Aberdeen Christian made a statement early in Tuesday night’s matchup against North Central at the Aberdeen Civic Arena.

The Knights scored the first 20 points of the game, pitched a shutout in the second quarter, and claimed a 59-20 Lake Region Conference boys’ basketball victory.

“I thought energy was good. We were trying to kind of get back to who we are as far as we’re trying to play with some tempo and get up the floor a little bit,” said Christian coach Matt Rohrbach. “I felt like the starters kind of brought the energy right away, and were able to get some steals and kind of get us going.”

The up-tempo pace was something the Thunder were expecting, but they were not prepared for the actual speed of the Knights.

“They’re faster in real life than I thought they were. And we didn’t get back in transition very well,” said North Central coach Scott Heyne. “They’re a real good team, well coached. Matt does a nice job.”

Christian used a wide variety of scorers in the opening 16 minutes with eight players contributing to a 36-point first half. Rohrbach said that intense practices prepare all of the players, starters and reserves, for actual games.

“Our practices have been pretty competitive really all year and we felt like the competitiveness of the second unit really brings the best out of our starters, and the starters bring out the best in them,” said Rohrbach. “We expected that when they went in there and they got extra minutes because of it.”

Raymond Rodriguez-Martinez scored 11 points off the bench for the Knights. While he enjoys scoring, he also likes to give others the opportunity to shine as well.

“It’s honestly very fun, I guess, ‘cause I don’t really score like that. But being able to do that type of stuff is just really fun. And getting the teammates involved is actually really fun, too,” said Rodriguez-Martinez. “I wanna share the rock with everybody. I want everybody to have their stats on there, so I don’t want anybody behind.”

The Thunder eventually got their offense going, scoring 18 points in the second half, including 11 in the final period.

“The second half we matched a little bit better in transition and crashed the boards a little harder. And obviously we scored a few more points, too,” said Heyne. “We did some good things in the second half, and we gotta build off that. Obviously, it’s back to the drawing board.”

Brooks Jett had 15 points to lead the Knights. Grady Jett added nine, and Ethan Biel contributed eight. A majority of the minutes in the second half were played by players that didn’t start the game.

“It’s a lot of fun. It really is. I mean, just the positive energy that everybody brings and everybody feels like they’re part of the program,” said Rohrbach. “And truthfully, they all are because every single one of them are getting a ton of reps in practice.”

Jade Jacobs topped North Central with nine points.

The Thunder, 5-8 on the season, will focus on being more consistent and playing with faster pace for the remainder of their schedule.

“We have a really good group of guys, and so the kids are good. We’re just trying to find the direction. We’re used to not playing at this speed and these guys are a good team, and so that’ll be the next step for us,” Heyne said. “To be more consistent and play at a faster pace and just bring the intensity in practice. I think we’ll be OK.”

Aberdeen Christian, 9-4 on the season, will be on the road taking on Northwestern Thursday, while North Central will face off against Lyman at a classic in Highmore on Saturday.

NORTH CENTRAL (5-8): Zane Haar 2 0-0 5, Tim Rucker 1 0-0 2, Jade Jacobs 3 3-3 9, Isaiah Heilman 2 0-0 4. Totals 8 3-5 20.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (9-4): Jett Johnson 3 0-0 7, Dylan Hofer 0 1-2 1, Luke Kaiser 3 0-0 6, Brooks Jett 7 1-2 15, Raymond Rodriguez-Martinez 4 2-2 11, Ethan Biel 3 0-0 8, Grady Jett 4 0-0 9, Lincoln Kaiser 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 4-6 59.

North Central 2 2 9 20

Aberdeen Christian 20 36 48 59

3-point field goals – Haar; Rodriguez-Martinez, Biel 2, G. Jett. Total Fouls – North Central 7; Aberdeen Christian 8. Turnovers – North Central 21; Aberdeen Christian 12.