ABERDEEN — One day after surrendering a first-round lead, Aberdeen Christian outlasted Viborg-Hurley in the consolation semifinals at Wachs Arena. 

The Knights, who lost to Castlewood on Thursday by three after building a seven-point lead, pulled away from Viborg-Hurley by 15 points on Friday. Aberdeen Christian, however, hung on this time for the 52-49 victory.

“We really thought we should have won that one, and it was hard because we were up by seven,” Aberdeen Christian junior Luke Kaiser said. “Our mindset was we are blessed to be at  state basketball. A lot of teams don’t get to come to state basketball. So we wanted to leave it all out on the court and represent Aberdeen Christian well.”

Kaiser totaled 26 points, 11 rebounds and four 3-pointers to help Aberdeen Christian build a 43-28 advantage with three minutes left in the third quarter. But Viborg-Hurley cut the deficit to 43-42 after a Braydyn Morrison field goal with 4:28 left to play. 

“They have some good shooters, some good players,” Kaiser said. “They have a good coach. They were running some good plays on us and we dug deep and finished the game out.”

Viborg-Hurley’s 14-0 run was ignited by a Brady Schroedermeier dunk. 

“I didn’t expect us to stop scoring for five minutes,” Aberdeen Christian coach Matt Rohrbach said. “But credit to them. They hit shots. They got some excitement and Schroedermeier had that dunk, and it kind of lifted their spirits a little bit.”

Aberdeen Christian, however, never relinquished the lead and went ahead 49-42 with 2:44 left. Jake Austin, who totaled 20 points, hit his fourth 3-pointer to slice the deficit to 51-49 with 30 ticks left. 

After Kaiser split a pair of free throws with 5.9 seconds left, Viborg-Hurley threw a full-length court pass on the final possession. Morrison received the pass in the corner, but his potential game-tying 3-pointer was no good at the buzzer. 

“I had a pretty good view of it under the rim,” Kaiser said. “I thought at first it was going to be good. But then I could tell it was a little bit far and I am really proud of how we guarded them at the end of that possession.”

Kaiser sparked Aberdeen Christian’s 33-25 halftime lead, totaling 18 points, nine rebounds and three of the Knights’ six 3-pointers in the first half. 

“All credit to my teammates,” Kaiser said. “They were getting to the short corner and high post and they were just getting me wide-open looks. My teammates were getting me the shots that I’m confident I can hit and they give me the confidence to hit those shots.” 

“He was incredible, 26 points, making that free throw at the end in a high-stakes ball game,” Rohrbach said. “He got us rolling and he really kind of carried us to the finish.”

Charles Eichler added eight points for the Knights and Jett Johnson had six points. Loyall Smith-Wade scored four points on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter, helping Aberdeen Christian extend its lead to 49-42.  

“He is a freshman and didn’t play a ton in that first half and to go out there and have some of the buckets that he did, a couple of offensive rebounds,” Rohrbach said. “Just using his athleticism. He’s going to be a heckuva player and it's a luxury to have him to go in that fourth quarter.” 

Schroedermeier posted 16 points and 10 rebounds. Morrison added 10 points for Aberdeen Christian, which plays De Smet or Sully Buttes in the seventh-place game on Saturday.

Aberdeen Christian will play De Smet or Sully Buttes for the consolation championship on Saturday. 

“It would be really nice to get fifth place because I definitely think we are good enough of a team to be in the night bracket and to get fifth, that would mean a lot to Aberdeen Christian and just all of us on the team,” Kaiser said.