Bulldogs Snap Aberdeen Christian’s Winning Streak

The Bulldogs basketball team arrived in Aberdeen on Friday January 2, for non-conference action with Aberdeen Christian. If trying new things was on Milbank’s list of New Year’s resolutions, they started 2026 out on track. The game marked the first time Milbank played the Knights. If their resolution was to win games. Check that, too. The Bulldogs got back on the bus with another victory secured. There was a bit of sweating in between, though.

Aberdeen Christian came into the game undefeated and they got right to work.. The Knights scored the first six points of the game before Milbank knew what hit them.The Bulldogs soon got wise. They launched  their defense and warmed up their offense. By the end of the first quarter, Milbank led 13-10. In the second quarter, Milbank held the Knights to just six points while racking up 14 themselves. They led by 11 at halftime at 27-16. 

As in chess, the Knights proved they could be powerful and tricky. They came back after the break and held Milbank scoreless for almost four minutes. The move cut Milbank’s lead to just two points. The razor-thin gap made for an exciting third quarter as 3-point shots hit the mark and both teams jockeyed for the lead. Milbank came out on top at the end of third at 32-28.

The mood was still tense at the start of  the fourth quarter. Milbank kept Aberdeen Christian from scoring a bucket for over two minutes .The Bulldogs defense also shut down the Knights again for nearly two minutes at the end of the quarter.  Milbank used the early drought  to build a four-point lead. As the clock started to cut into the quarter, MIlbank pulled to a 34-30 lead. The Knights then hit two free throws in a row – a feat they had failed to accomplish until that point – and whittled the lead back to two.

With time running out, Jack Howard came in for MIlbank and quickly got fouled. He sank both free throws to take the score to 36-32. Aberdeen Christian downed a basket to move things to 36-34. On a drive to the basket by Ryan Keeton, Emmett Snaza was fouled, and he was sent to the line. He nailed the first one, but the second one rattled out to put the score at  37-34 with one minute remaining. With just :46 to go, the officials took a timeout to discuss a potential violation. Their chat ended with Aberdeen Christian being clipped for their fifth foul. It also put MIlbank in the bonus. In a late-in-the-game flurry of fouls, Sam Rick, Jeter Scoular, Snaza, and Lincoln Holscher all made their way to the stripe to put up points to inch MIlbank to victory at 42-36.

After the game, Logan Diede, head coach for Milbank, said, “The boys really set the tone on the defensive end against Christian, and that got us the victory. We built an 11-point lead at half, but our scoring went away in the third quarter, so it was critical that we kept getting stops on defense.”

Diede also gave kudos to the boys for their resilience, “We have a competitive group that will always give us a chance with their will to get it done! I’m proud of our effort – that was a big time win on the road against a really good Aberdeen Christian team.”

Holscher hit  a game-high 15 points for the Bulldogs and notched a double-double with 10 rebounds. Scoular made eight points and three rebounds and grabbed a steal. Keeton scored six points – two 3-pointers– and recorded two assists, one rebound, and two steals. Snaza also scored six points. He nabbed one rebound. Howard finished with  four points and contributed two assists and two rebounds.Rick made three points, brought down three rebounds, and pulled off two steals. Braylen Bowsher made two rebounds. LaytenOsowski added one.

The Bulldogs hit 35 percent of their shots from the floor. They made 22 percent from beyond the arc. From the line, they hit 12 of 23 for 52 percent.

Aberdeen Christian’s score of 36 points probably surprised the Knights as they  have been posting an average of 67 points per game this season.(MIlbank’s average going into the game was 66.) Luke Kaiser led the offense for Aberdeen Christian with nine points. He added five rebounds. Brooks Jett was the Knights leading rebounder with nine. He added eight points. Grady Jett and Dylan Hofer each scored six points. Loyal Smith-Wade made four points. Hofer chased down seven rebounds. G. Jett had five. Jet Johnson claimed three rebounds

Milbank    13    14     5    10    42
Abd. Ch.  10      6    12    8      36

JV Milbank vs. C-Aberdeen Christian
In a show of force, the JV Milbank Bulldogs defeated Aberdeen Christian 46-25  just prior to the varsity game on Friday night, January 2. 

Emmett Snaza scored a game-high 14 points for Milbank. Harley Zemlicka followed with eight points. Max Scoular scored seven points. Cade Grabow dropped in four points. Jaxson Wiese, Mack Koplin, and Kye Scoular each nailed a 3-pointer. Liam Street and Ethan Seyer added a bucket apiece.

Zemlicka and Grabow were the Bulldogs’ leading rebounders with six apiece. Aiden Kelly grabbed five. Street made four. M. Scoular and Snaza each had three rebounds. Wiese and Seyer hauled down two apiece. Bennett Hunt tracked down one.

Milbank shot 40 percent from the floor. They hit 29 percent from long range.The Bulldogs had only one opportunity at the line, but it failed to go in.

Aberdeen Christian’s leading scorer was Brayn Ekanger with nine points. Liam Voehl made seven, and Logan Rivett put up five. Andre Schwab and Kaleb Holsing each made one basket.

Ekanger led with eight rebounds. Voehl had five.

The Knights shot 31 percent from the floor and 17 percent from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs gave them four shots from the stripe and they downed three of them.

JV Milbank     13    4    15    14    46
C Abd. C.        6    6      8      5     25