MITCHELL – An aggressive defense and a sharp-shooting first half propelled Hamlin to a 48-43 boys’ basketball win over top-rated Aberdeen Christian at the DWU Classic at the Corn Palace in Mitchell on Saturday night.

The Knights made a serious run in the closing minute, but could never fully recover from a slow start.

Hamlin used an 8-0 run to build an early lead in the first quarter, and used an intense pressure defense to stifle the Christian offense. The Knights failed to score until the 5:11 mark of the first quarter when Konnar Furman made a pair of free-throws. Hamlin’s Tyson Stevenson and Easton Neuendorf combined for 15 of the Chargers 18 first-quarter points, while the defense did its part in holding the Knights offense to eight points in the opening period.

Hamlin guard Easton Neuendorf noted how the team’s defense led to offense.

“For us to play good, we’ve got to defend, and then if we defend, we get out and we run and that’s when we’re at our best,” Neuendorf said. “So, defense leads to offense. We talked about that earlier today before we got here and saying how we have got to defend. We can’t get into an offensive battle, because sometimes shots don’t go in, so you got to win it on the defensive end.”

For the Knights, the slow start proved to be costly, as it took the top-rated team in Class B most of the first half to find its rhythm.

“It took us a little bit to find our rhythm, and unfortunately we didn’t really find it all game,” said Christian coach Matt Rohrbach. “Credit to Hamlin for sure. They came out with a good defensive game plan, and they were on their toes and we were on our heels.”

During the second quarter, despite being outscored 13-11, Christian matched Hamlin basket for basket. The Knights settled in and found themselves down 31-19 at halftime. They were down, but not out.

Rohrbach said the team needed to make some adjustments at halftime.

“We just tried to make sure that we were reading screens a little bit better,” Rohrbach said. “That first half, we were kind of running around, not really playing together, a little bit more one-on-one. Unfortunately, we just kind of ran out of gas based on that first quarter and how slow we started.”

In the third quarter, Hamlin was able to stretch its lead to 40-24 before Christian went on a 9-0 run to end the quarter. That set the stage for an exciting final period.

The Knights continued to chip away at the Hamlin lead in the fourth quarter, eventually trailing by just two with 48 seconds left after Jackson Isakson sank a 3-pointer from the right corner, making the score 45-43. However, Hamlin was able to make three free throws, one by Brennan Keszler and two by Neuendorf, to seal the win.

Although Hamlin’s offense sputtered in the second half, the defense continued to cause problems for the Knights, something that pleased Hamlin coach Todd Neuendorf.

“Some of those shots we were making in the first half, we weren’t making in the second half, but we played good enough defense to keep them at bay, as long as we could,” Coach Neuendorf said. “They made a little run there and it got pretty close, but the defense kind of saved us tonight because we kind of went broke there at the end of the game.”

Hamlin was led by Easton Neuendorf with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Tyson Stevenson had 12 points. Brennan Keszler added seven points and seven rebounds to the total.

The Knights were led by Malek Wieker with 13 points, while Jackson Isakson and Ethan Russell each had eight points. Russell also grabbed nine rebounds.

Both coaches stressed the need to continue to make improvements and adjustments as the end of the regular season is near.

Coach Neuendorf noted that his team needs to make baskets late in games.

“We’ve got to make sure that we get some easy baskets,” Neuendorf said. “We’ve got to start getting to the foul line late in the game, and we didn’t do that.”

For Christian, Rohrbach stressed that the team needs to continue to play together.

“We definitely need to make sure that we read screens a little better,” Rohrbach said. “They showed us tonight that if we can’t get by our guy, necessarily, we’ve got to make sure that we have adjustments in the bag, and making sure that we are still working with each other and not taking fall aways and bad shots.”

Christian (16-2) hosts Langford Area on Tuesday, while Hamlin (14-3) travels to Britton-Hecla on Tuesday.

HAMLIN (14-3): Easton Neuendorf 6 4-4 18, Brennan Keszler 3 1-3 7, Tyson Stevenson 5 0-0 12, Zac  VanMeeteren 1 1-2 3, Evan Storm 2 0-0 6, Jackson Wadsworth 1 0-0 2. Totals 18-50 6-9 48.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (16-2): Jackson Isakson 3 1-2 8, Ethan Russell 2 4-4 8, Malek Wieker 5 2-3 13, Kaden Clark 3 0-0 6, Konnar Furman 1 3-4 5, Ellis Russell 1 0-0 2, Joey Johnson 0 1-2 1. Totals 15-41 11-15 43.

Hamlin 18 31 40 48

Aberdeen Christian 8 19 33 43

3-point field goals – Neuendorf 2, Stevenson 2, Stormo 2; Isakson, Wieker. Total fouls – Hamlin 15; Aberdeen Christian 9. Rebounds – Hamlin 31 (Neuendorf 7, Keszler 7); Aberdeen Christian 31 (Russell 9). Turnovers – Hamlin 6; Aberdeen Christian 9. Assists – Hamlin 7 (Dawson Noem 3); Aberdeen Christian 8 (Wieker 3). Steals – Hamlin 5; Aberdeen Christian 1.