By Rich Winter

605 Sports

It was an historical moment for the Aberdeen Christian girls basketball program Thursday as their 46-35 win over Centerville gave the girls their first-ever state tournament appearance. 

Their journey to the state B tourney may have started on the same floor, one year ago, when Aberdeen Christian faced eventual state champion White River. The Knights gave White River a scare, eventually bowing out with a 47-36 loss. 

“That experience was huge for us,” Aberdeen Christian coach Michael Rohrbach said. “To play with White River gave us so much confidence and all offseason you could feel the girls wanted to be in that same position.” 

Another confidence booster came this fall when the girls volleyball team qualified for the Class B state tournament. 

“There is no better teacher than experience,” Rohrbach said. “There were a lot of expectations coming into this year and I think it  helped that a lot of the girls had played in big moments  during the volleyball season.” 

Playing on the same venue, Corn Palace, as it did a year ago, Aberdeen Christian showed no jitters and jumped out to a 27-13 halftime lead over Centerville. 

“They started by doubling Mallory Miller and Grace Kaiser got us going, scoring all 13 (of her) points in the first half,” Rohrbach said. 

The second-year coach described the moment of clinching the state tournament bid as ‘special.’ 

“To come through all the expectations and for the girls to handle the pressure the way they did was a pretty special moment,” he said. 

The entire year might be described as special as the Knights won their first 10 games before suffering a loss to Herreid/Selby Area on Jan. 25. Like a lot of teams Aberdeen Christian had to go through its stretch of adversity. 

“Our starting point guard, Joy Rohrbach, went out with a hand injury and had to miss two games,” he said. 

One of those losses came at the hands of Arlington (50-40). The only other blemish came late in the season to top-ranked Aberdeen Roncalli (58-37). 

“We may not have expected a couple of those losses but I think they helped us in the long run,” he said. 

Aberdeen Christian is 20-3 and the No. 7 seed at next week’s Class B state tournament. The Knights face De Smet (22-1) in quarterfinal action Thursday. 

“They are a good team with a great post and good guards,” he said. “Their defense is similar to Roncalli’s so we’ll have to come ready to play.” 

The Knights start four seniors and one junior

• Joy Rohrbach - 6.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 5.2 apg, 1.9 spg

• Hanna Miller - 6.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.7 spg

• Kaylee Block - 3.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg

• Grace Kaiser - 7.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg

• Mallory Miller - 19.5 ppg, 13.2 rpg and 3.5 blocks per game. 

Hanna and Mallory Miller transferred to Aberdeen Christian in the middle of the 2021 season. Hanna, the senior, is 6-foot-1. Mallory, the junior, is 6-foot-4 and one of the more athletic bigs you will see in South Dakota. 

Joy Rohrbach directing traffic during Thursday's So Dak 16 game with Centerville

Family affair at Aberdeen Christian: Michael’s brother, David Rohrbach, is the athletic director and coach of the boys basketball team. Michael is in his second year and senior starter Joy is the sister of Michael and David. 

“Last year was my first year of coaching and I thought it was tough to balance everything and treat her like everyone else,” Michael Rohrbach said. “This year has been a really healthy balance and she gives it her all in games and practices and holds the team together.”