Michael Rohrbach is stepping down as head coach of the Aberdeen Christian girls’ basketball team.
Rohrbach spent two years at the helm of the program as the Knights rose to state-wide prominence.
“Obviously an exciting couple of years. His first year made it to the SoDak 16, one game from state and if they didn’t have such low seed points and didn’t draw White River, eventual champion, who knows,” said Christian athletic director David Rohrbach. “This year, they obviously accomplished their goal of getting to the first ever state tournament in school history, which I know they set out to do, which was pretty cool for all of those seniors who have been part of the team so long. So definitely some momentum going in for whoever takes the job.”
The Knights recorded a number of firsts this season including being ranked for the first time in school history, winning their first Lake Region Conference championship, and winning their first state tournament game on the way to a sixth place finish at the State B girls’ tournament in Watertown recently.
Christian started four seniors this past season, but also had a solid nucleus on underclassmen on the squad.
Under Coach Rohrbach’s tenure, the Knights recorded their first two winning seasons in school history.
“Once you’ve gotten there once, there’s kind of that mindset change of just we can do this,” David Rohrbach said. “Obviously, you’re bringing back a whole new group, but some of these kids have gotten playing time, some of them a good amount of playing time. They’ve seen what it takes to win and it will be a good situation.”
David Rohrbach said school administration will be seeking interested applicants sometime this spring. He believes that the Knights will be able to build on their recent success.
“The program is headed in the right direction for sure,” he said “There’s talent still there coming up and the biggest thing is I think there’s excitement for the younger kids that they’ve seen the success that these other kids have had putting in the work. It just helps them to believe that they can have that kind of success.”
