SIOUX FALLS — O’Gorman hosted Tea Area Tuesday night in a battle between the top-ranked girls basketball teams in Class AA and Class A respectively, and Knights coach Kent Kolsrud called it a test for his undefeated team.

They passed, further solidifying OG as the team to beat in the state’s highest ranks. In a 53-45 win over the Titans, the Knights showcased everything that makes them the favorite heading into February.

There was balanced scoring, determination in the post, timely outside shooting and a pressure defense that made it almost impossible for the Titans to complete passes cleanly and allowed OG to overcome a Tea size advantage that enabled the Titans to enjoy a 44-28 rebounding edge.

And, of course, there was senior guard Mahli Abdouch. The South Dakota State-bound Abdouch had 24 points on Tuesday.

“Great basketball game,” said Knights coach Kent Kolsrud. “We truly needed to be tested and (Tea) came over and battled us strong. We can draw a lot from this game moving forward.”

The Knights (13-0) trailed by a point late in the first half, but Abdouch hit an off-balance 3 at the buzzer to put them up two at the break, and they carried that momentum over. The Knights stretched that lead to eight by the end of three and pushed it to 11 on another Abdouch 3 early in the fourth. Moments later a 3 by Lucy Moore (who had nine points) made it 50-37, and the game was out of reach by that point. Julia Eggert had 13 points for OG, while Mara Grant had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Katie Vasecka 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Titans (10-3).

“We had to work so hard to get everything in the first half, so we talked at halftime about getting easy baskets,” Kolsrud said. “We had to dictate more on both ends. I thought our defensive pressure popped a few balls loose and then we were just much better attacking the paint. When we’re able to do that, and get baskets we’re able to get into our defensive pressure better.”

The effort from Abdouch was especially impressive. She was 9-of-17 from the floor and 4-of-10 from outside the arc, and added four rebounds, three assists and two steals. She did all that, Kolsrud said, despite having been under the weather the last couple days.

“Big time players make big time plays when they matter and she made some huge plays,” he said.

The Knights are in the midst of nine games in 17 days, a grueling stretch but one that should help prepare OG for the postseason. After winning the 2022 state title they were bounced by Harrisburg last year in a first-round upset, and right now playing like a team determined to not let something like that happen again.

“I like our character and I like our fight,” Kolsrud said. “There’s some things we still need to clean up. We need to take better care of the ball — our decision-making could be better. But we’re playing hard. We just need to keep growing each and every day.”

Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at [email protected].