Aberdeen Christian got down to business immediately and then took care of business the rest of the way in a win over Sisseton Saturday afternoon.

The Knights scored the first nine points of the game and never looked back on the way to a 60-39 boys’ basketball win during the Cavalier Classic at Roncalli Gym.

“It’s always nice to get off to a hot start,” said Christian coach Matt Rohrbach. “We preach trying to be ready to go in the first 45 seconds. You can’t sit and wait there for two minutes, otherwise you might be on the bench.”

The start is something that Sisseton coach Jared Groos has seen all too often.

“We’ve done it all year,” Groos said, “the last three years, we’ve spotted everybody.”

The undersized Redmen had a difficult time keeping the ball out of the lane against the Knights, who scored numerous points in the paint.

“They’ve got good size. We’re behind the 8-ball on the size thing, but it’s just the way it goes,” Groos said. “You’ve got to man-up down there, and play tough and physical.”

Brooks Jett help to set the tone with nine first-quarter points as Christian opened a 13-point advantage. From there, the Knights were never threatened as a variety of players made contributations.

One of those was sophomore starter Dylan Hofer. The 5-foot-9 point guard is a sparkplug for the Knights.

“His stamina is unmatched. I truly don’t know if I’ve ever seen a kid play as hard as he does,” Rohrbach said. “He doesn’t come out of the game much and he’s just always seems to be around the ball.”

Hofer finished with 12 points and also orchestrated Christian’s potent offense. He is not afraid to drive into the lane, either.

“I’ve kind of always done that,” Hofer said, “trying to get rebounds, just hustling for balls and stuff.”

And like a good point guard, he is always looking to get the ball to open teammates to get them involved.

“Whenever I see an opening or if I see a teammate open,” Hofer said, “and then on the fast break, it’s helpful to get the ball and just pass it up, pass it up to the wings, so we can get easier layups on the fast break.”

While Sisseton wasn’t able to make much a dent in the deficit, the Redmen didn’t go away, either. Sisseton received 31 points from its reserves to hang around throughout the contest.

“All the kids are good groups of kids, but that second group, they’re trying to earn minutes right now and I think that they did tonight, I guess,” Groos said.

One of the leaders of that pack is former starter Hayden Hellwig, who is thriving in his new role.

“I’ve started before. Going in there, you’ve got to try your hardest,” Hellwig said. “You’ve got to earn it. It’s not given to you. It makes me play better playing sixth man. I like it.”

Reserve Derrick Flute lead Sisseton with 10 points, while Hellwig followed with nine.

“I just think that I’ve got something to prove,” Hellwig said. “You’ve just got to give it your all out there. You lose nothing out there. You have all of it to win.”

Jett had 14 points to lead a balanced attack for the Knights. Jett Johnson and Luke Kaiser each added 10 to the Christian ledger.

The Knights, 2-1, are back at Roncalli to take on the Cavaliers on Tuesday, Jan. 7. They plan to used their break to work on a variety of things.

“We really want to turn down our turnovers and then just get the ball moving, and make sure to box out and our positioning on defense,” Hofer said. “I think we still need to work on our boxing out, but it’s definitely getting better.”

SISSETON (0-3): Levi Nelson 0 2-2 2, Bradley Hansen 1 2-4 4, Jeremias Perez 0 2-2 2, Dana Bravebull 1 0-0 2, Josh Donnell 2 0-0 4, Brett Hanson 1 0-0 2, Hayden Hellwig 4 1-2 9, Derrick Flute 4 2-2 10, Vincent Donnell 2 0-0 4. Totals 15-53 9-12 39.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (2-1): Jett Johnson 3 3-4 10, Dylan Hofer 5 2-2 12, Luke Kaiser 3 2-4 10, Brooks Jett 5 4-5 14, Raymond Rodriguez-Martinez 2 2-2 6, Ethan Biel 2 0-0 4, Grady Jett 0 2-2 2, Lincoln Kaiser 1 0-0 2. Totals 21-47 15-19 60.

Sisseton 11 16 27 39

Aberdeen Christian 20 31 44 60

3-point field goals – Johnson, Luke Kaiser 2. Total fouls – Sisseton 19; Aberdeen Christian 15. Rebounds – Sisseton 35 (Flute 10); Aberdeen Christian 37 (Luke Kaiser 8, Russell 8). Turnovers – Sisseton 12; Aberdeen Christian 12.