It was a senior night performance for the record books Monday night at the Aberdeen Civic Arena.

Lone Aberdeen Christian senior Joey Johnson poured in a school-record 48 points to power the Knights to a 72-44 non-conference boys’ basketball win over Hitchcock-Tulare. The previous record was 43 points set by Matt Rohrbach.

Johnson scored 33 points in the first half alone.

“It was a lot of my teammates helping me get open. I kind of got hot in that first half and we knew obviously I kind of had a shot at breaking the record,” Johnson said. “I was telling my teammates I don’t want to play selfish or anything, but heads up I’m kind of close and they were the ones telling me the whole time, just play selfish, do whatever you want, just get that record.”

With Johnson touching the ball on nearly every possession and the Patriots having no answer inside, Christian was able to open up a 23-point halftime advantage. He then broke the record late in the third quarter.

“I’m really proud of Joey, but it was a team effort obviously to make that happen,” said Christian coach Aaron Moeller, “but really excited for him.”

Hitchcock-Tulare simply could not contain Johnson on the low block.

“Joey was just on fire tonight,” said Patriots coach John Nowell, “and we didn’t have anybody that really could handle his inside presence.”

Johnson didn’t see double teams the whole time, but when he did, he simply split it with his strength.

“That’s what he was doing tonight, and he was able to finish,” Nowell said. “He really finished well even with two or three guys on him. He’s just a good athlete.”

Johnson’s size wasn’t the only issue. With their smallest starter standing 6-foot-3, the Knights owned an advantage at every spot on the floor.

“It’s definitely a challenge when we have to go against a team with 6-3 across the board,” said Hitchcock-Tulare senior Jackson Maynard.

That size not only helped Christian on offense, but it provided length for its defense as well.

“It makes it harder to move the ball,” Maynard said. “Our guards can’t get as involved because they’re outsized by a lot.”

In the end, the night belonged to Johnson, who also hauled down a dozen rebounds in addition to his record-setting point total. Moeller pointed out that the Patriots are not small in their own right.

“I felt like that might give him some fits tonight, because of their size,” Moeller said. “They’ve got a kid that’s going to play football at Northern, a kid that’s going to play football at Black Hills, so I really felt inside that he was going to have some challenges tonight, but I never expected him to score the way he did.”

Johnson also drilled a pair of three-point field goals during his offensive barrage.

Brendan Nowell had 11 points and Maynard 10 for Hitchcock-Tulare, which slipped to 7-10 on the year.

The Patriots were unable to string consistent possessions together against the Knights, something they are wanting to do as they approach the postseason.

“I think that’s something we’ve struggled with all year long is, we can’t put four good quarters together, Maynard said, “so come region time I think we can compete with anybody as long as we put four quarters together.”

Konnar Furman added 11 points to the Christian total. The Knights, 12-4, play at Langford Area tonight and will look to add to their 11-game winning streak.

When asked what it will take to make a strong postseason run, Johnson responded, “Just keep playing the brand of basketball we play, just being physical, getting to the rim. We’re not last year’s team, but we have our own talents and we have what we have to offer, so we just have to get playing our brand of basketball which is fast passing, attack a little bit in transition, and get to the rim.”

HITCHCOCK-TULARE (7-10): Brendan Nowell 4 0-0 11, Patrick Maynard 3 0-2 7, Erik Salmen 3 1-2 7, Blaze Binger 2 0-0 4, Jackson Maynard 4 0-0 10, Devin Enander 1 1-3 3, Payton Chasing Hawk 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 2-7 44.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (12-4): Becker Bosma 2 0-0 5, Konnar Furman 4 2-5 11, Brooks Jett 3 0-0 6, Joey Johnson 20 6-10 48, Grady Jett 1 0-0 2. Totals 30 8-15 72.

Hitchcock-Tulare 13 22 34 44

Aberdeen Christian 17 45 56 72

3-point field goals – Nowell (3), P. Maynard, J. Maynard (2); Bosma, Furman, Johnson (2). Total fouls – Hitchcock-Tulare 12; Aberdeen Christian 8. Rebounds – Hitchcock-Tulare 22 (P. Maynard 7, J. Maynard 7); Aberdeen Christian 31 (Johnson 12. Turnovers – Hitchcock-Tulare 11; Aberdeen Christian 6.