Aberdeen Christian found itself trapped in a tough spot Saturday afternoon, before the Knights turned to a trap to reverse their fortunes.

Second-rated Christian held Oakes scoreless for the final five minutes and rallied for a 52-49 non-conference boys’ basketball win at the Aberdeen Civic Arena.

“We talked about how we were not scoring like we needed to and that they couldn’t score again,” said Christian coach Matt Rohrbach, “so that’s what we did.”

Trailing 49-41, the Knights gradually mounted a comeback. Three different players scored to pull Christian to within one, before Kaden Clark finally put the Knights in front with a basket in the lane with 45.9 seconds left.

Meanwhile, the Tornadoes were unable to find any offense down the stretch. Christian decided to employ a half-court trap which totally took the visitors out of their rythmn.

“Konnar Furman’s length in that 1-2-2 trap definitely gave them some fits,” Rohrbach said. “They were being a little passive with the shot clock there at the end, so we tried to speed them up a little bit.”

After a pair of free throws pushed Christian’s lead to three, the Tornadoes still had a couple of chances. However, a potential game-tying three-pointer rimmed in and out in the closing seconds.

“Their length caused us some problems,” said Oakes coach Jeremy Skoglund, “and we got tired and shots weren’t falling.”

After managing just six points in the third quarter, the Christian offense came to life and the defense was clutch when it mattered most.

“We just had to turn on that switch,” said Christian senior Ethan Russell. “It’s kind of scary what we do when we’re firing on all cylinders. We just have to be consistent, though.”

It was a memorable day for Russell, who scored his 1,000th career point on the way to a game-high 29 points. The 6-foot-7 forward did the bulk of his damage inside.

“They came out in that 1-3-1,” Russell said. “It kind of started, I was trying to drive and create and get some threes for our shooters, but it ended up opening a little bit of lanes for me, and I ended up getting some buckets in there, too.”

While Russell said the milestone point total is meaningful, he said there is still a lot of work left to do.

“It’s always good to see the fruits of your labors,” Russell said. ” We have a long of season ahead still and the main goal is not quite done, yet.”

The final score marked the second time this season that Oakes has lost in the closing seconds in the Hub City, also falling to Aberdeen Roncalli last month. The Tornadoes are 2-6, but have lost to three rated teams this season.

“Hats off to Oakes,” Rohrbach said. “They played really well and they gave us a good battle tonight.”

Rohrbach said the Tornadoes exposed some things that the Knights will need to work on and showed up ready to play.

“They were the harder working team tonight. That was the frustration that me and the coaching staff took tonight,” Rohrbach said. “We weren’t the hardest-working team and that’s something we pride ourselves on, because if you can be the hardest-working team, things are usually going to work out for you.”

Adler Paeper and Xavier Vossler each scored 16 points to pace the Tornadoes.

Skoglund said despite the setback his team will take positives away from it.

“We’ll build off this,” Skoglund said. “We’ve won the last two coming into this one, and to be this close to a team of that caliber really gives us the confidence going forward here to start our district play.”

Wieker added 11 points to the Christian total and Clark finished with seven.

The Knights, 5-0 on the season, face Potter County Friday in Hoven, before hosting Leola-Frederick on Saturday afternoon at the Civic Arena.

OAKES (2-6): Trey Skoglund 2 0-1 4, Andrew Wolff 3 0-0 7, Adler Paeper 7 1-2 16, Xavier Vossler 6 1-1 16, Noah Sundby 3 0-2 6. Totals 21 2-6 49.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (5-0): Andrew Brennan 1 0-0 2, Jackson Isakson 0 1-2 1, Ethan Russell 11 4-6 29, Malek Wieker 4 2-6 11, Kaden Clark 3 0-1 7, Joey Johnson 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 7-15 52.

Oakes 9 24 42 49

Aberdeen Christian 17 31 37 52

3-point field goals – Wolff, Paeper, Vossler 3; Russell 3, Wieker, Clark. Total fouls – Oakes 12; Aberdeen Christian 8. Rebounds – Aberdeen Christian 28 (Wieker 6, Russell 5). Turnovers – Oakes 12; Aberdeen Christian 11. Assists – Aberdeen Christian 4. Blocked Shots – Aberdeen Christian 2. Steals – Aberdeen Christian 8 (Isakson 2, Russell 2, Wieker 2).