In a game where points were hard to come by, a short spurt at the end of the opening half proved to play a key role Saturday afternoon at the Civic Arena.

Leola-Frederick made back-to-back three-point field goals in the final 32 seconds of the second quarter to give the Titans a boost of energy on the way to a 31-17 Lake Region Conference girls’ basketball win over Aberdeen Christian.

Leading just 11-9 in the final stages of the first half, Jillian Ellwein and Chloe Arneson nailed long-range shots to give the Titans an eight-point halftime edge and some momentum heading into the second half.

“That definitely led us to be more aggressive I think and bring more energy to the second half, because that first half I don’t think we had enough energy and we were not playing a very offensive game,” Arneson said. “I think in the second half we kind of brought that more. It was clear to see that. I think that really made a big difference in how we came out.”

Arneson said she wasn’t sure how many seconds were left on the clock before she launched a three-pointer that found the bottom of the net with three seconds remaining.

“I kind of figured there were 6-8 (seconds) and I remember one of our coaches said that if there was 6 seconds just chuck it, because then we’d have a chance for a second rebound,” Arneson said. “I air-balled other threes and that one went in, so it kind of gave me some more confidence to do some other things.”

While there was still plenty of game remaining, those 32 seconds turned out to play a key role, especially when it came to momentum.

“Those things happen. They moved the ball pretty good. Our girls did not keep up so well with that,” said Knights coach Cristian Martinez. “They were screening so they got those open shots and they made it.”

The Titans did not make another three-pointer the rest of the way, instead focusing on getting the ball inside for higher-percentage shots.

That proved to be effective as Leola-Frederick eventually built a double-digit advantage.

“That was our problem in the first half,” said Titans coach Jeff Kosters, “we were living and dying by the three.”

Leola-Frederick is used to shooting from the perimeter, but the Titans were not connecting like they normally do.

“Chloe and Laura (Sumption) are shooting together about 35 percent from three,” Kosters said, “and we didn’t have that today.”

As a result, Arneson decided to find shots closer to the basket in the second half when she scored six points to keep the Titans in front.

“Tonight was kind of a bad night for my threes,” Arneson said. “I usually live off of threes, so I knew that I’d have to make my way in and shoot some jumpers because it wasn’t falling from the outside, so that’s what I did. I shot on the inside more.”

Arneson led Leola-Frederick with 10 points and Sumption contributed eight. Each also collected six steals.

The Knights battled, but could not come up with enough offense to keep up with Leola-Frederick.

“I thought the Christian girls played hard,” Kosters said. “They’re scrappy.”

Chloe Bosma finished with seven points and seven rebounds to power the Knights.

Martinez said he saw positives out of his young squad during the contest.

“The big positive we saw today is we had many junior high players play today, eighth-graders and seventh-graders,” he said, “and they did an amazing job.”

Christian travels to Faulkton for another LRC game on Tuesday.

Martinez said his players will continue to battle.

“We didn’t win today,” Martinez said, “but we’re working so hard and we see improvement every day.”

LEOLA-FREDERICK: Olivia Morlock 1 1-2 3, Chloe Arneson 3 3-4 10, Laura Sumption 2 3-4 8, Jocelyn Ellwein 1 0-0 2, Alyx Hoffman 0 2-2 2, Katelyn Mueller 0 1-2 1, Jillian Ellwein 2 0-0 5. Totals 9 10-14 31

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (0-10): Rachel Beaner 1 0-0 3, Bailey Hunstad 2 1-4 5, Sophia Eichler 1 0-0 2, Chloe Bosma 2 2-4 7. Totals 6 3-8 17.

Leola-Frederick 5 17 24 31

Aberdeen Christian 3 9 14 17

3-point field goals –Arneson, Sumption, Jillian Ellwein; Beaner, Bosma. Total fouls – Leola-Frederick 15; Aberdeen Christian 10. Rebounds – Leola-Frederick 19 (Morlock 5); Aberdeen Christian (Jolie Fogarty 8, Bosma 7). Assists – Leola-Frederick 4 (Morlock 2, Arneson 2). Steals – Leola-Frederick 15 (Arneson 6, Sumption 6).