Any team can win a state tournament game when things are going well. It’s the great teams – the championship-caliber teams – that can do it when it keeps stepping in potholes.

Champlin Park did just that, withstanding a terrific effort from Shakopee and its own miscues to pull out a 65-57 victory. The Rebels (31-0) advance to the Class 4A championship game for the first time in team history.

The Rebel did it on a night when Shakopee was nearly-perfect, their best player (J.T. Gibson) was in foul trouble and they trailed by a point, 57-56, with less than two minutes left in the game.

“It wasn’t anything we were doing wrong. It was more what Shakopee was doing,” said Gibson, who finished with a team-leading 18 points and four fouls. “We just had to adjust.”

Shakopee, behind the all-around play of junior forward Steffon Mitchell, jumped out to a 10-2 lead en route to a 31-26 halftime advantage. Mitchell finished with 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Champlin Park mixed its defenses in the second half, creating turnovers and fast-break opportunities. The Rebels regained the lead and held it for most of the second half.

“We had to change things around, get a jump-start,” Champlin Park coach Mark Tuchscherer said.

Mitchell thought that stretch was a big reason why his team lost. “If there was one thing I would change, it would be how we played at the start of the second half,” he said. “We tried to play their game. We tried to play street ball.”

Shakopee remained stubborn, however, and regained the lead on a three-pointer by Booker Coplin with 1:25 left.

Champlin Park responded decisively. Marty Hill, the Rebels’ best offensive threat in the second half, buried a three-pointer with 55 seconds left for a 59-57 advantage. That basket keyed a game-closing 9-0 run.

“We’ve been in close games,” said Hill, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half. “That helped us the most. If that hadn’t we hadn’t had that feeling before, we wouldn’t have known what to do.”

Champlin Park showed that it can win close games, too.

The Rebels pulled away from Shakopee in the final minutes for a 65-57 victory to advance to the Class 4A state championship game for the first time in team history.

Shakopee led 57-56 with less than two minutes left, but Champlin Park’s Marty Hill hit a three-pointer to give the lead back to the Rebels. Champlin Park scored the final nine points of the game.

J.T. Gibson led Champlin Park with 18 points and Marty Hill had 16. Shakopee’s Steffon Mitchell led all scorers with 25.