Following a tight first half, Aberdeen Christian got a bit defensive at the Aberdeen Civic Arena Tuesday night.

The Knights adjusted their assignments and intensity, and ended up pulling away for a 64-40 Lake Region Conference boys’ basketball victory over Warner.

Leading just 31-28 as the break, Christian allowed just two points in the first 11 minutes of the second half. By then, the Knights has broken the game open and owned a commanding 57-30 advantage.

“We really went through and talked about defensive assignments and adjustments at halftime,” said Christian coach David Rohrbach. “The biggest thing was we just weren’t in the right spots and we weren’t getting there quick enough. Our rotations were late and we weren’t getting out on shooters. We were switching late.”

That all changed in a big way once the second half started.

Warner made a basket with 6:13 left in the third quarter and then didn’t score again until midway through the final period.

Where the Knights were a step late in the first half, they were spot on in the second half.

“That really tightened up,” Rohrbach said. “We were in the right spots a lot quicker and flying around a little better the third quarter.”

Point guard Malek Wieker said the Knights tried out a new scheme against the Monarchs.

“We put a new game plan in (Monday) at practice, a new defense,” Wieker said. “The last couple of years we’ve been forcing middle and coach changed it yesterday and we’re forcing baseline now.”

Warner, which found ways to attack the rim in the opening 16 minutes, was unable to dent the Christian defense in the final half.

“We went cold the third quarter. I think we ran out gas a little bit, but I was proud of my guys,” said Warner coach Derek Hoellein. “We hung in there with one of the better teams in the state of South Dakota in our class. It was blow for blow there in the first half.”

Jackson Isakson finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Knights. Wieker added 16 points and Ethan Russell 11. Christian often made the extra pass to spot high-percentage looks.

“I thought we got out and ran well. I thought we looked for each other,” Rohrbach said. “At times I’d like to see us put more pressure on the rim, get to the free-throw line, attack the basket, but I thought we shared the ball really well. We cut well. I was pleased with way we attacked the boards on offensive rebounding all night long. We were just attacking the boards.”

Unselfish play has become a characteristic of this group of players, but it was even more a point of emphasis following last weekend’s win over James Valley Christian.

“We watched film on our first game,” Wieker said. “We realized that we didn’t pass the ball enough, and we didn’t share it enough, so we really made that a point today to really share the ball and get our teammates involved, and obviously that put points on the scoreboard.”

Hunter Cramer scored a game-high 19 points to pace the Monarchs, who play at Potter County on Saturday.

Hoellein knows it’s early in the season, but said his team got better despite the setback.

“We have some things to clean up,” he said, “but that first half gave us a glimpse of what we could be.”

Christian has two more games this week, playing at Leola-Frederick on Thursday before hosting Britton-Hecla on Friday.

WARNER: Hunter Cramer 7 4-8 19, Trekk Hannahs 2 0-0 6, Ashton Schuchhardt 2 0-0 4, Peyton Jung 2 0-2 5, Levi Scepaniak 0 2-4 2, Isaac Hoeft 1 0-0 2, Zach Wood 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 6-14 40.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN: Andrew Brennan 1 1-2 4, Jackson Isakson 8 0-0 17, Ethan Russell 4 2-4 11, Malek Wieker 6 0-0 16, Kaden Clark 3 0-0 6, Abe Holscher 1 0-0 3, Blake Rich 1 0-0 2, Joey Johnson 2 0-0 5. Totals 26 3-6 64.

Warner 11 28 30 40

Aberdeen Christian 15 31 50 64

3-point field goals – Cramer, Hannahs 2, Jung; Brennan, Isakson, Russell, Wieker 4, Holscher, Johnson.  Total fouls – Warner 11; Aberdeen Christian 17. Rebounds – Warner (Schuchhardt 6, Jung 6); Aberdeen Christian 37 (Isakson 11). Assists – Warner (Cramer 4); Aberdeen Christian 17 (Wieker 5, Clark 5). Blocks – Warner (Jung 4); Aberdeen Christian (Russell 2). Steals – Warner (Jung 3); Aberdeen Christian 7 (Isakson 2).