MITCHELL - Aberdeen Christian battled second-seeded White River to the end before falling short in its first girls' basketball SoDak 16 appearance 49-37 at the Corn Palace Thursday night.
The Knights jumped out to a 6-2 lead and were tied with White River at 13-13 after the opening quarter.
The Tigers started gaining a bit of control in the second period and opened a 25-19 halftime lead thanks in part to 14 points from standout Caelyn Valandra-Prue.
While Christian didn't go quietly, they could never get over the hump in the second half.
"We gave it a good run tonight. I was really proud of our girls' effort and the way they fought," said Christian coach Michael Rohrbach. "White River is a tough team and we stayed with them til the end. We had a few chances to cut into the lead late, but just couldn't convert."
The Knights found points hard to come by against a stout White River defense.
"Give them credit, they're a really good team and they play really good defense,"
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