WARNER – Fifth-rated Warner relied on a pair of its staples this season – balanced scoring and solid defense – to claim another girls’ basketball victory Monday night.

The Monarchs improved to 9-2 on the season following a 57-13 Lake Region Conference win over Aberdeen Christian.

Warner made life difficult for the Knights by creating more than 30 turnovers in the contest, many of which turned into transition baskets.

“They showed why they’re number five in the state,” said Knights coach Cristian Martinez. “They run good defense over there.”

The Monarchs hounded the Christian ball handlers into numerous miscues as Warner took control early.

“We do a man press most of the time and then we started doing a zone press,” said Warner starter Sophia Hoeft, “so it’s just like adjusting to that and just getting a whole bunch of touches.”

When the Monarchs ran their half-court offense, they often did not settle for the outside shot, instead preferring to work the ball inside for high-percentage shots.

“I told them they could shoot the outside shot tonight and they still chose to try go inside,” said Warner coach Tina Winter, “which is kind of our game plan and it seems to be working so far for us.”

As has been the case all season so far the Monarchs, the team featured a balanced offensive attack as five different players scored at least eight points in the victory.

“I think our leading scorer every game has been different,” Winter said, “but it’s always been within 2-3 points of the next leading scorer, which is usually different also, so it’s been a nice balance of everybody.”

Lauren Marcuson and Stacia Carda each scored 12 points to lead the Monarchs. Kamryn Anderson followed with nine, while Hoeft and Ava Nilsson each added eight.

All five Monarch starters scored in the opening quarter when Warner bolted out to a commanding 18-4 advantage.

“I feel like as a team we like to share the basketball a lot, so that’s good and nobody is selfish or anything,” Hoeft said. “We’re really close as a team.”

Sophia Fogarty had five points to lead the Christian scoring. Sophia Eichler produced eight rebounds and blocked five shots on the evening.

“She’s active. Her game is still in progress,” Martinez said of Eichler. “She’s an eighth-grader and she’s showing that. It’s a good start. She’s very fun to watch.”

Warner is gearing up for the second half of its season. The Monarchs are currently in the hunt for the LRC championship before setting their sights on the post season.

“They just have to keep working as a team. I really like that they’ve kind of delegated out certain roles to each other,” Winter said of her players. “They’re all comfortable filling them and we’re playing really well together right now, so hopefully that’s going to be the key to us succeeding.”

Christian is still searching for its first win of the season. The Knights travel to Waverly-South Shore on Saturday. The Coyotes are also winless on the year.

“I heard they’re in kind of the same situation with a very young team,” Martinez said. “It’s going to be fun.”

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (0-13): Bailey Hunstad 2 0-0 4, Sophia Eichler 1 0-0 2, Sophia Fogarty 2 0-0 5, Chloe Bosma 0 2-2 2. Totals 5-29 2-2 13.

WARNER (9-2): Kiah Koch 1 0-0 2, Ava Nilsson 3 1-2 8, Sophia Hoeft 4 0-0 8, Lauren Marcuson 6 0-0 12, Kamryn Anderson 4 1-1 9, Kendyl Anderson 1 2-4 4, Stacia Carda 6 0-0 12, Addisyn Heinrich 1 0-0 2. Totals 26-62 4-7 57.

Aberdeen Christian 4 6 11 13

Warner 18 25 41 57

3-point field goals – Fogarty; Nilsson. Total fouls – Aberdeen Christian 6; Warner 6. Rebounds – Aberdeen Christian 31 (Eichler 8); Warner 35 (Nilsson 8). Turnovers – Aberdeen Christian 36; Warner 13. Blocked shots – Aberdeen Christian (Eichler 5).