IPSWICH – Sixth-rated Aberdeen Christian used a persistent defense to stonewall Ipswich Tuesday night.

The Knights picked up a 63-26 Lake Region Conference boys’ basketball game that was highlighted by defense throughout all four quarters. The Knights have been consistently working towards a complete game and saw that throughout the first part of the contest.

“The guys understand that the coaching staff is expecting them to play defense and take the best shots we can get. They’re such good kids. They don’t have an issue with us coaching them hard,” said Christian coach Matt Rohrbach. “We really feel like ever since that Timber Lake game, where we felt like we shouldn’t have lost. The reality is we did, and we need to grow from it and get better. And I think we’re starting to understand that and play our best basketball.”

They Knights stuck to their game plan after preparing for the Tigers.

“We go through scouting reports, and we talk about things that we want to maybe exploit from the other team. Our game plan is always just to kind of take what they give us. Inside out 3-pointers, whether it’s man or zone, that’s the 3-pointer we want,” Rohrbach said. “If you get it, you better lace it up, and if you don’t get it, then you better not shoot it.”

And they laced up those perimeter shots on the way to nine 3-pointers on 21 attempts, three of which came in the first three possessions of the second half.

“They went man. They didn’t play man at all in the first or second quarter, and pretty soon they felt like with us hitting some 3’s, I’m sure, and getting down low on some cuts, they had to play man,” Rohrbach said. “And then Grady (Jett) really opened up the half by imposing his will down low immediately with the mismatch. And then he had a 3-pointer on the next possession. And then I believe Dylan (Hofer) hit a 3-pointer on the next possession and then Jett (Johnson) and pretty soon, the excitement level was just too much.”

Johnson finished the day shooting 4-for-8 from 3-point range for a game-high 14 points. Brooks Jett followed with 12 points, and after that, scoring was evenly split between the rest of the roster.

“It’s a coach’s dream obviously, like we’ve continued to talk about all season long. And even Charles (Eichler) and Loyal (Smith-Wade) coming in with I think like 7 and 5 points. It’s big, like 12 points that you get from the bench,” said Rohrbach. “That’s not nothing. And the guys understand that we’re better together and that’s how we got to continue to play.”

After holding a 56-21 lead going into the final quarter, the Knights were able to get the entire roster in the game.

“It’s super important just to have nights like this where you are able to get everybody in because reality is, it’s fun to win,” said Rohrbach. “These kids need to feel like they’re a part of the winning, otherwise you’re not going to sustain success.”

Kyle Hettich and Shay Knust had seven points apiece to lead Ipswich.

The Knights, 13-2, will be back in action on Saturday against Dell Rapids St. Mary at the DWU Classic at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.

“We want to continue to be present and get better. It’s got to be our mindset, but at the end of the day, we need to take care of business, because it’s a huge game,” Rohrbach said. “Obviously we’ll be present here for the next couple of practices, but the guys know how big a game it is. Reality is, we got to treat every game like it’s big and I think we’ve really done that.”

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (13-2): Jett Johnson 5 0-0 14, Dylan Hofer 3 0-0 7, Grady Jett 3 0-0 8, Luke Kaiser 2 0-0 4, Brooks Jett 6 0-0 12, Loyal Smith-Wade 1 2-2 4, Raymond Rodriguez-Martinez 0 2-2 2, Logan Rivett 1 0-0 3, Charles Eichler 3 0-0 7, Asher Keller 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 4-4 63

IPSWICH (8-7): Kyle Hettich 2 2-4 7, Brody Davis 0 1-2 1, Jaxon Holt 1 0-0 2, Shay Knust 3 1-2 7, Hayden Schlosser 2 0-0 5, Sam Bass 0 1-2 1, Josh Rausch 0 1-2 1, Mac Heinz 1 0-0 2. Totals 9 6-12 26

Aberdeen Christian 18 36 56 63

Ipswich 8 19 21 26

3-point field goals – Johnson 4, Hofer, G. Jett 2, Rivett, Eichler; Hettich, Schlosser. Total fouls -Aberdeen Christian 11; Ipswich 7. Rebounds – Aberdeen Christian 46 (B. Jett 8); Ipswich 28 (Schlosser 4). Turnovers – Aberdeen Christian 3; Ipswich 10. Assists – Aberdeen Christian 14 (Hofer 6); Ipswich 3 (Knust 2). Steal s- Aberdeen Christian 6 (B. Jett 2); Ipswich 3 (Hettich, Davis, Knust 1). Blocks – Aberdeen Christian 3 (G. Jett, B. Jett, Eichler ); Ipswich 2 (Davis, Rausch).