Nate Wilke is best known for setting up goals, not scoring them.

But the roles were reversed Friday for the Gentry Academy defenseman who scored twice, helping send the Stars to the boys Class 2A state hockey tournament by beating White Bear Lake 3-0 in the Section 4AA final.

By now, the unlikely should not be surprising for the Stars.

Seeded fifth in the section, Gentry Academy beat No. 4 East Ridge 6-3 and No. 1 Hill-Murray 4-2 to reach the final at a sold-out Aldrich Arena against the third-seeded Bears.

“Sections, crazy stuff happens and we showed it,” co-captain Braden Korba said.

“Everybody hated us and we believed. All that matters is that we believed,” said Wilke, who has eight goals but a team-high 30 assists. “… State is a dream. I’ve dreamed about every night.”

The Stars (17-9-2) will take to the ice Thursday for Class AA quarterfinal at Grand Casino Arena. Brackets are to be announced Saturday.

Gentry Academy, a charter school in Vadnais Heights, has one previous state tournament berth. It won the Class A title in 2021 and moved to Class 2A the following season.

“This is so sweet,” coach Kyle Follmer said.

Riley Helmberger almost single-handedly kept White Bear Lake (13-12-3) within striking distance of another fantastic finish with 28 saves, plenty off Grade A chances for the Stars.

White Bear Lake already had one miraculous rally this week, as Rian Marquardt scored with less than minute left in regulation and Nash Roed scored 32 seconds in overtime and the Bears beat Stillwater 2-1 in Wednesday’s semifinal.

Instead, Brekken Zabrok scored into an empty net with 53 seconds left and Gentry Academy improved to 10-1-1 in its past 12 games after sitting 7-8-1 through 16 contests.

“We actually had a practice here at Aldrich, it was more like a tryout after Christmas,” Follmer said. “In that practice we rehearsed celebrating the section championship, ran the clock out, celebrated, did all that. I think after that the vision just became real for them.”

“It was just believing,” Wilke said. “We believed every single day no matter if we win, we lose, we’re down, we’re up, we’re always going, we’re never stopping.”

A game that started with tremendous flow remained scoreless until midway through the first period when Wilke pinched in and potted a rebound of a shot by Korba. He was set up by a drop pass from Jason Cook.

Eighty-seven seconds later, Wilke was again mobbed by his teammates after his power-play shot from just inside the blue line somehow avoided congestion in front and it was 2-0 Stars.

“He has the most ice time for a reason. He gives it his all every shift. He’s our calmest guy in every situation. He’s a rock star,” Korba said.

“Nate’s one of those guys who’s just kept getting better and better all season and all playoff. He took his game to a different level. It’s scary how good he was down the stretch for us,” Follmer said. “… He’s a White Bear kid so we felt when he got two everything was going our way for sure.”

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