Aberdeen Christian won a game at its third different local venue and as a result will get to play at a fourth next week.

The Knights, who play their home games at the Aberdeen Civic Arena, won a game at Roncalli Gym earlier this season and added Golden Eagles Arena to the list Tuesday night with a 51-34 win over Ipswich in a SoDak 16 boys’ basketball contest.

As a result, Christian is headed back to the State B tournament at Wachs Arena.

“It’s definitely the best feeling, yet, to get to state the last year,” said Christian senior Jackson Isakson, “but we’re not finished, yet.”

The Knights never trailed against Ipswich, but much like their first win over the Tigers about a month ago, were never able to breathe easy until the end.

It was Christian’s defense that prevented Ipswich from mounting a serious comeback.

“I thought the game plan that we put in was executed really well by these guys,” said Knights coach Matt Rohrbach of his players. “That’s what you get with a team that’s locked in and wants to go back to the state tournament.”

The defense was focused on Ipswich leader Trevor Heinz, who was face-guarded for much of the contest.

“Andrew Brennan was just working his butt off out there,” Rohrbach said of his senior guard. “He was handling the basketball and then going and guarding Trevor, so honestly, that starts with Andrew Brennan. He was incredible guarding him, because Trevor is a good player.”

The Knights played with a double-digit lead from the middle of the second quarter on. While Christian was not able to pull away, Ipswich wasn’t able to gain any ground, either.

“If we can take something positive out of it, you hold a pretty good basketball team to 51 points,” said Ipswich coach Stew Bohle, “but you look on the other end of it and they hold a pretty good basketball team to 34.”

The Knights got off to a bit of a slow start before Joey Johnson entered the game. The junior produced seven first-half points and gave the squad a boost of energy.

“That’s kind of what I do,” Johnson said. “I like to just go in and work hard, rebound, and do whatever I can to contribute to the team.”

Rohrbach said the Johnson is the perfect complement to starting center Kaden Clark.

“I love having him off the bench because his and Clark’s game couldn’t be any more different, so it’s tough to game plan for two completely different posts,” Rohrbach said. “Joey came in and credit to him, he was all over the place, defensively and getting rebounds. He was a huge X-factor tonight for us.”

Johnson even nailed a rare 3-pointer to finish the evening with nine points.

“I’ve never been afraid to take a 3-pointer and I’m always excited to get the opportunity,” Johnson said. “They kind of left me open.”

Tyler Hettich led a balanced attack for Ipswich with eight points. Chet Peterson contributed four points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals. The Tigers finished the year at 15-7.

“As much as it hurts to lose, it hurts more because we have six seniors,” Bohle said. “Those guys are pretty special to our program and they’re special to me.”

Isakson led Christian with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Malek Wieker added 11 points.

The Knights, who were the top-rated team in the final Class B poll, now head to the state tournament with a 21-2 record.

“It feels good to be ranked number one,” Isakson said. “We’re going to go in and we’re going to believe that we deserve that ranking.”

Rohrbach feels that the Knights are on the upswing heading into the state tourney, where being the second-seed they will play in the first night game of the opening round.

“I think that our best basketball is ahead of us now that we know that we have three more games,” Rohrbach said.

IPSWICH (15-7): Tyler Hettich 3 2-4 8, Ian Beyers 2 0-0 5, Trevor Heinz 2 1-3 5, Chet Peterson 2 0-0 4, Carter Geditz 2 1-2 6, Jace Konsor 1 00 2, Tucker Miller 0 2-2 2, Blake Rich 1 0-0 2. Totals 13-44 4-7 34.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (21-2): Andrew Brennan 3 0-0 6, Jackson Isakson 5 1-2 14, Ethan Russell 3 0-0 6, Malek Wieker 4 2-2 11, Kaden Clark 1 0-2 2, Konnar Furman 1 0-0 3, Joey Johnson 4 0-0 9. Totals 21-47 3-6 51.

Ipswich 7 20 25 34

Aberdeen Christian 15 29 41 51

3-point field goals – Hettich 2, Beyers, Geditz; Isakson 3, Wieker, Furman, Johnson. Total fouls – Ipswich 8; Aberdeen Christian 10. Rebounds – Ipswich 28 (Peterson 10); Aberdeen Christian 34 (Isakson 12). Turnovers – Ipswich 8; Aberdeen Christian 7. Assists – Ipswich 7 (Peterson 3); Aberdeen Christian 10 (Brennan 4). Blocked shots – Ipswich 2; Aberdeen Christian 2 (Johnson 2). Steals – Ipswich 4 (Peterson 2); Aberdeen Christian 3 (Wieker 2).