When 178 points are scored, it’s hard to fathom defense played a role in victory for Chanhassen Jan. 8.

But that was the case in a 93-85 win over Minnetonka.

Forty-nine points allowed to the Skippers in the first half, 25 points in the game’s first seven minutes, Chanhassen held Minnetonka to nine points in the first nine minutes of the second half.

A deficit quickly turned to a double-digit lead, a 25-9 run out of halftime the difference in the Storm win.

“Our defense hasn’t been up-to-par the last couple of games. Coaches have harped about that. We have to be aggressive, we have to attack on defense. Tonight when we did that it led right into our offense. We were able to get easy buckets. We were able to get into a rhythm,” Chanhassen senior Carson Hollowaty said.

It was Hollowaty who led the charge in the second half, 14 of his 16 points after the break.

He netted 11 of 12 consecutive points for the Storm, connecting on a 3-pointer before a steal-and-lay-up and a driving under-the-basket shot gave Chanhassen the lead at 58-53.

“The first half we did a really nice job pushing the ball in transition. My shot wasn’t falling so I just went with the flow of the game after halftime. I tried to take control more. Driving and looking for other people. It just happened that I got open lay-ups because of it,” Hollowaty said.

Team basketball, making the extra pass, helped the Storm claim a 67-56 advantage with under 12 minutes to play.

“Once you hit one, and then another, the rim starts to open up. When I start to play more aggressive, that’s when my shots start to follow. I didn’t attack enough in the first half and that’s something I wanted to do in the second half,” Hollowaty said.

Five Chanhassen players were in double figures led by Luke Gitzen with 23 points. Charlie Ash and Hollowaty each had 16 points followed by Porter Conklin with 14 and Jacob Miller with 12. Tyson Hansen missed double digits by one point.

The Storm missed 15 free throws, otherwise 100 points likely would have been hit.

Chanhassen head coach Nate Pelowski lauded the play of Hollowaty this season. He said when the Storm are at their best, balanced in offense, it’s Hollowaty’s ball distribution that plays a large role in that.

“That second half, that was probably the best half of basketball we’ve played all year. Defensively we really made them take tough shots. Offensively we got our transition going, hit a bunch of shots,” Hollowaty said.

Minnetonka (7-3) couldn’t miss to start the game, Gavin Patton scoring 24 of his game-high 30 points in the first half. Patton connected on four 3-pointers, a transition slam dunk the exclamation point on a dominant half.

Chanhassen, though, stayed connected, never trailing by more than six points. An Ash 3-pointer and hook shot in the lane eventually tied the game at 47. Minnetonka led 49-47 at the intermission.

Cameron Steele scored 14 second-half points, 23 total, to keep Minnetonka in the game late. Riley O’Connor added 14 points for the Skippers, which twice got within six points in the final minutes.

Chanhassen (7-5) opens Metro West Conference play Jan. 11 versus St. Louis Park. The Storm own the most wins in non-conference play among the eight league teams.

Hollowaty said a similar effort every night will be needed to contend for a conference title this season.

“We just need to keep improving. We need more consistency. If we play aggressively, keep going forward, not take any steps back, listen to what the coaches are saying, we’re going to be fine,” Hollowaty said.