The size and length of the Aberdeen Christian proved to be too much for Ipswich Tuesday night.

The Knights led from near start to finish on the way to a 49-36 Lake Region Conference boys’ basketball win at the Civic Arena.

Christian built an eight-point lead in the opening quarter, holding the visiting Tigers to just four points to put Ipswich in an early hole.

“It’s huge, and we had some looks in the first quarter that didn’t go down. And part of that is credit to them a little bit,” said Ipswich coach Stewart Bohle. “They’re long and they’re athletic so they alter some shots a little bit.”

The Knights also got off to a slow start before heating up.

“We were getting good shots in the first, we just didn’t shoot well and that’s basketball,” said Christian coach Matt Rohrbach. “Dylan Hofer kind of took over there in the second quarter hitting those two threes and having a couple layups. He’s that kind of player and we know he can score like that and he needed to tonight.”

Hofer kick-started the Knights’ offense during a 20-point second quarter, with a layup on the second possession, and a 3-pointer on the third possession. He hit one more three in the second quarter, finishing with eight in the period as the Knights entered the locker room up 32-17.

“That was my first three of the season, that first one,” said Hofer. “So then next one, I had to heat check it.”

The Tigers made some adjustments at the half and outscored Christian 12-4 in the third quarter.

“In that first half, we were dead in the water. And we really are and that’s credit to them, but we made some adjustments at halftime,” said Bohle. “Our kids played their butts off that second half. I never saw any quit in their eyes or anything like that, and we just kept working and working. And all of a sudden, you found yourself in a ball game.”

Going into the fourth quarter, the Tigers trailed 36-29, before a Jaxon Holt layup cut the lead down to five. However, Christian scored sixth straight points to push the lead back to double digits.

“We pretty much preach that every single day, just trying to win the possession and win for each other. It might be your possession to get a shot and it might not,” said Rohrbach. “For the most part, I feel like the guys have really bought into that and you know it shows during some certain stretches for sure.”

The Knights made that run without leading scorer Brooks Jett on the floor because of foul trouble.

“It’s probably good for the rest of the guys to maybe get put in a situation where it’s weird to not have Brooks on the floor. And that’s kind of what it was tonight,” said Rohrbach. “And it’s a good learning lesson for everybody, especially him. Just about being smart, and position and not reaching around. Things like that.”

The 6-foot-5 Jett and 6-3 Max Kulesa went up against each other in the paint. The smaller Kulesa held his own, finishing with 10 points and six rebounds.

“When I see the ball go up, I just know I gotta get it. I know 6-foot-5 standing behind me, so I know I gotta get up there,” said Kulesa. “He got it from me once, and I just told myself I can’t let that happen again.”

Christian capped off the win from the charity step as the Tigers were forced to foul down the stretch and the Knights made their free throws.

“Yeah, they’re really important. We’ve had a few games where they came down to free throws,” said Hofer. “Our team’s usually pretty big when it comes down.”

Hofer paced the Knights with 14 points, while Brooks Jett and Grady Jett each added 12.

Hayden Schlosser topped Ipswich with a dozen points.

In the end, the length of the Knights proved to be too much for the smaller Tigers.

“We’re 5-10 and we’re trying to guard 6-4 and you know, they’re just gritty and gutty,” said Bohle of his players. “Sometimes we don’t look like much, but by golly, at the end of the night, the other team knows that they’ve been in a game.”

Ipswich, 9-7, will take on Sunshine Bible Academy Friday night. Christian, 12-4, has a road game at Hitchcock-Tulare on Monday.

IPSWICH (9-7): Kyle Hettich 0 2-2 2, Tucker Kadlec 1 3-4 5, Max Kulesa 3 4-8 10, Jaxon Holt 2 0-0 5, Shay Knust 1 0-0 2, Hayden Schlosser 4 0-0 12. Totals 11 9-14 36.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (11-4): Jett Johnson 2 0-0 6, Dylan Hofer 4 4-6 14, Luke Kaiser 1 3-4 5, Brooks Jett 5 2-2 12, Grady Jett 6 0-0 12. Totals 18 9-12 49

Ipswich 4 17 29 36

Aberdeen Christian 12 32 36 49

3-point field goals – Holt, Schlosser 4; Johnson 2, Hofer 2. Total Fouls – Ipswich 9; Aberdeen Christian 16. Rebounds – Ipswich 24 (Kadlec 6); Aberdeen Christian 35 (Hofer, 7 Kaiser 7, B. Jett 7). Turnovers – Ipswich 9; Aberdeen Christian 12. Assists – Ipswich 4 (Kadlec 2); Aberdeen Christian 5 (Ellis Russell 3). Steals – Ipswich 7 (Schlosser 2); Aberdeen Christian 6 (Russell 3). Blocks – Ipswich 1 (Kadlec 1); Aberdeen Christian 4 (B. Jett 3).