A strong second-half charge from Sully Buttes offset a fast start from the Aberdeen Christian Knights Saturday afternoon at the Christian School Gym.

Sully Buttes defeated Christian 35-23 in non-conference girls’ basketball for its first win of the year, as the Knights continue to search for theirs.

The Knights got on the board first and held the lead for the entirety of the first quarter as they led 8-5 after the first eight minutes. Christian got started when Arianna Johnson hit one of two free throws, followed by a Jacie Fogarty 3-pointer.

“It’s always fun to get on the board before the other team. And I was excited just to see us execute,” said Christian coach Matt Rohrbach. “Our success was, obviously Jacie hitting that three, but a little bit of inside out. I thought our guards penetrated. They were able to get a couple floaters up and I think Ari had an offensive rebound. It was just kind of a hodge podge of good takes from the post.”

The Chargers responded coming out of the quarter as they scored on their first three possessions to take an 11-10 lead. They ended up holding the lead for the remainder of the game.

The Knights offense dried up as Sully Buttes outscored them 23-7 over the second and third quarters. That was in part due to foul trouble for the Knights.

“It was unfortunate that Jolie (Fogarty) got into foul trouble, so she didn’t really play a bunch in that second quarter. And then Sophia (Eichler) kind of got into foul trouble, so we weren’t able to keep her on number 31 (Scotlynn Kinney),” Rohrbach said. “But for the most part, we’re still just kind of putting some pieces together, still trying to understand what a good shot is. Still trying to understand when we need to rotate defensively and those things are going to come.”

Kinney scored all six of her points in the second and third quarters. Jaydn Jaeger also found success as she put up a team-high 13 points on the day, 10 of which came in those middle quarters.

Despite getting into foul trouble early on, Eichler scored eight points on the day, including two free throws in the final moments of the second quarter to make it a six-point game going into halftime.

“It was super fun because she really earned those two points. I felt like she played really well, and basketball just isn’t kind sometimes, just not able to get some shots to go,” Rohrbach said. “Just to see the ball go through the net at the free throw line is obviously super cool.”

Christian wanted to keep pushing its effort coming out of half.

“I really felt like we were kind of where we needed to be. We were proud of the girls’ effort and we thought that things were gonna kind of turn our way,” Rohrbach said. “We were a couple baskets shy, really putting the pressure on them in the fourth quarter.”

Instead, the Chargers extended the margin to double digits, leading by 13 heading into the final quarter.

Christian sliced the deficit down to eight points on an Eichler layup, but a 3-pointer from  Berkley Birney halted the Knight’s momentum.

“I felt like Sophia kind of got some things going. I think Ari had an offensive rebound, and then Jo got to the line twice I believe and she made a layup. It was just kind of a collective effort,” said Rohrbach. “Molleigh (Hofer) was pressuring the girl down the floor, their best point guard. Just a collective effort and the girls just kind of feeding off each other’s energy and believing that they could get back in that game.”

Johnson also finished with eight points for the Knights.

Although the result didn’t end in Christian’s favor, Rohrbach sees the progress of his squad.

“I feel like for the most part, the girls do what we ask,” said Rohrbach. “They believed, they gave it their all, and that’s all you can ask for from a coaching perspective.”

Christian hosts Waverly-South Shore on Thursday, before hosting Waubay-Summit on Saturday.

SULLY BUTTES (1-5): Berkeley Birney 2 1-2 6, Jaydn Jaeger 6 1-4 13, Nevaeh Westphal 0 1-2 1, Myli Weischedel 3 1-2 7, Scotlynn Kinney 3 0-3 6, Tavery Smith 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 4-13 35

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (0-4): Arianna Johnson 3 2-4 8, Jolie Fogarty 1 1-4 3, Sophia Eichler 2 4-8 8, Jacie Fogarty 1 0-0 3, Reagan Jett 0 1-2 1. Totals 7 8-18 23.

Sully Buttes 5 20 28 35

Aberdeen Christian 8 14 15 23

3-point field goals – Birney; Jacie. Fogarty. Total Fouls – Sully Buttes 13; Aberdeen Christian 10.