The No. 6 3A Hiawatha Red Hawks showed their title grit Tuesday night, rallying from a 20-0 deficit to defeat Sabetha 57-48 and carry momentum into Thursday’s Big East League championship game.

Sabetha dominated early, holding Hiawatha scoreless in the first quarter to build an 11-0 lead and stretching it to 25-13 by halftime. The Bluejays, fueled by double-digit efforts from Charlie Lukert, Reid Mitchell, and Kyson Wertenberger, still led 38-29 entering the fourth.

Then Hiawatha erupted.

The Red Hawks poured in 28 fourth-quarter points, going 21-of-26 (81%) at the free-throw line to complete the comeback. The exclamation point came when Braylen Siebenmorgen hammered home a one-handed dunk while drawing an intentional foul to seal the win.

Siebenmorgen finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Ethan Morton added 16 points and four steals, and Lane Kesler scored 15 with five rebounds and three blocks. Despite 15 turnovers, Hiawatha’s late execution proved decisive.

Sabetha, which hit five threes but committed 18 turnovers, was led by Lukert with 11 points, while Wertenberger and Mitchell added 10 apiece.

Hiawatha improves to 17-3 (8-1 Big East) and will host No. 7 Silver Lake in a winner-take-all league showdown. Sabetha (12-8, 7-3) returns home to face Holton on Friday.