MINNEAPOLIS — In a game where they were a little outsized, the Austin boys basketball team cranked up the Packer press as they turned a Minnesota Class AAA semifinal game against Marshall (27-4 overall) into a highlight reel.

The Packers (29-2 overall) put on a dynamic display of defense and dunks as they ran past Marshall by a score of 73-53 to move on to the state title game for the third time in five years.

The game was tied at 16-16 when Duoth Gach threw down an alley-oop that turned into a three-point play in the midst of a 12-0 Packer run that helped break the game open. Duoth, who finished with 29 points, three rebounds and two steals, also had a put-back dunk early on and he later threw down an alley-oop on an off the glass pass from Both Gach, who had six points, seven assists and four steals.

“When we gets dunks, we start moving faster and we get the crowd into it,” Duoth said. “We feed off that.”

The Packers jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but the Tigers briefly were able to control the pace and take a 16-14 lead. That’s when Austin’s full court pressure turned the game into a sprint as they forced 24 Marshall turnovers. The Packers committed just nine giveaways themselves. Austin led 33-20 at the break and it continued to pile on when it opened the second half with an 11-5 run that saw Duoth connect on a pair of three-pointers.

“We wanted to apply as much pressure as possible,” Austin head coach Kris Fadness said. “I thought any time we allowed one of their guys to not be hounded by us, we were allowing them to run some offense. I was really concerned about their size around the basket and I just thought by extending full court with our trapping game, it allowed us to be aggressive.”

Oman Oman played big up front for the Packers against a tough Marshall front line. Oman had 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while grabbing five rebounds and blocking two shots.

“I knew that I had to use my face up moves and I had to try and score,” Oman said.

Austin played nine players at least six minutes in the win to stay fresh, but Fadness admitted that it helped to have extended breaks for TV commercials on the 94-foot floor.

“The TV timeouts helped us a lot,” Fadness said. “Yesterday I thought I logged these guys way too many minutes.”

The Packers will now be faced with the task that nobody has been able to accomplish in the last five years. Austin will look to end DeLaSalle’s Class  AAA dominance when the two teams square off in the title game in Target Center 5 p.m. Saturday. The Islanders have won the last five Class AAA titles and two of those wins came against Austin in 2013 and 2014.

Fadness said the Packers have had their eyes on the Islanders for a good portion of the season.

“To be honest, we’ve been thinking about them all year. I’m just glad we got to this point,” Fadness said. “We know it’s going to be a battle, but I feel if we play like we did today with this type of energy, we’ve got a shot. The big thing when you play them is you’ve got to believe you can beat them. You’re not just playing against five guys, you’re playing against an aura, a tradition and we feel like we’ve established one in Austin.”

The Islanders (26-3 overall) beat Big Lake 55-47 and they topped Columbia Heights 86-60 to get to the state title game.

Marshall 20  33  —  53

Austin 33  40  —  73

Austin scoring: Duoth Gach, 29; Oman Oman, 14; Kyle Oberbroeckling, 8; Both Gach, 6; Tate Hebrink, 6; Moses Issa, 5; Tyler Tupy, 3; Jany Gash, 2; field goals: 48 percent (29-for-60); three-pointers: 36 percent (8-for-22); free throws: 100 percent (7-for-7); rebounds: 29 (Gash, 6); turnovers: 9