WATERTOWN – Winning your first state tournament game in more than a decade is sweet. Gaining a measure of revenge in the process is even sweeter.

Sisseton, which was denied a trip to the Class A Girls’ State Basketball Tournament a year ago by Sioux Falls Christian, upended the Chargers 58-47 during the opening round of this year’s tourney Thursday night at the Watertown Arena.

“We were hungry. We wanted to beat these guys,” said Sisseton’s Emmalee Nielsen. “Earlier this season they beat us and they beat us last year to get to state, so this was our turn.”

Nielsen played a major role in the victory, scoring seven fourth-quarter points including a key 3-pointer with 5:09 remaining to help turn back a SFC rally.

“I don’t really think about it,” Nielsen said of taking a big shot in a pressure-packed moment. “I’m here to play hard and I always give it my all. I was open so I just knocked it down.”

Nielsen’s performance did not come as a surprise to Sisseton coach Sara Lincoln.

“She’s always our little secret weapon, I think,” Lincoln said. “Sometimes I think she forgets how good she is, so I’m glad she remembered today.”

The Chargers raced out to a 9-2 lead to start the game before Sisseton rattled off 13 unanswered points.

The Redmen appeared to be in control of the game in the third quarter opening up a 43-31 advantage with 1:16 left. Chloe Langager scored six points in the stanza to help her team build a double-digit lead.

However, that lead was cut in half in the final minute of the period on a Chargers three-point shot and a three-point play leaving Sisseton with a 43-37 lead going into the last quarter.

The margin was still six when Nielsen hit her crucial 3-pointer and soon the Redmen had regained a double-digit lead and were on the way to their first state tourney victory since 2012.

“Sometimes we get down and it’s our defense that always tries to loft us back up,” Lincoln said. “It fuels our offense every single time. They work so hard on defense and then it just fuels our offense real quick.”

Another key in the contest was Sisseton’s ability to value the basketball, something that didn’t happen in prior losses to the Chargers.

“Tonight we were more composed. We knew that we had to break the press and we knew how to break the press,” Langager said. “We knew that we had to make good passes and come to the ball and play as a team, and we did that tonight.”

The state tournament win was a bit extra special for Langager who missed her entire sophomore campaign last season with a knee injury.

“It feels pretty great to do what people didn’t think we could do,” she said, “and it feels good to be on the court.”

Sisseton featured a balanced attack led by Nielsen with 17 points, Krista Langager with 12 and Tara Nelson with 10. Chloe Langager added nine and Hannah Leverson contributed seven.

Ellie Lems scored 20 points to lead Sioux Falls Christian, which plays Rapid City Christian in consolation action this afternoon.

After knocking off the third-seeded Chargers, Sisseton (21-2) now squares off against second-seeded Wagner in the semifinals around 7:45 tonight.

“It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be probably one of the toughest matchups that we’ve had this year,” Lincoln said. “We haven’t had two tough games back-to-back, so we’re going to just have to put it all out there, every second that we’re on that floor.”

SISSETON (21-2): Hannah Leverson 3 0-0 7, Ruby Rice 1 1-1 3, Emmalee Nielsen 6 4-5 17, Chloe Langager 2 5-7 9, Krista Langager 6 0-0 12, Tara Nelson 3 1-2 10. Totals 21-42 11-15 58.

SIOUX FALLS CHRISTIAN (21-3): Moriah Harrison 3 1-5 7, Peyton Poppema 2 0-2 4, Ellie Lems 8 3-9 20, Maya Nelson 4 0-0 10, Brenna Beyke 1 0-0 3, Katie Vander Leest 1 0-0 3. Totals 19-56 4-16 47.

Sisseton 9 25 43 58

Sioux Falls Christian 9 20 37 47 3-point field goals – Leverson, Nielsen, Nelson 3; Lems, Nelson 2, Beyke, Vander Leest. Total fouls – Sisseton 15; Sioux Falls Christian 16. Rebounds – Sisseton 30 (Nielsen 6, C. Langager 6); Sioux Falls Christian 29 (Poppema 10). Turnovers – Sisseton 10; Sioux Falls Christian 11. Steals – Sisseton 6 (Leverson 2, Nielsen 2); Sioux Falls Christian 8 (Harrison 3).