There was a significant absence at Target Center on Saturday.

Zach Gabbard, the Perham junior who suffered a heart attack on court in January, was not able to watch in person as his team defeated Rochester Lourdes 45-37 in the Class 2A championship game.

After three days of state tournament activity, Gabbard needed a day of rest.

“He was tired,” Perham senior Nick Tobkin said. “He was watching on TV. But he is always in our hearts.”

What Gabbard saw surely made him proud. After a sluggish first half in which neither team found any sort of offensive flow — Perham led 18-13 — the Yellowjackets (31-1) made a key offensive adjustment to pull away for the first state basketball championship in school history.

“I thought we were a little complacent in the first half,” Perham coach Dave Cresap said. “We made a change at halftime, changed our offense a little bit. We wanted to start attacking the gaps in their zone.”

It didn’t happen right away. What Rochester Lourdes (24-8) lacked in talent it made up for with moxie and experience. Seven of the Eagles played on their Class 3A championship football team last fall.

“Football helped,” Lourdes coach Jim Daly said. “They weren’t bothered by the circumstances.”

The Eagles took a brief lead, 21-20, early in the second half before Perham turned up the pressure and pulled away.

Tobkin and guard Jordan Cresap were the catalysts. Jordan, a junior, had taken over the starting spot vacated by Gabbard. His two three-pointers in the first half were the Yellowjackets’ biggest baskets before halftime.

Tobkin stepped up in the second half. He scored 10 of his game-high 15 points after the break, including five consecutive points to stem a Lourdes rally and give Perham a comfortable lead it maintained for the rest of the game.

As media types gathered on the court after the game, Dave Cresap talked about how much basketball meant to his team.

“Playing basketball was a huge relief,” he said. “Zach was always on our minds. So it was nice to be able to go out and run around and work some of that stress off. This means a lot to me, but it means so much more to these kids. They’re the ones that made it happen.”