Aberdeen Christian has accomplished an impressive double-double.

The Knights are the only team in Class B this season to have qualified for the state tournament in both volleyball and girls’ basketball, and it’s the first time in school history for either.

“It was awesome to see the girls break through and make it in volleyball. And obviously the expectations in basketball were sky high,” said Christian coach Michael Rohrbach. “To play with expectations is not always easy. You don’t just show up and make it. For the girls to push through adversity, to push through it all and stay together and to make it, is pretty special. To be able to go in back-to-back sports is just a testament to how they’ve come together as a group.”

Rohrbach said the Knights have been on a mission to get to the state basketball tourney ever since they lost to the eventual state champion White River in last year’s SoDak 16.

Christian (20-3) enters the tourney as the seventh seed and will face second-seeded De Smet (22-1) at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Watertown Civic Arena.

“We’ll have our work cut out for us,” Rohrbach said “You just want to be at state and give yourself a chance, and obviously to have a night game first round is pretty exciting as well.”

The Knights have been led all season by 6-foot-4 center Mallory Miller who averages 19.5 points, 13.2 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game.

The key will be for someone else to step up to help, which Joy Rohrbach, Hanna Miller and Grace Kaiser have during the post season.

Rohrbach hit a big three and six clutch free throws in a region win over Warner, Miller nailed a pair of big three-pointers in that same game, while Kaiser scored 13 first-half points in a SoDak 16 victory over Centerville.

“Joy, Grace, and Hanna have all had really good games here when we needed them to. That’s what you need on a team,” Coach Rohrbach said. “Everyone knows that we’re trying to get it to Mallory and she’s a beast down low, but if you become too one dimensional it can be easy to shut down. With the double and triple teams that she sees, you have to have production come from other places and it’s great to see other players step up and embrace the moment.”

The Knights will face a stiff test against De Smet, which won the 2019 State B championship. The Bulldogs, who were rated second in the final poll, and are led by 6-foot center Kennadi Buchholz (who averages 20.3 points per game and 13.2 rebounds), and a trio of solid guards.

“They can score in bunches,” Coach Rohrbach said. “We’ll have to make sure our defense is good and that we don’t give them any second-chance shots.”

Coach Rohrbach’s keys to Thursday’s game are moving the ball on offense and valuing the ball on defense.

“When we move the ball we’re good. We have to move it. We have to get everyone involved and also when we move it, it helps Mallory to get into the spots where she needs the ball,” he said. “Number two, we can’t beat ourselves. Against Centerville we had 16 turnovers and gave them 15 offensive rebounds. If we want to advance at state we have to tighten those things up and make sure we don’t beat ourselves.”

Coach Rohrbach said that Roncalli, which has been rated number one all season, would have to be the pre-tournament favorite, but noted that the entire field is loaded.

Other first round matchups have Roncalli against Viborg-Hurley at Noon, Corsica-Stickney vs. White River at 1:45 p.m., and Wall against Faith at 7:45 p.m.

“All five teams that were in the rankings made state, including the two the teams that received votes,” Coach Rohrbach said.