The defense was new, but the end result was the same for Aberdeen Christian Thursday night at the Civic Arena.
The third-rated Knights tried something new on the defensive end on the way a 52-25 non-conference girls’ basketball victory over Waubay-Summit. Christian improved to 10-0 with the win.
“We tried out a new defense tonight and it’s kind of a varied 1-3-1 zone,” said Christian coach Michael Rohrbach. “It’s really the first time we’ve run it all season and I was proud with the way they played it. The girls were flying around and able to generate turnovers.”
Rohrbach also mentioned the energy the Knights showed right out of the gate, when they took a lead they never lost.
“I was proud with our girls coming out right away and taking it to them,” Rohrbach said. “We didn’t mess around at all. Our defense was great and our offense moved well.”
The Knights jumped out front in the first quarter 18-7 and never looked back. Junior center Mallory Miller stepped up with 12 points in the first quarter to help jump start the offense.
“We got it inside to Mallory right away which made it tough for them stop her down low,” said Rohrbach. “The biggest thing is when we move the ball, it opens up everything in this offense for us. I was impressed with our girls in moving the ball and creating exceptional passes for others.”
Miller finished the game with 20 points. Hanna Miller and Grace Kaiser each tallied 10 points.
Waubay-Summit was led by Tasha Zirbel with eight points and Livia Tomac with seven. The Mustangs fell to 5-6 on the season.
The Knights were without starting guard Joy Rohrbach due to an injury. The Mustangs lost their leader Zoey Wohlleber to injury a few weeks ago.
Christian is on the road Tuesday for a contest against Herreid-Selby Area.
“They are going to be a tough team and will be a good road test,” Rohrbach said. “They do a lot of man, full-court presses. We got to handle pressure and defensively try to shut down their good players.”
WAUBAY-SUMMIT (5-6): Livia Tomac 3 1-2 7, Eva Benike 2 0-2 5, Liza Purdy 0 1-1 1, Kailee Berger 1 0-0 2, Peyton Rumpza 0 2-3 2, Tasha Zirbel 2 2-2 8. Totals 8 6-8 25.
ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (10-0): Alana Moeller 1 0-0 3, Kaylee Block 2 0-0 5, Hanna Miller 3 3-4 10, Mallory Miller 10 0-0 20, Grace Kaiser 4 2-3 10, Chloe Holt 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 5-7 52.
ABERDEEN CHRSTIAN 18 36 44 52
WAUBAY-SUMMIT 7 14 19 25
3 point field goals – Benike, Zirbel 2; Moeller, Block, H. Miller. Total fouls – Waubay-Summit 6; Aberdeen Christian 5.
