A strong second-half defensive performance gave the North Central Thunder the energy needed to secure a win at the Aberdeen Civic Arena Tuesday night.

North Central defeated Aberdeen Christian 49-33 in a Lake Region Conference girls’ basketball game that saw the two teams separated by just eight points at the half. The Thunder cranked up their defense to take control in the final 16 minutes.

“We kind of had to lock in and lock down on a couple of the girls that were hot on their end. I mean, that was one of the big focuses going into halftime was we got to shut them down,” said North Central coach Kaci Vander Vorst. “If our offense isn’t always falling, we gotta work 10 times harder on defense and our goal was to hold them.”

One of the main scorers for Christian was Jolie Fogarty, who became a focal point for the Thunder in the second half after she put up 9 of the Knights’ 19 points in the first.

“We tried a few girls on her, and it was pretty much deny her the ball, because she was having a great night. We know Jolie, so good for her,” said Vander Vorst. “She definitely gave us a challenge there and we were glad to, in the end, eventually shut her down a little bit.”

When North Central began focusing on Jolie, the Knights had to rely on others to put up points. They were able to do that, a step up from where they started at the beginning of the year.

“You seen it from the start. We were scoring like 10, 8 points a game. Now we aren’t,” said Knights coach Andre Cobbs. “And it’s not just the one person or the other one scoring. It’s the other people that are in there, too.”

Fogarty put up a team-high 15 points, but she still felt confident in her younger teammates to step into roles because of illness still plaguing the Knights.

“It’s really nice. We had some sick girls today, so we had three of our JV starters stepping up and they really stepped up and did a good job,” said Fogarty. “I felt like they were really confident and I could pass them the ball and they would do something with it. So that was nice.”

Despite recovering from her own sickness last week, Fogarty still found ways to find success at the basket.

“It’s nice to be back, but it’s also kind of rough because I’m kind of not conditioned right now,” said Fogarty. “I felt like it took a while to get my shots to go in, but they started going in and then I just kept shooting, and they just kept falling. So that was really nice.”

On the other side of the court, it was Amree Vander Vorst who was a force for the Thunder, putting up 27 points, 10 of those coming in the fourth quarter.

“I think I was just feeling myself and then just took what they were giving me, and I’m used to those shots,” said Vander Vorst, who also finished with eight steals. “I just see the openings and just look to score and attack, and try to get our team in a groove.”

Cobbs knew what kind of player the Knights were facing on the evening.

“They got that #4 (Amree Vander Vorst), but if you can get her off the ball and the other one’s having to do stuff, then you could force turnovers and so they did that. That girl’s just really good. She’s super good,” said Cobbs. “Taking 25 foot three out there, so she’s just a good player. It’s tough when you got a player like that and it’s hard to stop.”

At the end of the first quarter, Christian was only trailing by one point, but the wear and tear got to the Knights, who needed breaks as the game was nearing the end.

“They were doing really well in the first half, adrenaline, all that sort of stuff. And then it does hit you as an athlete if you’re not used to playing a whole game and some of them that are used to playing like five minutes a game were playing the whole game,” said Cobbs. “They knew what they were trying to do, they were just physically dead.”

In their previous home game, Arianna Johnson and Fogarty were absent due to illness, but both made significant impacts against the Thunder. Johnson scored six points and grabbed five rebounds, and has plenty more room to grow, according to Cobbs.

“It was nice to have Ari back. She’s a new player, like she hasn’t played since like YMCA stuff, but you really couldn’t tell. She’s just an athlete,” said Cobbs.

Christian will be on the road taking on Northwestern Thursday night, and North Central will take on fourth-rated Lyman on Saturday at a classic in Highmore.

NORTH CENTRAL (10-5): Ella Batie 3 2-2 8, Amree Vander Vorst 8 8-12 27, Alaina Dosch 2 0-0 5, Ashton Heyne 1 0-0 2, Tylee Vander Vorst 1 0-0 3, Carleigh Dosch 2 0-2 4. Totals 17 10-16 49.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (0-14): Arianna Johnson 3 0-0 6, Jolie Fogarty 7 0-0 15, Sophia Eichler 2 0-0 4, Eri Cobbs 3 0-0 6, Jacie Fogarty 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 0-0 33.

North Central 13 27 37 49

Aberdeen Christian 12 19 25 33

3-point field goals – A. Vander Vorst 3, A. Dosch, T. Vander Vorst; Fogarty. Total fouls – North Central 7; Aberdeen Christian 10. Rebounds – North Central 25 (A. Vander Vorst 5 Batie 5, A. Dosch 5); Aberdeen Christian 28 (Eichler 11). Turnovers – North Central 14; Aberdeen Christian 30. Assists – North Central 3; Aberdeen Christian 4 (Cobbs 2). Steals – North Central 16 (A. Vander Vorst 8); Aberdeen Christian 16 (Jolie Fogarty 6). Blocks – North Central 1 (Batie); Aberdeen Christian 1 (Johnson).