Aberdeen Christian dominated the paint on defense, got out in transition on offense and rolled to a 47-23 girls’ basketball win over Warner Tuesday night.

The fifth-rated Knights took advantage of their length on both ends of the floor to key the Lake Region Conference victory at the Aberdeen Civic Arena.

“We defended well and we didn’t give up as many offensive rebounds as we had the last two games,” said Christian coach Michael Rohrbach. “That’s really been a focus of ours, is defending, getting defensive rebounds and then getting out and running. We were able to get stops and that allows you to run.”

Christian led 9-5 midway through the opening period before taking control thanks to an 18-0 scoring run. With Warner’s defense focused on slowing down 6-foot-4 Mallory Miller in the post, the Knights played inside out and were able to hit shots from the perimeter in the half court when they weren’t beating the Monarchs in transition.

“We’re a good half-court team,” Miller said, “but when we get in transition, it’s really hard to stop us, too.”

The Knights were stellar on defense the entire night as the Monarchs had a difficult time getting high-percentage attempts against the much taller opponent.

“We’ve been the beneficiary of that for a few years, so we know what that’s like to be long,” said Warner coach Stew Bohle. “They’ve got rim protectors, they’ve got some shooters. They’re a good basketball team, there’s no ifs, ands or buts about that and points are at a premium. You’re going to have to shoot ball and do a lot of things well to beat a team like that.”

Miller, who finished with 17 points, also had nine rebounds and six blocked shots. She likely altered numerous others with her presence in the middle.

“We mainly preach defense and offense comes with the defense,” Miller said. “Work hard on defense and offense just comes.”

Kaylee Block added 10 points to the Christian total, including a pair of three-point field goals.

Rohrbach was pleased with the way his team passed the basketball and looked for open shooters.

“I thought we shared the ball really well. We were taking what the defense gave us in our zone offense,” he said. “We were skipping the ball. The ball was moving and we’re really tough to guard when we do that.”

Kyra Marcuson’s six points topped Warner, which plays at Potter County on Saturday.

“We’re still trying to find our way,” Bohle said, “trying to figure out where we’re at.”

Rohrbach knows the Monarchs will get much better as the season progresses.

“We know they’ll get better throughout the year, but that was a good team,” Rohrbach said. “They’re well coached. That was a big win for us.”

It was also an historic win, marking the first time that the Knights have beaten Warner in girls’ basketball.

Christian, 3-0 on the season, continues its busy start to the season, playing at Leola-Frederick on Thursday before hosting Britton-Hecla on Friday.

WARNER: Kiah Koch 2 0-0 4, Kyra Marcuson 3 0-0 6, Ava Nilsson 1 1-2 4 Lauren Marcuson 1 0-0 3, Kamryn Anderson 1 0-4 2, Peyton Fischer 2 0-2 4, Stacia Carda 1 0-0 2. Totals 11- 1-8 23.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN: Joy Rohrbach 1 0-0 3, Kaylee Block 4 0-0 10, Hannah Miller 3 1-2 7, Mallory Miller 8 1-2 17, Chloe Holt 2 1-2 6, Grace Kaiser 1 0-0 2, Chloe Bosma 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 3-6 47.

Warner 5 11 17 23

Aberdeen Christian 19 29 39 47

3-point field goals – Nilsson, L. Marcuson; Rohrbach, Block 2, Holt. Total fouls – Warner 8; Aberdeen Christian 11. Rebounds – Aberdeen Christian 20 (M. Miller 9). Turnovers – Warner 19; Aberdeen Christian 19.