Limited to four points at halftime, Reid Travis spent the down time in the DeLaSalle locker room reliving what he called a “soft” performance.

“When you think about it, that could have been it for our season,” the sophomore big man said of his team, which led by six over Grand Rapids (25-6) at the time. “I didn’t want it to be that way.”

So he put himself in control. The 6-6 Travis, one of what coach Dave Thorson called his team’s “fake post players,” scored seven of the Islanders’ 23 points during a lopsided run to open the second half. The Islanders cruised into the Class 3A championship game from there with a 67-44 victory over Grand Rapids.

During the ride, Travis scored on back-to-back possessions for No. 2 DeLaSalle (25-6). The back end of it came on a one-handed slam dunk with Travis flying through the lane over Thunderhawks players.

“Just trying to bring some more intensity to the game,” he said.

Luke Scott scored 15 of his team-high 20 points in the first half and made three of the Islanders’ seven three-pointers.

DeLaSalle, which carries a 13-game win streak into Saturday’s championship, forced 15 turnovers on the other end of the court.

“Our pressure was just too much,” Thorson said. “That’s what made the difference. Since Christmas, our defense has been really coming.”

Alex Illikainen had 20 points for Grand Rapids.

BRIAN STENSAAS, Star Tribune 

Luke Scott, DeLaSalle

Scott came out sizzling for the Islanders, scoring 15 points in the opening 11 minutes. He slowed down a bit as the game wore on, but managed to contribute 20 points and three rebounds as he helped spark the Islanders to the 3A state championship game.

Reid Travis, DeLaSalle

The Islanders man in the middle dueled with Illikainen all game, winning the game and the head to head matchup. Travis scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in only 22 minutes of action. He had a monstrous dunk in the second half that got the crowd rocking.

Alex Illikainen, Grand Rapids

The Thunderhawks big man gave his best attempt to keep his team in the game, scoring 20 points and pulling in eight rebounds while manning the paint. The impressive freshmen was very effective from the field, shooting 8-15 and 4-4 from the line.

-- Alec Kinsky, MN Basketball Hub Staff