While the journey may seem familiar, the experience is a bit different this time around.
Aberdeen Christian (20-3) qualified for its third straight State B boys’ basketball tournament a week ago, but there was a lot less celebrating and excitement than its first two trips.
“That first year we ever made it was so exciting, because it was the first time ever, you finally crossed that bridge,” said Christian coach David Rohrbach, whose team did not get to play that year because of Covid. “Last year was super exciting as well, just knowing you were going to have a chance to finally compete at state for the first time.”
After finishing runner-up a year ago and bringing back the nucleus of that squad, qualifying for this year’s tourney felt a bit different.
“This year that level of excitement wasn’t there,” Rohrbach said. “Not in an arrogant sense at all, it was just the expectation for the season.”
The Knights feature a balanced attack with Malek Wieker, Ethan Russell and Jackson Isakson all averaging double figures. Other starters Andrew Brennan and Kaden Clark have also had big games, including Christian’s most recent victory over Lyman in a SoDak 16 contest.
The Knights face Potter County in Thursday’s opening round at 1:45 p.m. It is a rematch of a regular season contest in which Christian handed the Battlers their only loss of the season.
“Obviously, Potter County is playing really well,” Rohrbach said. “The second half of the year, they’re not just winning, but winning at a really accelerated rate, just putting teams away.”
Rohrbach said the Knights have to try to contain Potter County scoring leaders Grant Luikens and Cooper Logan and then also value the basketball.
“They play a lot of relentless pressure,” Rohrbach said. “Take care of the ball and then hope we’re hitting shots.”
Christian has played in several classics this season, one where they faced an elite squad from Tennessee. The Knights also have experience in playing in the biggest game of the year for Class B squads.
“I don’t fear the stage being too big for them, just because they played in the biggest game they can play in,” Rohrbach said of last year’s state championship game. “Our biggest thing is we just want to make sure we’re as prepared and as ready to go as possible.”