RAPID CITY — Sioux Falls O’Gorman’s game plan each and every time out is to apply pressure, pressure and more pressure. The Knights, like they did in Thursday’s quarterfinal win over Sioux Falls Jefferson, put it to Rapid City Stevens early and never looked back en route to the 58-31 win in the State AA girls basketball tournament semifinals at The Summit Arena.

The Knights forced nine turnovers in the first quarter and 21 in the game, putting them to good use, jumping out to an 11-0 lead and 19 at halftime. The Raiders shot just 22 percent from the field in the game and were never able to get into an offensive rhythm.

The Knights will play for their second straight state title Saturday night against Brandon Valley, which stopped Sioux Falls Washington in the other semifinal game. Tip-off Saturday night is set for 7:45 p.m.

“Defense has certainly been a staple for our program’s success for a long time,” said O’Gorman head coach Kent Kolsrud. “The ability for these kids to get full-court pressure, they're very athletic and they play hard. They do a good job of reading and anticipating the ball and just make things happen, make big plays. It’s just been a great way to start the last two games, to get some easy baskets, to get the lid off the basket, so to speak, and just kind of get some early momentum.

“And I thought in the half court, our kids played really, really hard. They contested their shooters. A goal of ours was to try to keep them off the free-throw line, which I thought we did pretty well. And a huge key of the game was going to be rebounding. I thought we did a great job of rebounding on both ends of the court.”

The Knights were everything as advertised early in the game, forcing seven Raiders turnovers in the first five minutes, running out to a dominating lead. Stevens finally got on the scoreboard at the 2:47 mark on a Hayden Thornton basket.

O’Gorman, however, didn’t blink and kept the pressure on offensively and defensively. Julia Eggert had an outstanding first quarter with 11 points and five rebounds as the Knights took a 19-6 advantage after one.

In the first, the Knights were 7-of-15 from the field and 5-of-7 from the line, forcing nine Stevens turnovers as the Raiders were just 2-of-10 shooting from the field.

After doing most of their damage in the paint, the Knights hit their first two 3-pointers - by Sydney Terveen and Ruby Moore – to go up 30-12 with 3:55 remaining in the quarter. A jumper from the free-throw line by Moore at the buzzer gave the Knights a 34-15 halftime advantage.

“O’Gorman just did an absolutely great job of getting their hands up and tipping the pass and anticipating passes,” Stevens head coach Adam Dannenbring said. “They’re a really, really good team. We had a hard time breaking their press during the regular season and that happened again today.”

Eggert had 15 points and Moore tallied 11 for the Knights at halftime while Taaliyah Porter had seven points for the Raiders.

The Raiders opened the third by forcing a couple of turnovers and got the first basket, but the Knights responded with eight straight and a 25-point lead with three minutes until the fourth. O’Gorman outscored Stevens 13-4 in the third for a 47-19 lead.

Porter had four points early in the fourth as the Raiders outscored the Knights 6-2, but O’Gorman got two free throws from Eggert and a 3-pointer by Terveen. Both teams cleared the benches a couple of times in the final minutes. The Raiders outscored the Knights 12-11 in the fourth but O’Gorman moved on to the championship game with the 27-point win.

Eggert led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting (5-of-7 free throws), while grabbing seven rebounds.

“Julia just always comes out with high energy, high enthusiasm and makes things happen,” said Kolsrud. “She's so disruptive in her full-court pressure. And I thought just did a wonderful job of finishing today. She got some steals and finishes. She got some baskets out of transition that were really difficult shots. Just a big senior leader making big plays for us, she really got us going early in that game.”

Terveen finished with 14 points and Moore added 13. The Knights shot 43 percent from the field (19-of-44), hit 4-of-8 3-pointers and 16-of-23 free throws. O’Gorman dominated the boards, outrebounding Stevens 43-21.

Porter paced the Raiders with 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting (5-of-6 free throws) and grabbed eight rebounds. Haley Falcon added six points and Jones scored five. Stevens was 11-of-49 from the field and hit just 3-of-19 3-pointers.

“We have a lot of respect for Rapid City Stevens and we just wanted to try to contest their shooters. We wanted to make Porter have to work for points and not allow a team of that ability to get second and third opportunities, because they're going to hurt you if they do that,” Kolsrud said. “So I’m really proud of our kids. I thought they just played really hard. They played with energy and enthusiasm and the players stepped up and made big plays, which you need in big games.”

The Knights, 23-0, will now look for their 50th straight win against Brandon Valley.

“We know we're going to play a great team. We're excited to be in the state championship,” said Kolsrud. “We know it's going to be a heck of a battle, and I know our kids are going to come out excited and ready to play, and they're going to battle and give everything they got and compete. “We just look forward to the opportunity to play in the state championship game.”

Stevens, 17-6, will battle for third place and face Washington. Dannenbring said they have plenty to play for Saturday.

“One of the best things in South Dakota is you get to play three games, for sure,” Dannenbring said.