BROOKINGS – All teams want to win their final game of the season, but the Sisseton Redmen had a little more incentive for their contest Saturday night.

Sisseton avenged its only loss of the regular season with a 68-52 win over Sioux Falls Christian in the third place game of the Class A Girls’ State Basketball Tournament at the Dacotah Bank Center.

“I think we were kind of determined on an end goal,” said Sisseton assistant coach Ethan Kranhold. “We really took care of the ball well tonight.”

He pointed out that the situation was nearly identical to what transpired a year ago between the two squads.

“It’s kind of just how last year’s season played out. We played in the regular season and we struggled with the press and we played them at state, we took care of it and the same thing happened this year,” Kranhold said. “We played them the first time and could not get the press figured out, and this time the state tournament we did, and it fueled the fire that we were burning all game long.”

By valuing the basketball, it allowed the Redmen extra possessions, which meant they had more chances to get the ball inside where Krista Langager worked for a game-high 27 points.

“That’s kind of one thing we were focusing on, was just taking care of the ball, because the more times you do that, the more times we can run our offense,” Kranhold said, “and we knew that no one in the state can guard us in the half court, so just getting into the half court, we knew they were going to have trouble guarding us.”

The contest was close for three quarters before Sisseton dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring the Chargers 18-6. Five different players scored for the Redmen, led by Langager with seven points.

“Our girls really pushed through,” Kranhold said. “They’re mentally tough. We call that our Redmen mentality. Once they get set on a goal, they need to accomplish it.”

Hannah Leverson added 19 points to the Sisseton total.

Following Friday night’s loss to Vermillion, Leverson reflected on her time with the Redmen after transferring to Sisseton from Rosholt.

“We have such a good group of girls. They’ve made it so much fun,” Leverson said. “They made transferring to Sisseton the best decision of my life and I can’t ever forget it.”

The coaches met with the players Friday night and talked about the opportunity that was ahead during the third place contest.

“We kind of decided, there’s only four teams in the state, Class A, get to end their season on a win,” Kranhold said, “so being able to end your high school career on a win is a positive that not many athletes have the opportunity to look onto as they go on to their futures.”

In fact, the Redmen also had the opportunity of playing in the night session of back-to-back state tournaments that not many athletes get to experience.

Senior Chloe Langager talked about the state tournament atmosphere following Friday night’s contest.

“It’s amazing. It’s something that I wish every high school athlete could experience, because it’s truly a different atmosphere than anything you could ever experience in regular season,” Langager said. “It is crazy. The athletes that you’re surrounded by, it’s just amazing.”

Both Krista Langager and Chloe Langager were named to the all-tournament team.

Sisseton capped off its season with a 23-2 record and finished with its second third-place finish in as many seasons.

“We’re just super proud of our girls, super proud of our seniors for leading us and leading this team,” Kranhold said, “being such good role models, for not only the community, but also role models for the younger girls on our team.”

SIOUX FALLS CHRISTIAN (21-4): Aubrie VanBeek 2 5-7 9, Jaxsyn Swift 5 0-1 14, Avery Reitz 5 2-2 13, Maya Nelson 3 0-2 9, Emory Lems 1 0-0 2, Sydney Schaap 2 0-2 5, Neali Stanford 0 0-2 0. Totals 18-57 7-16 52.

SISSETON (23-2): Hannah Leverson 6 4-4 19, Ruby Rice 1 0-0 3, Emmalee Nielsen 2 0-0 4, Chloe Langager 2 1-2 5, Krista Langager 13 1-3 27, Alexia Quinn 1 0-0 2, Elli Hortness 1 0-0 2, Tara Nelson 2 0-0 6. Totals 28-52 6-9 68.

Sioux Falls Christian 18 32 46 52

Sisseton 21 33 50 68

3-point field goals – Swift (4), Reitz, M. Nelson (3), Schaap; Leverson (3), Rice, T. Nelson (2). Total fouls – Sioux Falls Christian 13; Sisseton 13. Rebounds – Sioux Falls Christian 29 (Reitz 6, Schaap 6); Sisseton 40 (K. Langager 11, C. Langager 9, Nielsen 8). Turnovers – Sioux Falls Christian 9; Sisseton 13. Assists – Sioux Falls Christian 13 (Swift 5); Sisseton 15 (Leverson 4, Nielsen 4). Blocked Shots – Sioux Falls Christian 1; Sisseton 8 (Nielsen 2, C. Langager 2, K. Langager 2). Steals – Sioux Falls Christian 6 (Nelson 2); Sisseton 3.