Photo by Tonya Harrison, The Gowrie News: Cornell Lowery drives for Southeast Valley during a 2A district final against Clarion-Goldfield/Dows on Tuesday in Gowrie.

GOWRIE — Kyle Johnson knows his fanbase well, and prepared the Southeast Valley boys basketball team accordingly.

The Jaguars’ home gym came to life during a Class 2A district final against Clarion-Goldfield/Dows here on Tuesday night. Johnson’s players didn’t bat an eye, and eventually settled in to post a 50-38 victory to clinch the program’s first district title since Southeast Valley’s inception over a decade ago.

“It was an amazing environment, and given how our crowd has been all season long, we expected that,” said Johnson, a 1992 Fort Dodge Senior High graduate who is in his 16th season at the helm overall and 12th as the Jaguars’ head coach. “It was as loud as it’s ever been. The guys couldn’t hear me, but again, we anticipated that being an issue. So we went to the hand signals we’d set up (beforehand) to communicate.”

Twin Lakes Conference champion Southeast Valley (21-1 overall) shook off a slow start with a second-quarter explosion, turning a 4-4 tie into a 27-11 halftime advantage over the Cowboys (15-9).

From there, the Jaguars turned to their trademark defensive effort — Southeast Valley allows less than 40 points per contest, which ranks No. 1 in all of 2A — to deliver its 21st consecutive victory.

“Our pressure defense really got us going and fed the offense (to get into a rhythm),” Johnson said. “We like to press after makes and misses both, and I thought we did a nice job of disrupting their (offensive gameplan).

“(Senior) Cornell (Lowery) hit some big three-pointers that gave us some confidence and created some separation.”

Lowery led Southeast Valley with 14 points. Juniors Bryce Harrison (10) and Logan Jaeschke (9) followed.

Junior Chaz Lane (14 points) and junior Huxley Lingenfelter (12) paced C-G/D.

The Jaguars had edged the Cowboys by four points here just 12 days ago, 62-58.

“We just keep taking things one step at a time,” Johnson said. “We kept that mentality up during (an unbeaten run through the TLC), and we’re doing the same now that we’re in the postseason.

“We’ve never been in a substate final, so we’re looking forward to having that opportunity. They’ve earned it, and I’m very proud of them.”

Second-ranked Unity Chrstian (21-2) awaits, with the winner clinching one of eight 2A state tournament bids. The substate championship will be at 8 p.m. on Saturday inside the Storm Lake High School gym.

SOUTHEAST VALLEY 50, CLARION-GOLDFIELD/DOWS 38

Southeast Valley — Lincoln Akins 5, Karson Roper 2, Bryce Harrison 10, Casey Hanson 4, Cornell Lowery 14, Logan Jaeschke 9, Nick Field 2, Ian Brunner 1, Hayden Butrick 3.

C-G/D — Huxley Lingenfelter 12, Ethan Hasty 2, JD Morrical 6, Chaz Lane 14, Maxton Downing 4.

Quarter scores: Tied 4-4; SV led 27-11, 33-23.