically, you can tell they’re in the weight room, pretty strong kids,” Van Hee said. “You can tell they bulk up, they’ve been traditionally good at football … so that’s something we have to be concerned with. Can we physically match that strength and not get knocked around the floor.”

While it’s been over 75 years since Madelia has seen the state tournament, BOLD is looking to make it to state for the first time in program history. Bird Island-Lake Lillian made it to the state boys basketball tourney and won the Class A state title in both 1980 and 1981, while Olivia advanced to state in 1919.

“I think for both teams this is kind of monumental,” BOLD head coach Dan Gross said. “I know BOLD hasn’t been to this point in the season for boys basketball. … I think [Madelia] made it to state in 1953 I read, but for both communities this is huge. It’s really exciting for everybody and to be a part of it is just awesome.”

When it comes to handling the Warriors, one dynamic player boasting muscle and finesse that Madelia will need to keep an eye on is 6-foot-5 senior guard Jack Gross, who leads BOLD with 21.4 points and 5.4 assists per game.

“[Jack] played with the Stars AAU team when Ja'[Sean Glover] was a senior, he was out there playing Stars with a younger age,” Van Hee said. “I also remember seeing him the year we went to the subsection championship when Ja’ was a senior. BOLD lost to St. Mary’s that year [in 2022] and I got to see him play there. He’s a hard guard. He’s left-handed, he’s long and he’s a three-level scorer.”

The Warriors are also led by 6-foot-3 senior forward Will Penkert, who is averaging 19.8 ppg and a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game. Penkert is also shooting a team-high 41% from beyond the arc.

BOLD 6-foot-3 junior forward Owen Baumgartner adds 7.8 ppg and 5.8 rpg to the lineup.

Madelia is led by freshman Kaydon Firchau’s 22.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, while senior Hayden Jones averages 19 ppg and 3.8 rpg. Senior Josiah DeMaris is averaging 11.1 points per game also for the Blackhawks and shooting a team-high 40.2% clip from beyond the arc. Jones is shooting 37.3% from the 3-point line, while Firchau is shooting 37.2% from long range.

Madelia gets the majority of its rebounds from senior Kyle Pietsch (7.7 rpg) and junior Tate Becker (6.8 rpg).

Getting something from everyone has taken Madelia this far and it’s something that has stood out to coach Gross.

“They’re a well-rounded team,” he said. “The freshman guard [Kaydon Firchau], he’s really good, but the senior nucleus, having that just keeps them well grounded and you can see the thought process there of next play and they don’t get overemotional on anything. Defensively, they’re athletic, they’re quick, they’re handsy. And offensively, pick your poison with them because when [Firchau] gets downhill, Jones and DeMaris standing in the corners are both excellent weapons.”

Countering BOLD’s muscle with the speed, awareness and defensive intensity the Blackhawks showed against Springfield Monday will be key for Van Hee’s squad Thursday.

Despite BOLD’s size and toughness, Van Hee said he expects to see the same level of competitiveness his players have shown all season.

“I’m confident in our guys that we’ll come out and compete,” Van Hee said. “We’ll address it in a sense that, ‘Hey, this is who they are and this is what we need to do to offer resistance on defense for them.’ Offensively, we’re the team we are. We share the ball. Obviously Kaydon makes it go, so they’re going to be probably hawking him everywhere, but we’ve just got to set good screens and that was a key to [Monday] night’s game.”

Coach Gross said being aware of Madelia’s shooters and limiting them will be key Thursday.

“Madelia, they’re an excellent shooting team,” coach Gross said. “We get by on grit, grind and play good defense, bring good energy and our defense leads to our offense. Madelia, from what I can see, has some excellent shooters.”