Noticeably tight, a bit unsure and wrapped in an uneasy sense of caution.

That’s how Aaron Van de Graaf’s left ankle felt.

And that’s how his Sunnyside Christian boys team played in the first half of its opening game in the Class 1B state tournament.

But that was the nine-turnover first half. Van de Graaf’s tender ankle loosened up in the second half and so did the unbeaten Knights, who raced off with a 49-29 victory over Odessa in the SunDome on Wednesday.

“I rolled it on Monday and it bothered me in the first half,” said Van de Graaf, who was headed off after the game for an ice treatment. “I took some quick shots and just didn’t feel comfortable out there to start. But then I slowed down a little and let it come to me.”

After making just 2 of 7 shots in the opening half, the Knights’ leading scorer warmed up with 14 of his game-high 19 points in the second half as SC pushed its record to 23-0.

“You could see he didn’t have the normal lift on his shots. Everything was coming off the front of the rim,” SC coach Dean Wagenaar said. “But he got in the flow and stepped up in the second half. He gave us a nice spark.”

Nick De Jong did the same on defense.

Playing with a much looser nothing-to-lose intensity, Odessa managed to hang with the top-ranked squad for much of the first half. The big reason was Drake Costlow casting in three 3-pointers.

So Wagenaar switched from a straight zone to a box-and-1, putting his bulldog defender, De Jong, on the hot shooter.

Costlow didn’t score again.

“I’m the defensive stopper and I just love that role. I thrive on it,” said De Jong, who played with Van de Graaf on SC’s state championship team in 2005. “I’m not a big scorer so that’s how I can help the team the most. (Costlow) was hitting some big shots so I had to make it a little tougher for him.”

When De Jong took a rest, Lucas Brouwer took over. And the effort seemed to lift the entire defense. During one stretch in the second half, SC didn’t allow a field goal for nearly 11 minutes.

“We knew our best game would not be the first one,” Van de Graaf said. “We’re still working into it. We had a little trouble on offense, but when that happens we always have our defense. That’s our strong part.”

The Knights certainly had a few issues to grumble about, like 15 turnovers and a season-low 49 points.

But on the other side, Van de Graaf’s ankle warmed up, Cole Van de Graaf established a strong inside presence with 11 points and Joel Koopmans wrestled down 13 rebounds.

“My biggest fear was looking up at a one-point game at the end of the third quarter and asking the kids why they hadn’t come to play,” Wagenaar said. “But we pulled away in the third quarter and played pretty well the rest of the way.

“These first games always make you a little nervous,” the coach added. “Odessa came out and played hard and we had to respond. We did and we move on — that’s all you want on the first day.”

Sunnyside Christian moves into a 7:30 p.m. quarterfinal Thursday against Lummi (12-11). Glen Robertson’s four free throws in the final 30 seconds lifted the Blackhawks to a 66-62 win over St. John-Endicott.

Odessa (8-16), which has a freshman point guard in Bryce Todd, will try to stay alive in the tournament in a consolation game at 12:30 p.m. against St. John-Endicott.

Odessa -- Glenn 2-12 5-8 9, Strange 0-0 0-0 0, Todd 3-8 0-0 7, Costlow 4-11 0-0 11, Fisher 0-3 0-0 0, Cronrath 0-1 0-0 0, King 0-0 0-0 0, Bruya 0-1 0-0 0, King 0-1 0-0 0, Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 1-3 0-0 2, Palmer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-40 5-8 29.
Sunnyside Christian -- Koopmans 3-8 2-2 9, Van Oostrum 0-0 0-0 0, C. Van de Graaf 5-9 1-6 11, Van Boven 0-0 0-0 0, J. Brouwer 1-3 0-2 3, M. De Jong 0-1 0-0 0, L. Brouwer 0-3 0-0 0, A. Van de Graaf 7-14 4-6 19, De Vries 3-4 1-2 7, Meininger 0-1 0-0 0, N. De Jong 0-0 0-0 0, Freepons 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-43 8-18 49.
Odessa	9	8	4	8	--	29
Sunnyside Christian	12	14	9	14	--	49
3-point goals--O 4-14 (Costlow 3-8, Todd 1-4, Smith 0-1, Glenn 0-1), SC 3-13 (Koopmans 1-2, J. Brouwer 1-2, A. Van de Graaf 1-5, De Vries 0-1). Rebounds--O 28 (Glenn 8, Fisher 7), SC 31 (Koopmans 13). Assists--O 4 (Glenn 2), SC 9 (Koopmans 3, A. Van de Graaf 3). Steals--O 7 (Glenn 2, Todd 2, Costlow 2), SC 14 (Koopmans 3, A. Van de Graaf 3). Blocked shots--O 1, SC 6 (De Vries 4). Fouled out--None. Total fouls--O 18, SC 12. Technical fouls--SC bench. Turnovers--O 23, SC 15.