Whether scoring in transition or half-court sets, Faulkton owned the lane at the Christian School Gym on Tuesday night.

The Trojans routinely scored in the paint to fuel a 50-23 non-conference girls’ basketball win over Aberdeen Christian.

After a near even opening period, Faulkton began to pull away and put the game out of reach with a 19-2 third quarter.

“That second quarter our girls started to settle in,” said Faulkton coach Chase Casper. “We started to attack the paint a little bit more, and that was a point of emphasis coming into the game. Two feet in the paint, relentless attack and play inside out. We only took six 3-pointers the whole game, so we kind of lived in the paint.”

How they got there was a multi-faceted attack. While the Trojans pounded the ball inside in the half court, they also got into the lane in transition.

“I think getting up and down the court more really helped our offense,” said Faulkton’s Brooklyn Mueller. “Passing the ball around the perimeter more and sharing the ball with other players really helped.”

It was Mueller, an eighth-grader, who consistently pushed the ball up the floor and finished around the basket on the way to a game-high 23 points.

“In transition is where Brooklyn can really be dangerous. That’s where she excelled tonight, is grabbing a rebound and just going,” Casper said. “She’s fearless in transition. She did a nice job of attacking the rim and making the right play.”

The Knights had a size advantage, but were unable to exploit that for most of the game.

“They’re a little bit more quick than we are. We’re taller. We didn’t really use our size unfortunately tonight and they used their quickness,” said Christian coach Matt Rohrbach. “In girls’ basketball, a lot of times a quicker team usually does kind of find a way in that third and fourth quarter.”

The Knights hung with Faulkton in the first half as Jacie Fogarty nailed a pair of 3-pointers to provide an offensive spark.

“I wanted to do better and just try to push myself more,” Fogarty said, “because I think I need to lock in on some things, so I wanted to try to express that tonight.”

Fogarty was one of three Knights with at least six points on the evening.

“It was nice to see her step up and hit a couple,” Rohrbach said.

Mueller, who also hauled down a team-high eight rebounds, made a pair of 3-pointers in the opening 16 minutes, which helped to open up the middle for the Trojans.

“Drawing the defense out on the perimeter more helped open up down low,” Mueller said, “especially when our post players are working down there and sealing, you get more openings down there along with more wide-open 3-pointers.”

Anika Mueller added 14 points to the Faulkton total, and Presleigh Martinmaas finished with 13.

Sophia Eichler topped Christian with seven points, while Jolie Fogarty and Jacie Fogarty each had six.

The Knights, 0-9 on the season have a game at Great Plains Lutheran on Saturday.

Jacie Fogarty said the Knights just need to continue to play as a unit.

“I think we just need to work as a team,” Fogarty said. “We do have good relationships, it’s just hard on the court and hard to get things down.”

Rohrbach said the squad will just keep working and seek to improve.

“We’re just going to continue to take it one game at a time and get better,” Rohrbach said.

FAULKTON (7-4): Anika Mueller 5 4-8 14, Brooklyn Mueller 10 1-2 23, Presleigh Martinmaas 3 6-8 13. Totals 18-49 11-18 50.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (0-9): Arianna Johnson 2 0-0 4, Jolie Fogarty 3 0-0 6, Molleigh Hofer 0 0-1 0, Sophia Eichler 3 1-2 7, Jacie Fogarty 2 0-0 6. Totals 10-43 1-3 23.

Faulkton 15 26 45 50

Aberdeen Christian 9 14 16 23

3-point field goals – B. Mueller 2, Martinmaas; Jacie Fogarty 2. Total fouls – Faulkton 8; Aberdeen Christian 13. Rebounds – Faulkton 26 (B. Mueller 8); Aberdeen Christian 20 (Eichler 9). Turnovers – Faulkton 17; Aberdeen Christian 21. Assists – Faulkton 8 (Martinmaas 4); Aberdeen Christian 6 (Jolie Fogarty 3). Steals – Faulkton 9 (B. Mueller 4); Aberdeen Christian 8 (Jolie Fogarty 5).