OAKES, N.D. – Aberdeen Christian got back to its winning ways with a 78-50 non-conference boys’ basketball victory over Oakes on Saturday afternoon.
The fourth-rated Knights, who snapped a brief two-game losing streak, came out firing and scored more than 20 points in each of the first three quarters.
“I thought we played with better energy today on both ends,” said Christian coach David Rohrbach. “Offensively, we shared the ball really well.”
The visitors grabbed a lead in the opening quarter that they never lost and gradually extended the margin.
The Knights finished with a dozen three-pointers in the contest, led by Malek Wieker with four and Ethan Russell with three.
“We got into a nice rhythm offensively and it helps when shots are falling, as guys shot the ball well today,” Rohrbach said.
Russell and Wieker each finished with 21 points. Jackson Isakson followed with 12 and Andrew Brennan contibuted nine.
Noah Sundby scored 10 points and Joey Heim nine to lead a balanced attack for the Tornadoes.
“We need to continue to rotate more on the defensive end and ball pressure opponents,” Rohrbach said, “but I thought our energy was good.”
The Knights, 5-2 on the season, head into a demanding part of their schedule coming up, starting off by hosting unbeaten Potter County Friday night at the Civic Arena. The stretch also includes games against undefeated Faulkton, one-loss Waubay-Summit and a trip to the Hanson Classic.
“It will be an important couple of weeks for us,” Rohrbach said.
ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN: Andrew Brennan 4 0-1 9, Jackson Isakson 5 0-0 12, Ethan Russell 9 0-0 21, Malek Wieker 7 3-4 21, Kaden Clark 3 0-0 7, Abe Holscher 1 0-0 2, Blake Rich 2 0-0 5, Joey Johnson 0 1-2 1. Totals 31 4-7 78.
OAKES: Joey Heim 4 0-0 9, Trey Skogland 2 2-4 6, Andrew Wolff 3 0-0 7, Adler Paeper 3 0-0 6, David Schmitz 1 1-2 4, Xavier Vossler 2 1-2 6, Noah Sundby 4 0-0 10. Totals 20 4-8 50.
Aberdeen Christian 21 42 64 78
Oakes 13 27 37 50
3-point field goals – Brennan, Isakson 2, Russell 3, Wieker 4, Clark, Rich; Heim, Wolff, Schmitz, Vossler, Sundby 2. Total fouls – Aberdeen Christian 10; Oakes 5.