BOWDLE – Aberdeen Christian received at least eight points from seven different players and picked up its 10th win of the boys’ basketball season Tuesday night.

The sixth-rated Knights got off to a fast start and claimed a 73-49 non-conference boys’ basketball victory over North Central.

Defense created offense for Christian to fuel a strong opening quarter.

“There wasn’t just one person, but man, I tell you what, Luke (Kaiser) and Dylan (Hofer) were putting so much ball pressure on in our 2-3 zone to start that game that it was super fun just to get out and get running,” said Christian coach Matt Rohrbach. “And Jett (Johnson) hitting that three and getting a couple layups. Brooks (Jett) getting downhill, Grady (Jett) getting downhill and it was just kind of cool to see everything click right away in that first quarter.”

The Knights scored 11 unanswered points to start the contest in the first two minutes and led by a 24-10 margin by the end of the period.

Points came from a variety of players for the Knights, as seven players all scored between eight and 12 points.

“That doesn’t happen very often. It’s obviously something you want. It’s not necessarily something we talk about just because you never know what a game is going to bring,” said Rohrbach. “It might be your time to score. It might be your time to shoot, and you can’t force it if it’s not there. And the guys did a great job with that tonight, just taking what the defense gave them.”

That wide range of scoring helped the Knights produce their second most points in a game this season. It came against a zone defense, something that has caused Christian some issues recently. The squad has been working on it in practice, and it paid off in a big way against the Thunder.

“The reality is, teams scout. They take certain things away and you have to build, adjust off that and the guys have done that. They weren’t too happy about the two losses from Milbank and Timber Lake,” Rohrbach said. “They took that to heart, and they’ve been really locked in these last couple weeks of practice.”

Christian also turned in a strong performance on defense, with a play or two resembling something from the gridiron.

“Charles (Eichler) looked like Odell Beckham out there with one of those steals. He literally caught it with his right hand and cradled it and then went and scored a layup. It was insane,” Rohrbach said. “But him and Dylan were stealing the basketball all night long. And that didn’t even include the fact that we didn’t have Loyal (Smith-Wade) out there. It was just super fun to see everybody flying around.”

The Knights were able to get in players that normally don’t see much of the court. Jashawn Anderson and Carter Ingemansen got into the scoring column.

“Not every game is going to be within a point differential that you can put in the whole team, but getting everybody in the game is always super fun,” Rohrbach said. “And yeah, seeing Carter and Jashawn hit a couple points and the girls cheering them on from the stands, and obviously the bench cheering them on. It’s always fun to see and that’s how you build a culture, and that’s how we want to continue to build a culture.”

Brooks Jett led Christian with 12 points, Grady Jett and Kaiser each followed with 11, Johnson and Hofer each added nine, and Raymond Rodriguez-Martinez and Eichler each finished with eight.

North Central received 11 points from Donovan Nelson, and 10 from Kobe Wherry.

The Knights, 10-2, will have another Lake Region Conference game on Thursday, taking on Northwestern at the Aberdeen Civic Arena.

“It’s going to be a fun atmosphere,” Rohrbach said. “They should travel well, being only 20 minutes away, and playing at the Civic, always a fun atmosphere.”

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (10-2): Jett Johnson 3 0-0 9, Dylan Hofer 2 5-6 9, Grady Jett 5 0-0 11, Luke Kaiser 4 2-2 11, Brooks Jett 6 0-0 12, Raymond Rodriguez-Martinez 3 1-2 8, Charles Eichler 3 1-2 8, Jashawn Anderson 1 0-0 2, Carter Ingemansen 1 0-0 3. Totals 28 9-12 73.

NORTH CENTRAL (6-7): Donovan Nelson 5 1-4 11, Seth Hettick 2 2-4 7, Jared Wherry 2 0-0 5, Kobe Wherry 3 2-4 10, Isaiah Heilman 1 0-0 2, Reuben Blanco 4 0-1 8, Easton Kunz 3 0-1 6. Totals 20 5-14 49.

Aberdeen Christian 24 43 55 73

North Central 10 27 36 49

3-point field goals – Johnson 3, G. Jett, Kaiser, Rodriquez-Martinez, Eichler, Ingemansen; Hettick 2, K. Wherry 2. Total fouls – Aberdeen Christian 15; North Central 10. Rebounds – Aberdeen Christian 31 (B. Jett 9); North Central 24 (Nelson 6). Turnovers – Aberdeen Christian 15; North Central 19.