“It was really good. That was one of the keys, they had to run hard,” RTR head coach Steve Hesse said of the team’s defense. “No matter what, they can’t get lazy on defense. Some of this is part of the growing experiences, and to play teams like this, you’ve got to hustle. That was the number one key on the top of the board.”

The Knights played with a tenacious defensive effort the entire night, forcing turnovers and flustering the Falcons who struggled to find a response. RTR played an occasional full-court press, and stayed in man coverage throughout.

“I think it’s just fun to see, almost like clockwork, like when one goes here, you always have to have help and it’s just like a circle,” RTR senior Ava Guida said of the team’s defensive effort, who also picked up a win on her birthday. “When you get tired, you sub in, take a break and hop right back in. It’s just the team helping each other.”

RTR senior guard Brezlyn Buchert led all scorers with 21 points, while Guild followed with 15 as did Makayla Hesse and Paisley Thooft with 14 and 11 points, respectively. All of Hesse’s points were scored in the second half.

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton's Paisley Thooft goes up for a layup in the first half.

For the Falcons, Lillian Batalden had a team-high 5 points and DeAnn Roiger followed with 4.

“They’ve [RRC] got good attitudes. We talked about that coming into the season. They’re still positive,” RRC head coach Mark Vogel said. “We try to find all these positive plays within the game and try to build off of that, and they just continue to work hard. They’re not going to give up. They didn’t last year, and as long as we keep our positive mindset, we’ll grind through.”

The Knights and Falcons both dropped their first games to start the season, with RTR falling short to Tracy-Milroy-Balaton and Heron Lake-Okabena-Fulda both by 7 points. RRC dropped its matchups against Springfield, Yellow Medicine East and Murray County Central, and have started the season with a four-game road trip.

RRC is operating under new leadership with Vogel taking over as head coach this season, who was previously on the coaching staff as an assistant. Former head coach Adam Schumacher transitioned over to coach the RRC boys program.

Thooft got the scoring started with a field goal just inside the right wing and a free throw, and her and Buchert drove in back-to-back layups to start the game on a 7-0 run.

Red Rock Central's Paige Wondercheck grabs a defensive rebound in the first half against Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Friday evening.

Ava Karbo hit a deep-2 followed with a bucket from Buchert to force RRC to call an early timeout with a 12-0 deficit.

Karbo, RTR’s tallest player at 5-foot-11, protected the paint and blocked a shot after Buchert grabbed a steal with a fastbreak layup to continue the Knights’ hot start.

RTR continued to hone in defensively on the glass and in transition, never letting go of its lead.

RRC’s Paige Wondercheck and Batalden continued to get good looks inside on offense, while the Falcons continued to play with a strong effort and also played man coverage.

“We depend on them [Wondercheck and Batalden] a lot, being our tallest girls,” Vogel said, with Wondercheck standing at 5-foot-8 and Bataladen 5-foot-11. “They just got to work really hard down there, and they have been. Hopefully the ball starts going in the hoop once in a while, we need that to happen, but both them girls work really hard. They’ve had a couple good weeks here.”

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton's Ava Guida facilitates the offense in the first half.

Buchert had 8 of RTR’s first 15 points and led all scorers with 15 at the end of the half, with the Knights up 31-15.

“I think we just ran out of gas,” Vogel said of managing RTR’s defense. “We talked about it in the locker room, we got to work on getting in better shape here. I do think that was a big part of it. First half, I think we held our own in there and second half, we just ran out of steam.”

Batalden got RRC on the board with a free throw after being fouled driving the lane, to which Guida responded with a pair of buckets in the lane for a 19-1 lead.

“I think once you start to see the other team kind of draw back, that’s when you got to attack and that’s how you get past them,” Guida said.

Kysha Wani and Batalden put a few more points on the board for the Falcons with the half coming to a close, when Buchert ended the half with a pull-up jumper off a steal from Guida along with the game’s first 3-pointer, sending the Knights to the locker room with a 16-point edge.

Not letting go of any momentum, RTR’s Makayla Hesse drilled in a 3 from the top of the key to open the second half as the Knights cruised the rest of the way.

“The shooting was probably the best we’ve had for the season. We’ve been just trying to drive the ball, drive the ball, drive the ball, and not get as many shots up,” coach Hesse said. “Tonight, we were driving the ball, looking for kick-outs and hitting those open shots and mid range shots.”

The Falcons are playing with a younger roster this season, led by its two seniors in Ally Linder and Roiger, followed by six juniors.

The Knights on the other hand return a hefty group of seven seniors, along with a pair of juniors.

“I think [we’re] a good team,” coach Hesse said. “That experience will carry us down to the end, and especially what you see here, but in practice from them, those kids are willing to push each other.”

RTR (1-2) will look to even up its record when it hosts Minneota (2-0) at 7 p.m. on Monday.

RRC (0-4) will have its home opener next Thursday, hosting Southwest Minnesota Christian (0-2) with a 7:15 p.m. tipoff.

“We’re looking forward to it [returning home]. We got a couple games next week where we should hopefully compete a little bit better,” Vogel said. “It’s always fun to play at home, and not to get on a bus and travel.”