As the youngest of three boys, Dahl experienced plenty of time on the floor in Buffalo watching his brothers play. The middle son, Tony, also starred for the Bison and saw his career come to a disappointing end in the section final.

“After his last game, he told me that it was time for me to work at it,” Nate Dahl said. “I took that to heart and went for it,”

Inspired by his older brother, Dahl began his ascension to varsity level basketball. He played on junior varsity as a sophomore before his breakout performance in that summer game. That success turned to the varsity level these past two seasons. 

This season, Dahl has established himself as one of the state’s best, averaging almost 25 points per game and being named a Mr. Basketball award finalist.

“(Dahl) went through the process,” Ortmann said. “To see the countless hours he put in pay off in his senior year, it’s been one of the most enjoyable seasons I’ve ever been a part of.”

Friday was a special night for Dahl. Not only was he one of the seniors being honored for senior night, he scored his 1,000th career point early in the first half, earning a stoppage in play and a standing ovation from the Bison faithful.

“It was a sigh of relief,” Dahl said. “A lot of nerves going into the game. Doing it in front of all these people, there’s nothing like it.”

Buffalo (20-5, 7-4) did take control early in the first half, but the Bison did get pushback from Hopkins. The Royals got back into Friday’s game with plenty of success from deep. Sophomore guard JJ Semanko led that charge with four 3-pointers and a team-high 17 points.

The performance by Semanko and others led Hopkins (16-8, 6-5) to grab a slight lead early in the second half.

Trailing 56-53, Buffalo decided to take it into another gear. The Bison went on a 17-0 run down the stretch in the second half. Not only did Buffalo go ahead, but the Bison got some breathing room.

“We knew that if we could continue to get pressure on the rim and ball reversals, we felt like we could crack what they were doing defensively,” Ortmann said. “We got uncontested shots. We got a lot of possessions there with a lot of layups, free throws and wide open threes. The players we have were able to capitalize on that.”

The win was Buffalo’s second of the season against Hopkins, ranked No. 7 in Class 4A by Minnesota Basketball news. The win puts the Bison ahead of the Royals in the Lake Conference standings. Dahl and his teammates will look to build off this win as they look to gain respect from others around the state and in the Lake Conference.

“Going into this season, we didn’t have a lot of respect,” Dahl said. “All we wanted to do is earn respect this season, and I think we’ve done that.”