Ryan Ladika/MDN Kadyn Braun, right, drills a third-quarter 3-point shot in the Knights’ Saturday win over South Prairie-Max.

In Our Redeemer’s head coach Scott Peterson’s eyes, the Knights’ District 12 semifinal matchup with the Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood Mavericks Friday night could have just as easily been for the district championship.

The Knights girls’ basketball team dropped a narrow six-point matchup to the eventual-District 12 champion Mavericks, but bounced back against the South Prairie-Max Royals Saturday night, clinching the final Region 6 tournament spot out of the district with their 52-32 victory in the night’s second regional qualifying contest.

“Our girls, they had something to prove,” Peterson said. “The year we went to state, we were the No. 4 seed coming in and we took third in the state tournament, so I said there’s no hanging your head.”

The lady Knights did nothing of the sort. A trio of first quarter 3-point shots off the fingertips of Elise Altringer, Meadow Roberts and Maya Vibeto led an explosive 17-point frame after the team totaled just 44 against the Mavericks the previous night.

South Prairie-Max was held to just four free throws by Azjiah Trader and Abby Mikkelson through the first four minutes of the game before Mikkelson, Maycie Talbott and Skotti Beck each notched a field goal to trim the Our Redeemer’s lead to 17-10 entering the second quarter.

The Royals quickly stepped up on their defensive end, holding the Knights to just three points in the final five and a half minutes of the first half. MaKya Gerding scored five of South Prairie-Max’s 10 second-quarter points and a Mikkelson 3-pointer with just over two minutes to play trimmed the Knights’ halftime lead to 26-20.

Led by Vibeto, the Knights took command out of the halftime pause. The sophomore who had already eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in her career earlier this season notched nine of 17 Our Redeemer’s points in the third quarter, including her second and third 3-point shots of the night.

Eighth-grader Kadyn Braun added the Knights’ third triple of the frame to help send the game into the fourth quarter on a 12-2 Knights run.

“I always preach defense, because that’s what’s really been sparking our team this year,” Peterson continued. “And every game we’ve lost, we haven’t hit 45. We’ve been holding everybody below 45, and that’s just our team, is defense.”

The Our Redeemer’s defensive front only strengthened in the final eight minutes, holding the Royals to just three free throws and a Mikkelson 2-point shot the remainder of the contest. Roberts drilled her second 3-point shot of the night to begin a 9-5 fourth quarter in favor of the Knights and finished with 11 points, third to Aubrey Griedl’s 15 and Vibeto’s 14. Mikkelson paced the Royals with 11 of her own.

The win clinched the fourth seed out of the district for Our Redeemer’s and set up a first-round matchup with District 11’s top-seeded Rugby Panthers in the Region 6 quarterfinals Feb. 21.

“I think we’ll do fine against (Rugby), we’ll just have to come ready to play,” Peterson added. “No. 4 seed, we’re the underdog, you just come in and play. Just come in and play, and that’s what I’m going to be preaching. We’re not supposed to win, but I think we can surprise some teams too.”