MITCHELL – A trio of players combined for 46 points as Aberdeen Christian collected its 14th boys’ basketball win of the season on Saturday afternoon.
The sixth-rated Knights improved to 14-2 following a 65-42 win over Dell Rapids St. Mary during the DWU Classic at the Corn Palace.
Luke Kaiser scored 19 points, Brooks Jett added 14, and Dylan Hofer contributed 13 in the victory.
“It was kind of the Brooks and Luke and Dylan show a little bit. Not that Grady (Jett) or Jett (Johnson) played bad, but Luke, Brooks and Dylan definitely had it rolling,” said Christian coach Matt Rohrbach. “It was just kind of fun to see us break down their zone a little bit. And they tried a couple different things.”
The Cardinals came out in a 2-3 zone and the Knights made their presence known right away, hitting a 3-pointer on their first possession.
“We got off to a really good start. Luke hit the first 3 of the game. They started in a 2-3 zone and they had a good reversal,” Rohrbach said. “Dylan was all over the place and Luke scored another floater on the second possession and then Brooks kind of got going. Those three had a really great start to the game and then Jett hit a 3-pointer to extend to 9-2 early in the first.”
Christian continued to grow its lead through transition as the fast-paced Knights were able to score on fastbreaks. They continued to set the tone early in the third period when Hofer forced back-to-back steals for back-to-back layups to start the second half.
“We got up the floor a little bit, got some points in transition. Dylan had a couple steals. Brooks got up in transition a couple times,” said Rohrbach. “And then in the second half, Dylan started out the third quarter and had back-to-back steals for layups and I think that extended the lead closer to like 18 or 20 or so.”
Christian’s defensive game plan was geared towards slowing down Trimmier Hanson and the Knights were able to do so by throwing different guys at him in different aspects of the game. They held Hanson to just 4-of-15 shooting on the day.
“Their team starts with number one, that Hanson kid. He took the most shots, obviously, and is kind of their guy. We threw Loyal (Smith-Wade) at him, Jett face guarded him when he was in the game, and those two just did a really good job,” said Rohrbach. “He wasn’t really able to get to the rim because of Brooks and Grady, and then he wasn’t really getting any shots on the perimeter because of Loyal and Jett and Luke.”
The Knights have a quick turnaround as they play their final home game of the regular season against Hitchcock-Tulare for senior night on Monday at the Christian School Gym. They hope to grab a home win for the seniors.
“Monday is going to be senior night, so that’s always exciting. Send Ray (Raymond Rodriguez-Martinez) and Dan (Daniel Opdahl), and Grady and Jett out the right way hopefully. The guys will be ready to go. It’ll be our last home game of the year, too, so it’s always fun to have a night like that,” Rohrbach said. “Last year, Ethan Biel went crazy and had like 27 points on senior night so we’re hoping for something a little bit similar for one of our seniors.”
ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (14-2): Jett Johnson 2 0-0 6, Dylan Hofer 6 1-2 13, Grady Jett 0 1-2 1, Luke Kaiser 7 2-2 19, Brooks Jett 6 2-4 14, Loyal Smith-Wade 3 0-0 6, Charles Eichler 2 0-0 4, Daniel Opdahl 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 6-10 65
DELL RAPIDS ST. MARY (8-9): Trimmier Hanson 4 0-1 9, Joseph Trumbauer 0 5-7 5, Lincoln LeBrun 1 0-0 3, Logan Bauer 2 0-0 4, Peyton Lamb 2 3-4 7, Colter Griffin 1 0-0 3, Isaac Griffin 4 0-2 9, Gavin Pica 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 8-15 42.
Aberdeen Christian 21 39 54 65
Dell Rapids St. Mary 14 23 33 42
3-point field goals – Johnson 2, Kaiser 3; Hanson, LeBrun, C. Griffin, I. Griffin. Total fouls – Aberdeen Christian 17; Dell Rapids St. Mary 7. Rebounds – Aberdeen Christian 33 (Hofer 8); Dell Rapids St. Mary 24 (Trumbauer, Lamb & I. Griffin 4). Turnovers – Aberdeen Christian 2; Dell Rapids St. Mary 10. Assists – Aberdeen Christian 15 (Hofer 4, Kaiser 4); Dell Rapids St. Mary 6 (Hanson 2, Trumbauer 2). Steals – Aberdeen Christian 6 (Smith-Wade 3). Blocks – Aberdeen Christian 3 (Kaiser, Smith-Wade, Rodriguez-Martinez); Dell Rapids St. Mary 2 (Hanson, Lamb).
