GROTON – They will now head their separate ways into the postseason, but Friday night Groton and Aberdeen Christian shared one final regular-season test to prepare for the playoffs.

Eighth-rated Class A Groton grabbed a 55-45 non-conference boys’ basketball win over sixth-rated Class B Christian in front of a large crowd inside the Groton gym.

“First and foremost, they’re an incredible team,” said Christian coach Matt Rohrbach of the Tigers, “and we knew that obviously coming in.”

The respect went both ways as the Knights hung tough against one of the elite Class A squads in the state.

“I knew they were a good team,” said Groton coach Greg Kjellsen of the Knights. “Tonight, I thought of what I’ve seen, was their best game. They were intense. They didn’t play like a Class B team tonight, and if they play like that, they’ll do some damage.”

The Tigers scored the first seven points of the contest as they got ball inside to senior center Gage Sippel, who scored five of those points.

“Our start was unfortunate,” Rohrbach said, “because I actually thought we played really well in those first four minutes and we just didn’t get a shot to go, and sometimes that’s basketball.”

Groton held a 19-10 advantage early in the second quarter when Christian scored nine unanswered points to tie the game, with points coming from four different players.

The Tigers rebuilt their double-digit lead and appeared on the verge of pulling away, leading 49-31 with 5:18 left in the game, only to have Christian slice the margin nearly in half by the final buzzer.

“I thought a couple times offensively and defensively we kind of lost our focus on what we wanted to get done,” Kjellsen said. “Consequently, they cut it back down.”

The Knights had a challenge containing the Tigers, who worked the ball inside to the 6-foot-7 Sippel, who finished with 13 points, including a pair of dunks, and also spotted open teammates on the perimeter for shots.

“I’ve got a lot of options,” Sippel said. “I don’t need to score every time, but if I get a few easy ones right away, they’re going to come down, and then it’s an easy pass out for another look for a 3.”

Sippel has become more of a focal point of the offense this season, according to Kjellsen.

“This year he’s kind of a focus and we try to get him the ball as much as we can,” Kjellsen said.

The contest featured a battle of two lightning quick point guards in Dylan Hofer of Christian and Karson Zak of Groton. The two hounded each other all over the court the entire evening.

“I played him in the summer a little bit and I guarded him, so I kind of got a bit of a taste of what he was like, but it’s definitely different in school ball when a lot more is on the line,” Hofer said. “He is fast and he obviously can shoot mid-ranges and he can shoot. We were trying to force him to hit middies and to shoot tough shots, which I think we did a good job doing, because he didn’t get to the rim that much.”

Groton had plenty of other options, however, and used them placing three players in double figures led by Ryder Johnson with 14 points. Becker Bosma contributed 11.

“They were hitting some big shots,” Hofer said. “There’s not much you can do when they’re hitting tough shots. We just have to play good defense.”

Hofer and Brooks Jett each finished with 15 points to lead the Knights. Jett also hauled down 10 rebounds.

Despite the setback, Rohrbach was upbeat as his team now prepares for the postseason.

“We’re right where we need to be right now,” Rohrbach said. “You hate to say moral victory on a loss, but reality is we’re right where we need to be for this region push.”

In the end, both squads felt the game made them better.

“If think we needed this,” Sippel said. “We haven’t played the best teams lately, but this team, they came to play. They usually do.”

Both squads head into posteason action next week and each will be the top seed in their region.

“I think if we treat every team like we did (tonight), and play that way and have the mentality of we need to come out and play our best and win every possession, I think we can beat any team,” Hofer said, “But we just gotta remember a team can get hot and hit some good shots. We just gotta keep our head though.”

Christian capped its regular season at 17-3 and now it’s win or go home in the playoffs.

“We’ve been talking win or go home in practice the last three weeks, and I wanna give my JV a shout out for getting us ready for some of these high-pressure moments that are coming,” Rohrbach said. “They’ve upped it in practice, understanding that’s their role now to get the varsity ready to roll.”

Groton finished its regular season at 16-4, but those contests don’t mean anything now, according to Kjellsen.

“I told them the 20 practice games are over,” Kjellsen said. “The only ones that matter are now.”

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (17-3): Dylan Hofer 7 1-2 15, Grady Jett 1 0-0 2, Luke Kaiser 3 0-0 7, Brooks Jett 7 0-2 15, Loyall Smith-Wade 1 0-0 3, Charles Eichler 1 0-2 3. Totals 20 1-6 45.

GROTON (16-4): Keegan Tracy 3 0-0 6, Karson Zak 2 0-0 4, Ryder Johnson 6 1-1 15, Becker Bosma 4 3-4 11, Easton Weber 2 0-0 6, Gage Sippel 6 1-1 13. Totals 23 5-6 55.

Aberdeen Christian 8 21 30 45

Groton 17 28 41 55

3-point field goals – Kaiser, B. Jett, Smith-Wade, Eichler; Johnson 2. Total fouls – Aberdeen Christian 8; Groton 9. Rebounds – Aberdeen Christian 21 (B. Jett 10); Groton 23 (Sippel 7, Bosma 6). Turnovers – Aberdeen Christian 15; Groton 8. Assists – Groton 13 (Bosma 5). Steals – Groton 8 (Bosma 3).