Mike Kraft/MDN Our Redeemer’s senior guard Kadyn Braun drives to the basket past Powers Lake-Burke Central’s Kynlee Erickson during the first half of a non-district basketball game at ORCS.

The Our Redeemer’s girls basketball team typically relies on freshman guard Ruby Olson to be a defensive specialist, locking down the opposing teams’ guards, forcing turnovers and grabbing rebounds and loose balls.

While her defensive prowess was again on display in the Knights’ non-district contest against Powers Lake-Burke Central, it was Olson’s offense that provided a much-needed spark for the home team.

Olson knocked down three 3-pointers in the third quarter and netted 13 points to help the Knights rally from a 16-point first-half deficit to knock off the Ranchers, 56-49, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, at Our Redeemer’s Christian School. The Knights poured in 33 points in the second half.

“It felt incredible because recently I haven’t been able to knock down my shots, so to have three in a row felt really good for me,” Olson said. “It’s a big confidence-booster for me. Normally, I wouldn’t shoot and I would pass the ball and now I feel like I have the confidence to shoot it if I’m open.”

The Knights (7-5) trailed 29-23 coming out of the locker room. That’s when Olson found her shot from distance for the first time this season. Her first of the contest brought Our Redeemer’s within two and her second put the Knights in front 33-31 with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter. It was their first lead since the opening minute of the first quarter. Our Redeemer’s wouldn’t trail the rest of the contest.

“We have a chain called the relentless chain and she got that tonight,” Our Redeemer’s coach Hart Andes said. “She was the spark plug tonight for sure. When she hit those 3s it just changed the momentum completely. She and the rest of the team did a great job tonight.”

Olson added her third 3-pointer late in the third quarter and Londyn Lauf provided another to push the advantage to 44-37. Olson’s offensive output finished with the final basket of the third and the opening bucket of the fourth, growing the lead to double figures at 48-37. The 23-point third quarter matched the Knights’ entire first-half production.

“Coach Hart calls her our spark plug,” Our Redeemer’s junior center Lauren Strom said. “She really brought that energy that we needed. She’s not usually someone who knocks down those 3s and when she hit them, that brings a lot of energy and brings that push that we need.”

The Knights led by as many as 13 in the final quarter as Strom, Hazel Engelhard and Kadyn Braun added baskets. Strom finished with 18 points and Braun added eight.

“We came out in the second half as a new team,” Hart said. “We were doing the small things right, like talking and rotating on defense. They did a really good job and that turned into steals and layups on the other end that helped us mount a comeback today.”

Our Redeemer’s couldn’t have asked for a better end to the game, but they couldn’t have asked for a more frustrating start, which made it seem like the Knights were going to be in for a long night. After Strom opened the game with consecutive baskets, the Ranchers went on a 15-0 run for a 15-4 lead with 1:14 remaining in the opening quarter. PL-BC hit six shots from five different players during the run, including 3-pointers from Makenna Dosch, Avah Bullinger and Abby Nelson.

The Ranchers (7-4) led 17-8 at the end of the quarter and opened the second with seven consecutive points from Bullinger to grow the advantage to 24-8.

“We came out in the first half and had some patience and ran our offense, didn’t get frazzled and hit some shots and played some better basketball all around,” PL-BC coach Jessica Bullinger said. “In the second half, we were rushing everything. We threw some passes that didn’t need to happen. We were forcing shots and we just weren’t rebounding tonight and that’s a big thing for us. We need to rebound stronger to pull off a win in a game like tonight.”

Avah Bullinger led the Ranchers with 13 points, while Eastlin Jensen also finished in double figures with 12. Dosch added nine.

The Knights chipped away at the lead heading toward halftime. Trailing 26-12, the Knights closed the half scoring 11 of the final 14 points. Lauf, Auna Peterson, Olson and Braun all knocked down shots before the first half buzzer, as the Knights grabbed some momentum heading into the locker room.

The victory was the Knights’ first on their home court in three attempts after dropping their first two to Drake-Anamoose and Berthold. Defending the castle is a point of emphasis for all of Our Redeemer’s athletic programs.

“It’s a relief,” Strom said. “We want to win all the home games we can, so it’s great to win one at home with all of our friends and family here.”

The Ranchers had been road warriors entering the game, sporting a 5-1 record away from their home gym, winning four straight entering Tuesday.

The Knights are hoping a comeback win of this fashion against a quality opponent like PL-BC gives them some added confidence heading into the homestretch of the season.

“Being able to come back from 16 points down is huge,” Andes said. “The big thing is we can’t have those bad starts. But for our confidence, it shows that we can play with anybody and come back from anything. If we can put two halves together like that second half, we can compete with anyone out there.”

Our Redeemer’s is back on its home floor when the Knights host TGU in a District 6 contest on Friday, Jan. 16.