MITCHELL – Aberdeen Christian concluded a tough eight-day stretch of boys’ basketball the same way it started it: with a hard-fought victory on Saturday.

The Knights turned back Platte-Geddes 60-49 during the Hanson Classic at the Corn Palace. Christian went 4-0 during the key period to run its overall record to 9-2.

Christian overcame a slow start to open a double-digit lead in the second quarter against the Black Panthers.

“The first quarter was pretty slow paced, not a lot of scoring,” said Christian coach David Rohrbach. “The second quarter we started to hit some shots, especially from the outside. Our threes started to go a little bit, and the game was a little bit more up tempo, how we like to play.”

The Black Panthers cut the margin down to two points early in the second half, before Christian quickly regained control.

“The guys responded and then pushed the lead right back to 10, and we were able to kind of hold them off,” Rohrbach said.

The Knights thwarted the Platte-Geddes zone defense in the third quarter by getting the ball inside to Kaden Clark, who then found open shooters on the way to a game-high eight assists.

“We really went through him when they went to their 2-3 zone,” Rohrbach said.

While Clark scored just four points, Rohrbach said the junior played a key role in the victory, also holding Platte-Geddes center Caden Foxley to seven points.

“He played most of the post defense on Foxley and did a real nice job on him, too,” Rohrbach said. “Kaden was a pivotal factor in the game today for sure.”

Malek Wieker poured in a game-high 24 points to lead the Knights, including five three-pointers. Ethan Russell contributed 17 points and nine rebounds.

Cade Nachtigal had 15 points and Dawson Hoffman 13 for the Black Panthers.

Saturday’s win comes on the heels of victories over Potter County, Faulkton and Waubay-Summit for the Knights.

“This was a big week for us,” Rohrbach said. “Four teams who were either receiving votes or were ranked at one point. To come out 4-0 obviously is the desired outcome.”

Rohrbach feels his team grew through the experience.

“All of them were highly competitive games. I think we’ll learn a lot from it,” he said. “I think we really saw some maturity from the guys towards the end of the week.”

Christian plays Herreid-Selby Area at Selby on Tuesday.

Rohrbach knows the Wolverines, who played in a state football championship game this past fall, have plenty of quality athletes.

“Definitely, we’ll have to come ready to play,” he said.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (9-2): Andrew Brennan 1 1-2 3, Jackson Isakson 2 2-2 7, Ethan Russell 6 3-3 17, Malek Wieker 6 7-8 24, Kaden Clark 2 0-0 4, Abe Holscher 1 0-0 3, Joey Johnson 1 0-0 2. Totals 19-45 13-15 60.

PLATTE-GEDDES (5-3): Jackson Neuman 1 0-0 2, Hayes Rabenberg 3 0-0 7, Dawson Hoffman 5 0-0 13, Caden Foxley 1 5-6 7, Cade Nachtigal 5 2-3 15, Jackson Olsen 2 0-0 5. Totals 17-48 7-9 49.

Aberdeen Christian 8 27 47 60

Platte-Geddes 6 17 36 49

3-point field goals – Isakson, Russell 2, Wieker 5, Holscher; Rabenberg, Hoffman 3, Nachtigal 3, Olsen. Total fouls – Aberdeen Christian 13; Platte-Geddes 12. Rebounds – Aberdeen Christian 31 (Russell 9); Platte-Geddes 29 (Foxley 6, Nachtigal 6). Turnovers – Aberdeen Christian 9; Platte-Geddes 8. Assists – Aberdeen Christian 15 (Clark 8); Platte-Geddes 11 (Neuman 5). Steals 0 Aberdeen Christian 4; Platte-Geddes 5 (Hoffman 3).