WATERTOWN – Great Plains Lutheran scored 11 unanswered points to start the game and claimed a 57-26 win over Aberdeen Christian in non-conference girls’ basketball Saturday afternoon.

The Knights did not get on the scoreboard until 2:45 remained in the opening quarter, but it proved to be a memorable basket.

Sophia Eichler made her first varsity 3-pointer for Christian’s first points.

“’Soph’ is one of our better players, so it was fun to see her hit her first varsity 3-pointer, so that was a plus,” said Knights coach Matt Rohrbach. “I thought we got some really good shots early, we just didn’t get a lot to go and then it was kind of nice when she hit that.”

Christian struggled to get the ball to fall through the hoop, but was taking quality shots and was able to handle the Panthers’ full-court press.

“That was just the girls kind of calming down and recognizing what they were trying to do. We got the ball to Sophie in the middle and we kind of just tried to attack off that,” Rohrbach said. “Credit to Jolie (Fogarty) and the guards for kind of taking care of it after a couple possessions.”

Down 13-3 heading into the second quarter, the Knights found some offense, putting up nine points. Ari Johnson had five of her eight points in the period.

“It was nice to see her have eight. Honestly, she could have had close to 16 if she would have maybe got a few more to go,” said Rohrbach. “And it was just fun to see her be aggressive.”

Great Plains Lutheran also had a solid second quarter, putting up 19 points. Katherine Prahl had six of her game-high 18 points, and Julia Prahl had six of her 15 points during the second period.

“We did the best we could, obviously. Jolie and Sophia were primarily the ones guarding them and I thought they did a good job,” Rohrbach said. “We just missed some of the small aspects of the game that you need in order to play 32 minutes. Those are things we’ll continue to harp on and get better at and move forward with.”

One of those aspects was closing out one of GPL’s best shooters, Emily Moritz who nailed four 3-pointers on the way to a 14-point day.

“We knew she was a shooter coming in and unfortunately, she hit four and our girls are still starting to understand and trying to understand the aspect of OK, this girl’s hit a few,” said Rohrbach. “We got to get on her or let’s not be so off of her on a rotation, just little things like that. It just takes time, especially with how young we are and inexperienced, but I think the girls are grasping and getting better at it. And it’s not a work-ethic problem.”

Although the game ended in a 31-point difference, the Knights felt as if the score didn’t represent the quality of the game.

“The game felt like a lot closer than the ending score and the girls are growing and getting better every single game, and that’s really all we can ask for,” said Rohrbach.

Aberdeen Christian, 0-10 on the season, will take on James Valley Christian on the road on Thursday, while Great Plains Lutheran will face Sisseton on Monday.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (0-10): Ari Johnson 3 2-5 8, Jolie Fogarty 2 2-4 6, Molleigh Hofer 1 0-0 2, Sophia Eichler 3 1-2 8, Erika Moulsoff 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 5-11 26

GREAT PLAINS LUTHERAN (5-5): Kate Holmen 1 2-2 4, Katherine Prahl 9 0-0 18, Katelin Richter 1 0-0 2, Alyssa Rubendall 1 0-0 2, Lillian Martens 1 0-0 2, Emily Moritz 5 0-0 14, Julia Prahl 5 5-6 15. Totals 23 7-8 57

Aberdeen Christian 3 12 20 26

Great Plains Lutheran 13 32 45 57

3-point field goals – Eichler; Moritz 4. Total Fouls – Aberdeen Christian 8; Great Plains Lutheran 15.