North Central dominated early and came up big late to record a victory over Aberdeen Christian Tuesday night.

The Thunder scored the first nine points of the game, then scored nine of the last 11 points of the contest in a 42-35 Lake Region Conference girls’ basketball win at the Aberdeen Civic Arena.

After North Central’s early attack, the Knights settled in and battled the entire way.

“We play really good, came out guns ablazing,” said North Central senior Brittney Frickson, “and then kind of got comfortable and didn’t really play our ball.”

As a result, Christian hung around took advantage of North Central foul trouble which led to six points from the free-throw stripe in the final quarter.

“We were out of position on defense,” said North Central coach Kaci Vander Vorst. “That was one thing I stressed was keeping them in front of you and not trying to do too much, but putting some pressure on them.”

It was obvious that the Knights were playing with a renewed energy and confidence following their first win of the season last weekend over Waverly-South Shore.

“We had a ton more energy coming out today,” said Christian’s Chloe Bosma, “and I felt that really helped us get our ball movement going and get our offense started, which we’ve struggled in the past to do that.”

The score was tied at 33-33 after Chloe Holt made two free throws with 5:30 remaining. That’s when the Thunder scored nine straight points to take control.

Alaina Dosch scored five points in the pivotal run, including a back-breaking three-pointer with 51 seconds left.

“I just kept telling the girls, keep plugging away, trust it,” Vander Vorst said. “They wanted the win, it just came harder for us tonight.”

Knights coach Cristian Martinez was pleased with the way his team competed, and said last weekend’s victory played a role.

“They built their confidence from that game. We were ready to keep it rolling,” Martinez said. “We were there. We battled all the time, every single minute, every single second, they battled with good defense, good rotations.”

Bosma led all players with 17 points and also pulled down 11 rebounds. She was the recipient of some efficient feeds from Holt near the basket.

“Chloe Holt and I have really been working on her driving, me cutting,” Bosma said. “It’s been working well for us. It worked well for us at Waverly and tonight it worked well for us.”

Holt added eight points to the Christian total.

Frickson scored 14 points to lead a balanced Thunder attack. Ella Batie followed with nine, and Amree Vander Vorst and Dosch each finished with seven.

“Its always good when we have five-six players scoring. It’s a lot easier when that happens, too,” Frickson said. “That’s when we’re playing our best ball is when everybody gets in the scorebook.”

The Knights head to Mellette to take on Northwestern Thursday. Martinez said the team is making progress, it just takes time.

“In the locker room I told them how proud I am,” Martinez said. “Building is a not from one day to another. Building takes time. They see the improvement from day by day and game by game, and tonight was a big example.”

Despite the setback, the Knights came away from the game with more confidence and momentum.

“Even thought we lost, we still have a ton of confidence knowing that we hung with them,” Bosma said. “We got our ball movement down and we’re ready for the next one.”

NORTH CENTRAL (7-8): Brittney Frickson 5 4-6 14, Jenisa Jacobs 2 0-0 4, Ella Batie 3 3-4 9, Kaitlyn Hoerner 0 1-2 1, Amree Vander Vorst 3 0-0 7, Alaina Dosch 3 0-0 7. Totals 16-42 8-12 42.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (1-14): Bailey Hunstad 1 0-0 2, Sophia Eichler 0 3-6 3, Sophia Fogarty 2 1-4 5, Chloe Bosma 7 3-5 17, Chloe Holt 2 4-4 8. Totals 12-37 11-19 35.

North Central 15 24 33 42

Aberdeen Christian 8 19 29 35

3-point field goals – Vander Vorst, Dosch. Fouled out – Fogarty. Total fouls – North Central 12; Aberdeen Christian 10. Rebounds – North Central 25 (Vander Vorst 7, Batie 7); Aberdeen Christian 34 (Bosma 11). Turnovers – North Central 17; Aberdeen Christian 26.