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Aberdeen Christian experienced something late in its game on Saturday, March 21 that it hadn’t before all season.
A cold spell.
Christian, the No. 4 seed, made just one shot from the floor and scored only seven points in the fourth quarter, falling to third-seeded De Smet 56-45 in the Class B Boys State Basketball Tournament consolation championship game at the Barnett Center.
Aberdeen Christian’s Brooks Jett takes a jumper over De Smet’s Slayton Wilkinson during the Consolation Championship at the Class B Boys State tournament Saturday, March 21 inside the Barnett Center. De Smet won the game 56-45. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
“It kind of started towards the end of the third quarter and carried into the fourth, but sometimes that’s just basketball,” said Christian head coach Matt Rohrbach. “I don’t think we only hit one shot from the field in a quarter all season. We did everything we needed to do, but we just didn’t make shots.”
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Christian took an early 7-4 lead on a Brooks Jett three-pointer. The play started with 5-foot-8 point guard Dylan Hofer tapping out a missed shot underneath to Luke Kaiser, who passed it to Jett.
“I don’t think (De Smet) saw me slide under the rim like I usually do, so when the ball came off I just got off the floor, and if I know I can’t grab the rebound, I’m gonna tip it out to our guys. We got a lot of good looks (Saturday) and hit some early, just not late when we needed to.” he said.
Brooks Jett added another three-pointer to give the Knights a 12-8 first-quarter advantage. He was aggressive on the offensive end and led the Knights with 19 points on seven of 16 shooting. He added a game-high 15 rebounds for a double-double.
“I knew I had a mismatch on No. 45 (Carter Wilkinson) because I’m quicker and I can jump higher, so I knew I had to go at him,” Jett said. “I think I was a little more aggressive looking for my shot, but it’s really tough having (Grant) Wilkinson in the lane. It is hard.”
Grant Wilkinson, De Smet’s big man, stands 6-foot-9 and is about 300 pounds.
The Knights were down just 39-38 after three quarters before the offense stalled. Slayten Wilkinson’s three-pointer made it 45-41 De Smet with 5:16 to play. Carter Wilkinson sank a three to push the lead to 50-43 with 1:04 to play.
Down the stretch, the Bulldogs made their free throws to secure the victory.
Christian contains De Smet big man Wilkinson in the paint
Grant Wilkinson, who scored 58 points in his first two games of the tournament, was held to 11 by the Knights. He went four of 13 from the field.
“They made us earn it, they definitely did,” Grant Wilkinson said. “I’m used to jumping straight up getting rebounds, but (Brooks Jett) can jump higher than me, I mean he can jump, so it was a little different than I’m used to.”
Aberdeen Christian’s Brooks Jett (4) and brother Grady Jett (2) go up to defend De Smet’s Grant Wilkinson during their Consolation Championship at the Class B Boys State Tournament Saturday, March 21 inside the Barnett Center. Photo courtesy South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
Rohrbach said the credit for containing Grant Wilkinson “goes to both of the Jett boys.”
“I asked Grady before the game, ‘Are you ready to play 32 minutes?’ Grady just battled all game and gave us everything he had,” Rohrbach said.
Grady Jett wasn’t feeling his best when he arrived at the Barnett Center, but said he knew the goal entering the game.
“I just knew I had to try and keep him off the glass,” Grady Jett said, referring to Grant Wilkinson. “I knew if I could keep the ball out of his hands on the initial pass, then Brooks could slide down and help me. That was pretty much my job.”
De Smet’s Slayton Wilkinson takes a three pointer during the Consolation Championship at the Class B Boys State Tournament. Photo by Kevin Foss for the Aberdeen Insider.
Brooks Jett had a solid game defensively, grabbing 11 defensive rebounds and blocking four shots.
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“It made things easier that I didn’t have to straight-up guard (Grant Wilkinson), and I could come down and just jump at his shot. I’m really proud of my brother. He really worked (Wilkinson) and made it easy for me to get those blocks,” he said.
De Smet needed production from its guards and got it from an unlikely source. Slayton Wilkinson, who had a combined two points in the Bulldogs first two State B games, scored a team-high 18 against Christian.
“They probably watched film and thought, ‘Well, this kid’s not gonna shoot it a lot, he doesn’t score, he just turns the ball over and fouls,'” Slayton Wilkinson said with a smile. “I hit a couple early and figured I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m a senior, and I’m gonna go for it.”
His assessment was correct.
“We just said if he could beat us, then let him try, and (you’ve) gotta give him credit, he made shots,” Brooks Jett said.
Bittersweet end for Aberdeen Christian seniors
He made a basket and was fouled 56 seconds into the fourth quarter in what proved to be Christian’s final field goal. The Knights shot just 23.8% from the field in the game.
“Not the way we wanted to go out, obviously,” Rohrbach said. “It’s so easy to look to the future, and I do think the future is bright, but I just want to take the time to make today and tomorrow all about the seniors we’re losing. We love them all and it was a great year, and there are no regrets.”
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Grady Jett took the loss to end his career in stride.
“It’s been amazing and I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is the best ending I could have hoped for, so I am content with my high school career ending,” he said.
Friday, March 20
Kaiser scored 26 points to help boost Aberdeen Christian past Viborg-Hurley 52-49 in the State B consolation semifinals.
The Cougars used a 12-0 run to cut the Knights’ lead to 43-40 with 6:16 to play in the game. But Christian senior Grady Jett made a big play when he grabbed a miss by his brother Brooks Jett and put the rebound in to make it 51-46 with 48 seconds left.
Kaiser scored 21 points in the first half.
“I was getting the energy and confidence from teammates, and when I started hitting, they just kept hyping me up and telling me to keep shooting. When we’d get the ball into the low post, guys would kick it out to me if I was open, and I was able to knock down shots,” he said.
Thursday, March 19
Castlewood used a 25-10 run that started in the third quarter to pick up a 53-50 victory against Aberdeen Christian in the State B quarterfinals.
The Knights struggled with Castlewood’s 1-3-1 zone and committed 17 turnovers.
“Credit to Castlewood, they hopped into that zone and played a really good ball game,” Rohrbach said. “We needed to hit one or two more threes that could have gotten them to back out of that zone, but we just weren’t able to.”
Kamden Keszler scored to put the Warriors up 50-40 with 3:38 to play. Kaiser scored to pull Christian within 51-50 with 16 seconds left. Then, after two Castlewood free throws, Dylan Hofer’s three-pointer rimmed out at the buzzer.
Keszler finished with 30 points for Castlewood. Kaiser led Christian with 11.
