From outside the collegiate 3-point line on the right wing, Chace Watley lobbed the perfect pass to the perfect recipient.

Isaiah Johnson-Arigu extended to catch it with his right arm before powering the wing forward and slamming home the orange orb.

It is the kind of basket you might see on a certain four-letter sports network’s top plays.

The highlight-reel slam with about six minutes to go was part of the key run that let Totino-Grace pull away from Mankato East for a 73-64 win in the Class 3A state boys basketball final Saturday at Williams Arena.

That’s three straight titles for the private school in Fridley.

“It feels like the work we did all year, it really validates it,” said Johnson-Arigu, a University of Miami commit. He finished with 25 points and added 11 rebounds for the top-seeded Eagles (27-5).

But it’s the dunk that will be best remembered.

“We run that a lot throughout the season. We just drew it up and he threw a good pass and I feel like the adrenaline just kicked in and I dunked it,” said Johnson-Arigu.

“What can you do? We’re not asking for autographs after that one. You just try to get down and score and keep the play going. It’s a bucket,” said Mankato East coach Joe Madson. “He had a couple nice ones and he’s a good player. He’s strong, he’s got a nice touch around the basket.”

Tyler Wagner added 17 points and Watley 10 for the Eagles. Dothan Ijadimbola grabbed 10 rebounds. Totino-Grace shot 55.8% from the field.

Up 52-49 midway through the second half, Totino-Grace scored 12 of the game’s next 14 points, including Johnson-Arigu’s dunk and a couple of layups from Ijadimbola.

In its semifinal win over DeLaSalle, Totino-Grace trailed by four with just under eight minutes to go before scoring 20 of the next 25 points.

“Even though we have that experience I feel like some of the nerves can sometimes get to us. Second half we just really kind of settle in and kind of just come together as a team,” said Will Brands. He and Johnson-Arigu are the only seniors.

“We just kind of like buy in to what the job is. We tend to figure out what we need to get done late. It’s a bad habit. We should be coming out strong, but we never do, and it always happens in the second half,” Ijadimbola said.

Heading into the tournament, Totino-Grace coach Nick Carroll believed there were six “really good teams” that could emerge with the championship hardware.

“This was for sure the toughest run for us,” he said. “We had three very challenging opponents, and Stewartville was awesome (a 57-48 quarterfinal win), and obviously DeLaSalle you always got a handful with them, and I thought Mankato East played as well as I’ve seen them play all year.”

Brogan Madson scored 27 points and Carson Schweim grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for the Cougars (28-3). Second place is the best finish in school history.

“It’s not the way we wanted it to end, but it’s pretty cool if you think about it,” Schweim said.

“We’re predominately a man team, we try to play a little zone, we’re just not as good at it, and I think that’s what probably could be good against them at times. We stuck with what we want to do, and I think we handled it well some of the time but gave up some easy hoops,” said Joe Madson.

The Cougars were just 5 for 28 from long range.

“It’s a make-it league … just didn’t get enough of them to go down,” Joe Madson said.

Down by 13 with just under four minutes to play, Mankato East scored eight of the next 10 points to get within 66-59. But Totino-Grace drained seven of nine free throws down the stretch.

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