WATERTOWN — Mahpiya Luta got its revenge in a highly-anticipated rematch. 

One season after losing to Sioux Falls Christian in the Class A state girls basketball championship on a buzzer-beater, Mahpiya Luta got its redemption against the Chargers on Friday. 

“Last year’s loss was devastating,” said Mahpiya Luta coach Matt Rama after his team’s 58-45 win over the Chargers. “Especially for those kids that had to experience it. It was devastating for me, too, to be that close and then to not get it.”

On Saturday, Mahpiya Luta (23-0) used last season’s heartbreaker to fuel this season’s semifinal victory. Mahipya Luta led from start to finish, stretched its lead to 20 points in the fourth quarter and will play Lennox at 6:45 p.m., Saturday for the Class A state championship. 

“I don’t know what will happen tomorrow night,” Rama added. “But just to be there is a big testament to what they’ve put in from the day that we lost last year.” 

Mahpiya Luta senior Ashlan Carlow-Blount, who totaled 14 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals, said her team used last year’s loss as motivation in the rematch. 

“I really wanted to play Sioux Falls Christian again in the state tournament,” Carlow-Blount said. “Because I know we don’t play them in the regular season. So to be able to play them again after losing to them the way we did last year, it just feels super great and amazing. That’s been our motivator all season losing to them in the state championship. So now that we’ve got that done now we get to focus on Lennox.” 

Mahpiya Luta was focused on Friday against the Chargers (20-5). Mahpiya Luta relied on its defense to put away Sioux Falls Christian, which we held to 16 points below its season average. 

“I think our defense was super good,” Carlow-Blount said. “I think our offense started off really slow. When you have Lezlei (Setzer) as a big in the middle, it’s really hard to attack and we have a lot of attackers. We have a lot of shooters, too. We couldn’t get our offense going in the beginning and our defense really held us together. I think without our defense it would have been a much tougher game.”

Setzer, who scored last season’s buzzer-beater in the state championship, tallied eight points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Setzer, a 6-foot-2 junior forward, still caused fits with her athleticism and leaping ability in the paint. 

“She was really tough,” said Mahpiya Luta junior Jayden Standing Soldier, who had eight points and six rebounds. “She was really aggressive and she was very physical which I am not used to because the teams we’ve played in the normal season. It was really good going against her and she’s really good.”

In the first quarter, Carlow-Blount’s field goal pushed Mahpiya Luta’s lead to 8-2 at the 3:35 mark. Sioux Falls Christian scored its first goal on a Nealie Stanford field goal with 2:36 left in the first quarter. 

Mahpiya Luta led 11-6 after the first quarter, but Sioux Falls Christian evened the score at 15-15 on a Aubrie VanBeek 3-pointer at the 4:23 mark in the second quarter. 

Mahpiya Luta closed the half on an 8-3 run, including the final six points of the quarter. The surge continued in the third quarter, with Mahpiya Luta outscoring Sioux Falls Christian 16-7. 

Mahpiya Luta later stretched its lead to 20 points en route to the semifinal win. 

Mahpiya Luta won the rebounding battle (52-46), forced Sioux Falls Christian into 25 turnovers and totaled 22 steals. 

Sophomore forward Peyton Knife added 10 points and three rebounds for Mahpiya Luta. 

Knife also helped defend Setzer on the night, and received praise from Rama. 

“We have two girls inside, Jayden and Peyton, and they did a really good job,” Rama said. “Our freshmen (Josephine Haas) came in and really helped. I thought they really executed the plan.”

“At the beginning of the day they were talking about how Lezlei was their main scorer,” Standing Soldier said. “So it was a lot of pressure on me and my teammate Peyton. So we applied extra pressure on the ball and other than that I think our defense is really great on Lezlei and the rest of the girls.” 

Sioux Falls Christian’s Emory Lems had 15 points, six rebounds, four steals and four assists. VanBeek had 10 points and six rebounds. Ruth Dvoracek totaled eight points and six rebounds for Sioux Falls Christian, which plays Hamlin at 5 p.m., CT Saturday in the third-place game. 

Dorthie Mesteth had nine points and four assists, while Mya Mills had eight points and five steals. Tahca Zephier recorded five points. 

Up next, Mahpiya Luta will face Lennox for the second time this season. Mahpiya Luta defeated Lennox, 66-56, at the Hanson Classic in January and they will now meet for the state championship. 

“We've matched up with them before,” Carlow-Blount said. “So we are both familiar with each other’s playing styles. But I know that they’ve gotten better and we’ve gotten better as a team, too.”