Ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, for most of the season, the Graford and Jayton boys basketball teams surprised no one by reaching the Class 1A state championship game.

But in pulling away to double-digit semifinal wins on Thursday, the Jackrabbits and Jaybirds set up a title game matchup that should prove quite a treat for small-school basketball fans.

Graford, the defending Class 1A state champion, brings with it to Saturday’s 8:30 a.m. clash a 36-3 record that features losses only to ranked larger school squads from North Hopkins, Lipan and Holliday. Jayton, at 37-2, has lost only to larger school playoff teams from Sweetwater and Reagan County.

Combined, the two have rolled through every Class 1A opponent put in front of them, adding just a little more intrigue to a matchup Jayton coach Ryan Bleiker called “a really exciting game.”