Waubay-Summit did everything it could to muddy the waters against Aberdeen Christian’s size, but the Knights’ length eventually won out as Christian rode a second-quarter surge to a 56-28 non-conference boys’ basketball victory Thursday night at the Civic Arena.

The win is the second straight for the Knights, who leveraged their size and length to their advantage.

“The first quarter, we were trying to pack the paint and keep the ball out of the middle,” said Waubay-Summit coach Mark Amahl. “We did a really good job in the first quarter until we got tired.”

That opening quarter ended in a 8-all tie, but Christian’s relentless defensive pressure and a prolonged offensive scoring run in the second quarter set the Knights up for victory.

“I felt like tonight, we played a lot like we did Tuesday night,” said Christian coach Aaron Moeller, referencing his team’s victory over Faulkton. “We used our size, and we made a concerted effort to get the ball to the interior. We talked a lot about limiting our 3-pointers, because we’re not a great 3-point shooting team. We were 3-for-8, though, tonight, which I can live with that. But our team, we are good when we get the ball inside.”

Indeed, Christian leaned on senior center Joey Johnson, who finished with 19 points. Becker Bosma added eight points, all of which came in that second stanza.

“We had a lot of bunnies that we missed, but we still put up 56 against a good, quality team,” Bosma said. “We just kept pounding it inside and going inside to our big guys.”

Both Bosma and Moeller gave a nod to the Knights’ defensive effort, which Moeller said is starting to come into its own after back-to-back games of holding an opponent under 40 points.

“Our defense is starting to find itself, which is really encouraging,” Moeller said.

The Knights held Waubay-Summit senior standout Jackson Wohlleber to just three points, all of which came in the fourth quarter. Traveion Neilan led the Mustangs with 10 points, including all four of the team’s points in the second stanza.

“Aberdeen Christian is going to win a lot of games if they play defense like that and keep the ball out of the paint and make teams be shooters,” Amdahl said. “They did a really good job of taking away our best player and closing out on our shooters on the perimeter. Defense like that can make a lot of offenses look not very good.”

Waubay-Summit will look to get back on track next Friday when they host Warner in Summit. Amdahl said his team will use the week-long break to reset.

“We can either get bitter or get better,” Amdahl said. “That’s what I told them in the locker room, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Christian, which began the season 1-4, has now won two straight against teams with winning records.

“It’s another win against a quality opponent,” Moeller said. “With a young team, you hope that as you win a few, you start to understand and you know what it feels like to win. Sometimes with a young team you have to learn how to win, and we’re starting to learn and that’s really exciting.”

The Knights are set to host Sioux Falls Lutheran Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 2:15 p.m. at the ACS Gymnasium.

WAUBAY-SUMMIT (7-5): Jackson Wohlleber 1 1-2 3, Jared Purdy 1 0-0 2, Dylan Rumpza 1 0-0 2, Camden Neilan 2 0-0 6, Traveion Neilan 4 1-3 10, Tigh Gaikowski 1 0-0 2, Hogan Hlavacek 0 0-2 0, Tripp Gaikowski 0 1-2 1, Jayven Maag 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 3-9 28.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (3-4): Ellis Russell 1 3-4 5, Becker Bosma 3 1-1 8, Konnar Furman 3 1-1 7, Joey Johnson 9 1-2 19, Luke Kaiser 2 0-0 4, Jett Johnson 1 0-0 3, Cowboy Haskell 0 0-2 0, Raymond Rodriguez-Martinez 1 2-2 5, Brooks Jett 1 1-1 5. Totals 21 9-13 56.

Waubay-Summit 8 12 22 28

Aberdeen Christian 8 24 40 56

3-point field goals – Waubay-Summit 3 (C. Neilan 2, T. Neilan); Aberdeen Christian 3 (Bosma, Johnson, Martinez). Total fouls – Waubay-Summit 12; Aberdeen Christian 12.